Two US senators have called upon the Department of Justice (DOJ) to dictate whether a partnership between Ticketmaster and digital sports platform Fanatics is considered anti-competitive.
Fanatics agreed a partnership with Ticketmaster last month, which would allow people to purchase resale tickets alongside apparel, merchandise and collectibles on its platform. The deal also enabled Fanatics merchandise to be available on Ticketmaster.
According to a letter seen by Sportico, Senators Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee wrote to Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater – who heads up the DOJ’s antitrust division – to argue that the deal consolidates Ticketmaster’s dominant market position in the US, “depriving consumers of the benefits of competition”.
“Fanatics entered an agreement with an online ticketing monopolist, rather than innovate, disrupt and compete themselves as they have in numerous other sports-related markets. [This] raises significant questions about whether Live Nation-Ticketmaster used its monopoly power to prevent Fanatics from entering the online ticketing market, depriving consumers of the benefits of competition,” the letter reportedly said.
“We urge you to look into this deal to determine if any antitrust laws were broken and whether consumers were illegally denied the benefits of new competition in this market.”
Last month, a federal judge denied a motion from Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster to dismiss two parts of the antitrust lawsuit filed by the US DOJ and 40 state and district attorneys general, filed in 2024.