USA Trends and Developments Contributed by: William Lavery, Joseph Ostoyich, Dodi Allocca and Timothy Lyons, Clifford Chance LLP
Clifford Chance US LLP 2001 K Street NW Washington DC 20006 USA Tel: +1 202 912 5000 Fax: +1 202 912 6000 Email: Leigh.Oliver@cliffordchance.com Web: www.cliffordchance.com
State Attorney General Leadership in Antitrust Enforcement Enforcement of the US and state antitrust laws by dozens of state attorneys general continues to grow, as states pick up some of the “slack” left by federal enforcers taking a more laissez-faire approach, par - ticularly to merger and monopolisation enforcement. Several recent cases have seen state attorneys gen - eral litigating independently of their federal counter - parts. United States v Live Nation Entertainment (SDNY) On 15 April 2026, a federal jury in the Southern District of New York found Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster liable for unlawfully monopo - lising ticketing services for large music venues, and other conduct in violation of federal and state antitrust laws. The verdict was ultimately secured by a coalition of state attorneys general and the District of Colum - bia, who elected to press the case to judgment after the Department of Justice (DOJ) settled with defend - ants in the early days of trial. The lawsuit, filed in May 2024, alleges that Live Nation leveraged its dominance in concert promotions and venues to entrench Ticketmaster’s position in ticket - ing. The complaint identified three principal categories of anti-competitive conduct: • imposing long-term exclusive ticketing contracts on venues; • conditioning access to promotion services on the use of Ticketmaster; and
• threatening retaliation against venues that engaged rival ticketing providers. While the DOJ’s mid-trial settlement imposed limits on exclusive ticketing agreements and other business practices, most plaintiff states declined to join and continued litigating independently. The case has moved to the remedies phase, where state attorneys general seek the divestiture of Ticket - master and to bar Live Nation from re-entering the pri - mary ticketing market. Live Nation opposes structural relief and has moved to set aside the verdict. State of California v Paramount Skydance (ND Cal) In July 2026, a coalition of state attorneys general filed suit in the Northern District of California to block Para - mount Skydance Corporation from acquiring Warner Bros Discovery, alleging that the transaction would harm competition in the distribution of wide-release theatrical films, and more narrowly, anticipated top- grossing theatrical films, with worse terms for theatres and reduced output. Plaintiffs also alleged reduced competition for licensing basic cable channels. The Writers Guild of America filed a separate suit, alleg - ing harm to competition for film and television writing services. After Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted a temporary restraining order blocking the merger, the merging parties stipulated not to close the transaction before a determination by the court on the merits. The case remains ongoing.
258 A NTITRUST LI T IGATI O N 2026
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