April 21, 2025 - WASHINGTON — Last week, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) are urging the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division to investigate the recent Live Nation-Ticketmaster and Fanatics agreement that would allow Ticketmaster to sell secondary tickets to sporting events through the Fanatics sports app despite reports that Fanatics explored entering the ticket resale market itself. 

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

“We write to express our concern that Live Nation-Ticketmaster has entered yet another concerning transaction that may undermine competition, deter innovation, and ultimately harm consumers seeking to buy tickets online,” wrote the Senators. “Last month, reporting indicated that Live Nation-Ticketmaster and Fanatics reached an agreement that would allow Ticketmaster to sell secondary tickets to sporting events through the Fanatics sports app.”

“This deal may raise competitive concerns, especially in light of Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s history of anticompetitive conduct detailed in the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Live Nation, which cites numerous transactions to “eliminate rivals, expand its network, and grow its moat,” in addition to a track record of charging high fees to consumers,” the Senators continued. “Though not an acquisition, this deal appears that it may have the effect of eliminating a potential rival in secondary sports ticket sales, expanding its ticketing network, and growing its moat through anticompetitive means.”

The full letter is available here and below. 

Dear Assistant Attorney General Slater,

We write to express our concern that Live Nation-Ticketmaster has entered yet another concerning transaction that may undermine competition, deter innovation, and ultimately harm consumers seeking to buy tickets online.

Last month, reporting indicated that Live Nation-Ticketmaster and Fanatics reached an agreement that would allow Ticketmaster to sell secondary tickets to sporting events through the Fanatics sports app. This deal may raise competitive concerns, especially in light of Live Nation Ticketmaster’s history of anticompetitive conduct detailed in the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Live Nation, which cites numerous transactions to “eliminate rivals, expand its network, and grow its moat,” in addition to a track record of charging high fees to consumers. Though not an acquisition, this deal appears that it may have the effect of eliminating a potential rival in secondary sports ticket sales, expanding its ticketing network, and growing its moat through anticompetitive means.

Since its founding in 2002, Fanatics has grown exponentially, disrupting various sports-related markets, including those for officially licensed merchandise, sports memorabilia, and trading cards. Recently, Fanatics announced an ambitious plan to “evolve into a leading global digital sports platform,” seeking to become a one-stop shop for sports fans. To this end, Fanatics has secured official licensing deals with major sports leagues, acquired Topps trading cards, and launched Fanatics Collectibles and Fanatics Betting and Gaming, where it claims to serve “approximately 95% of the addressable online sports bettor market in the U.S.” In short, Fanatics has a strong track record of aggressive expansion into new sports-related markets and appeared poised to enter the online ticketing market for sporting events as a potential competitor to Ticketmaster.

But instead of using its expertise in developing complex online marketplaces and its strong relationships with every major sports league in the country to enter the online ticketing market, Fanatics instead partnered with a company that the Justice Department has found controls more than 70 percent of all primary tickets sold from NBA and NHL arenas and has “a growing share of ticket resales in the secondary market.” Reporting about the deal confirms that Fanatics “explored possible M&A, and it also looked into building its own platform before settling on the Ticketmaster partnership.”

While the terms of the deal are not public, that 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, 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. Given Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s long history of anticompetitive conduct, 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.

We appreciate your attention to this important issue. 
Source: Senator Amy Klobuchar