United States et al. v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.; Proposed Final Judgment and Competitive Impact Statement

a specific venue, then that artist must use the venue's exclusive promoter. Under an exclusive booking agreement, artists cannot benefit from competition that might otherwise occur between promoters who are competing to book concerts at that specific venue. Additionally, some promoters enter into preferred booking agreements with venues that provide the promoter with preferential rights to book dates or promote shows at a venue. Live Nation has numerous exclusive and preferred booking arrangements with Major Concert Venues, including large amphitheaters. Live Nation also owns and operates a significant number of large amphitheaters in the United States and serves as the exclusive booker of those venues. As such, Live Nation is typically the only promoter that promotes concerts in its owned and operated amphitheaters and in venues it does not own and operate but with which it has exclusive or preferred booking arrangements. Live Nation has acquired and leased amphitheaters across the country, sometimes even when Live Nation projected that it would incur a financial loss as a result of these decisions. After the artist has chosen the venue and promoter, the next step is selling tickets to consumers. Ticketers include primary ticketers and secondary ticketers. Primary ticketers typically make their sales to consumers under a contract with a venue. Under an exclusive primary ticket