“the company’s market share decreased by 10 percentage points following its merger in 2014, sitting at around 70 percent in 2024. Live Nation’s FY 24 net profit margin of 2.8 percent—considerably lower than the total U.S. market’s net margin of 8.7 percent—suggests that the firm lacks pricing power. Moreover, the profits Live Nation makes have little to do with the secondary ticket market: “Revenue from fees on concert ticket resale is less than 2% of Live Nation’s revenue,” the company said in a reply to Blackburn and Luján on Friday.
…
so long as artists set prices below the market rate, brokers will find a way to get tickets to those who value them the most, with or without Ticketmaster.”
https://reason.com/2025/10/22/live-nations-merger-with-ticketmaster-isnt-responsible-for-high-resale-prices-you-are/
“Antitrust laws can be enforced as rigorously as possible, but their enforcement will not change the fact that popular performances with limited runtimes, few seats, and many fans bidding for them means the market-clearing price is often above that set by artists, venues, and retailers.”
https://reason.com/2025/05/27/more-government-intervention-wont-make-concert-tickets-cheaper/
“Motorists caught speeding in Peninsula, Ohio, have options: They can pay with Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or PayPal. But if they want to dispute a ticket, the flexibility ends.
Before vehicle owners can appear in municipal court to defend themselves, they must pay a $100 “filing fee.” No exceptions. No discounts. No deferrals. It’s the cost of admission—roughly the same as a one-day ticket to Disneyland.
Many drivers skip the expense and plead guilty, which works well for Peninsula. In just the first five months after launching a handheld photo radar program in April 2023, this village south of Cleveland generated 8,900 citations and $560,000 in revenue. That’s an average of about 1,800 citations and $110,000 in revenue per month.”
https://reason.com/2023/12/05/want-to-challenge-your-speed-camera-ticket-thatll-be-100/