Photo Credit: Dylan Mullins
52 months later, the Popp v. Live Nation class action lawsuit against the leading promoter and its Ticketmaster subsidiary is moving forward in anticipation of a scheduled July 2027 trial.
DMN’s been covering the high-stakes legal battle since it kicked off way back in January 2022. And while it probably doesn’t need saying in light of the antitrust showdown’s length, the courtroom confrontation has delivered more than a few twists – chief among them an arbitration sub-dispute.
But the short version is that the plaintiffs are suing over what they describe as Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s “blatant, anti-consumer behavior,” referring in part to the alleged monopolization of the primary ticketing market via exclusive deals with “the vast majority of major concert venues.”
2025’s final month saw the presiding judge certify the class, which encompasses all U.S. residents who have since 2010 “directly purchased a primary ticket and paid associated fees for primary ticketing services for an event at a major concert venue in the United States from Ticketmaster.”
(Here, “major concert venue” is defined as any top-500 U.S. venue “by ticket sales according to Pollstar in any year from 2010 to the present.”)
Another obvious-but-important point: That’s a huge number of tickets and, consequently, a decidedly large class. The process of notifying customers is in full swing; emails are proving a big part of the inherently involved undertaking.
However, a related press release has gone out, and a dedicated Popp v. Live Nation website is also live. For now, eligible persons who wish to participate in the case – and receive a piece of the pie if the plaintiffs secure a settlement or win at trial – needn’t take any action.
Meanwhile, those who wish to be excluded from the class must expressly opt out via a written statement postmarked by July 6th. And as initially mentioned, the trial itself is currently expected to take place in July 2027.
In the bigger picture, it’s hardly a secret that this is far from the only suit Live Nation’s grappling with; several of the complaints will probably factor into the class action.
Most immediately, the live giant’s trial loss against about 30 states comes to mind. As many are already aware, a jury determined that Live Nation had, among other things, “engaged in unlawful conduct that harmed competition” en route to overcharging customers by $1.72 per major-venue ticket.
Penalties may not come down until 2027 in the states’ Live Nation case, we previously reported. Nevertheless, the verdict certainly seems relevant in a consumer-harm class action centering on allegedly “supracompetitive fees on primary ticket purchases from Ticketmaster’s online platforms.”
