The Corner Newsletter: Huge Ticketmaster Win, Callaci’s Book Launch, and OMI Europe Expansion
Welcome to The Corner. In this issue, we explore how last week’s jury verdict against Ticketmaster marks a win for both democracy and for consumers.
With Ticketmaster Victory, State AGs Reinforce Rule of Law and Constitution Balances
Tara Pincock and Ben Winsor
Last week saw one of the most tense, significant, and politicized antitrust verdicts in a generation. A Manhattan jury found Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster guilty of building an illegal monopoly, engaging in anticompetitive conduct, and unlawfully driving up ticket prices.
The victory is significant in its own right, but even more so for its political implications. Delivered after four days of deliberations, the verdict was sweeping. The jury found Live Nation liable on every count and awarded the maximum damages calculated by the plaintiff’s economist, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
But this case was about far more than ticket fees. It was a test of whether American democracy still has the tools to fight the corrupt consolidation of corporate and political power.
Live Nation was one of a series of cases in which massive corporations have sought to turn their financial muscle into political power, and to buy their way out of the justice system. In this instance, Live Nation donated $500,000 to Trump’s inauguration, retained Trump-world lobbyists like Kellyanne Conway and Mike Davis, and installed a Trump ally on its board.
It almost worked. Just one week into the trial, reportedly following personal intervention from the President Trump himself, the federal lawyer leading the case told Judge Arun Subramanian that his superiors had settled the case. Visibly annoyed, Subramanian accused the Department of Justice and Live Nation of “show[ing] absolute disrespect for the court, for the jury, [and] for this entire process” because of the secretive nature of the settlement talks. Their failure to loop in the government’s lead attorney — who himself seemed stunned by the decision — was “mind-boggling,” the judge said.
Of the 40 states that originally sued, only six joined the settlement: Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
Lead by New York and California, a bipartisan coalition of 33 states and the District of Columbia refused to accept the “wholly inadequate” settlement and vowed to keep fighting. New York Attorney General Letitia James helped set the tone, saying the settlement “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case, and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers.”
The states brought in outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler — known for his commanding courtroom presence — to replace the federal attorneys who had been yanked from the jury trial. It worked. As California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “This verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip off Americans.”
The case is far from over. Live Nation is seeking to overturn the jury’s verdict as a matter of law. If that fails, the case will move from the liabilities phase to the remedies phase, which will likely take several months.
If the states have their way, the main remedy will be a restructuring of the corporation. Live Nation could be ordered to divest Ticketmaster, spin off its venue operations, or both. When a corporation is found liable for breaking the antitrust laws, courts are required to ensure the remedies pry open the doors to new competition and break the monopolist’s chokehold on the market. But most courts have also proven less than eager to break companies up.
This case has a better chance than most, however, in large part because Live Nation has repeatedly violated earlier agreements with antitrust officials.
The U.S. government has twice before tried to rein in the company’s anticompetitive conduct through behavioral remedies — inking agreements that specifically prevent it from retaliating, threatening, and taking various other actions against venues if they use competitors. The first was drafted in 2010 when Live Nation acquired Ticketmaster and signed a consent decree with the DOJ and 17 attorneys general in which it promised not to abuse its power. In 2019, the government modified and extended the consent decree after Live Nation “repeatedly and over the course of several years” engaged in conduct that violated the agreement.
Given its previous breaches, it seems unlikely that Live Nation will suddenly change course. And yet, the settlement that the Trump DOJ tried to force onto the court was also based entirely on behavior remedies.
Democratic senators Amy Klobuchar (MN), Elizabeth Warren (MA), Cory Booker (NJ), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Mazie Hirono (HI), and Peter Welch (VT) have asked the court to “thoroughly examine” whether the settlement was “made in the public’s interest.” As the senators said in their letter to the court, “The proposed settlement terms, negotiated under suspicious circumstances, do not include the kinds of remedies that consumers and small businesses deserve.”
Open Markets Chief Economist Callaci Publishes Book Condemning Franchising Model
OMI chief economist Brian Callaci published his groundbreaking book Chains of Command: The Rise and Cruel Reign of the Franchise Economy on the business model that underpins most fast food chains and many other industries. In the book, Callaci attacks the franchising business model for allowing large corporations to dominate small businesses while evading responsibility for caring for either their employees or the entrepreneurs themselves. While franchises employ millions of workers and touches nearly every American community, the model remains largely absent from mainstream conversations about creating a fairer, more equal economy. Published earlier this week by University of Chicago Press, Callaci’s book delivers the first comprehensive history of how franchising has shaped American capitalism. OMI will host a book launch party Wednesday, April 29, in Washington D.C. at which Callaci will discuss his work with former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya. The American Prospect published a review of Chains of Command in its April issue.
Open Markets Institute Expands in Europe with Launch of Advisory Council and New Staff
The Open Markets Institute is significantly expanding its European operations with new staff and the launch of a European Advisory Council, bringing together leading experts, technologists, and former policymakers to defend fair markets and democratic accountability. Members of the Advisory Council include former MEP Marietje Schaake — once described by the Wall Street Journal as Europe’s “most wired” politician — and Tommaso Valletti, former Chief Competition Economist at the European Commission. “Open Markets’s voice is urgently needed in Europe and I’m thrilled to be a part of this critical mission,” Schaake said. New hires include Giorgos Verdi as Policy & Advocacy Lead for Europe, who will help shape legislative and enforcement initiatives. Director of OMI Europe Max von Thun said that OMI will be better able to “deliver strategic analysis and practical recommendations to policymakers and regulators” as well as “offering unique insight into” the political economic relationship between the US and Europe.
📝 WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO:
Center for Journalism and Liberty at OMI director Courtney Radsch argued in Tech Policy Press that the UK’s approach to regulating cloud infrastructure and supporting local journalism falls short of addressing structural market power. Drawing on prior CJL and Open Markets research, Radsch wrote that “Voluntary commitments from the most powerful companies in the world are not a solution for market dominance, nor are they effective tech or media policy while millions live in communities with no one left to cover their council meetings, government procurement, or other important local issues.”
OMI Executive Director Barry Lynn spoke at the 2026 Stigler Conference at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, on a panel examining the intersection of economic and political power, along with Harvard Professor Larry Lessig. The conference was titled “Can Capitalism be Popular?” and brought together leading thinkers from across the political spectrum. Lynn said the U.S. is witnessing a “direct takeover” of state power “by a few immensely sprawling corporations, in a process that is rocketing us light years past our traditional legal and intellectual frameworks for regulating campaign contributions, lobbying, and the revolving door.”
The Open Markets Institute condemned Sysco’s proposed $29 billion acquisition of its main competitor in the restaurant supply sector, Restaurant Depot. Arguing the merger would make dining out even more expensive, Open Markets food program manager Claire Kelloway said, “Rolling Restaurant Depot into Sysco will leave restaurants with shockingly few options and allow the giant to amass even more harmful market power to raise prices.”
Open Markets legal director Sandeep Vaheesan spoke at a symposium hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School entitled, “Antitrust at an Inflection Point,” where he discussed the federal cases against dominant tech corporations and called for bright-line rules to simplify and expedite antitrust litigation. He also called for steering competitive strategy in more socially beneficial directions such as investment and innovation.
CJL@Open Markets director Courtney Radsch delivered a keynote address at an event, “Code, Power, and the Public: Women Shaping AI for Democracy,“ in Washington D.C. hosted by Women in Safety and Ethics (WISE) and Civic Tech DC. At the event, Radsch spoke about the importance of interrogating power structures in AI, including who controls these systems, who benefits from them, and how they shape democratic outcomes.
🔊 ANTI-MONOPOLY RISING:
A federal New York court ruled that now defunct photo-sharing app Phhhoto has plausibly alleged that Meta used its monopoly power to suppress nascent competition for personal social networking services. Meta will now face a new antitrust lawsuit over charges it built a competing app using confidential information obtained during partnership talks and that it suppressed the visibility of Phhoto’s animated photographs on Facebook and Instagram. (Competition Policy International)
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is preparing to launch an investigation into Paramount Skydance’s planned $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery in the coming weeks amid concerns about the deal’s impact on both the media and the filmmaking industries. The first step of the probe was to invite comments from interested parties. (Bloomberg)
PVC pipe manufacturer Westlake has agreed to pay $67 million in a settlement over allegations the company conspired with other industry players to inflate prices of polyvinyl chloride pipe and fittings. Westlake and other PVC pipe manufacturers were named as defendants in 10 class action civil lawsuits filed in Illinois between August 2024 and June 2025. (Marketwatch)
📈 VITAL STAT:
€337.5 million
The amount U.S. food giant Mondelēz, which makes Oreo biscuits and Toblerone chocolate bars, has agreed to pay the European Commission for illegally carving the EU single market into smaller national markets to keep its prices high. (Politico)
📚 WHAT WE'RE READING:
Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed: Historian Quinn Slobodian, whose last book traced the history and origins of neoliberalism, and tech writer Ben Tarnoff team up to write a different kind of book about Elon Musk, this one focusing not on Musk the personality but rather on the political and economic forces that allowed for his dominance over critical industries like electric vehicles, communications platforms, and space.