Live Nation director boasted of gouging ticket buyers, "robbing them blind"

Newly unsealed documents show that a Live Nation regional director boasted of gouging ticket buyers and “robbing them blind” with fees for ancillary services such as slight upgrades to parking.

Live Nation has tried to exclude Slack messages from a trial that seeks a breakup of Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary, claiming the messages are irrelevant to the case, “highly prejudicial,” and would “inflame the jury.” The US government and state attorneys general opposed the motion to exclude evidence. US District Judge Arun Subramanian of the Southern District of New York hasn’t ruled on the motion yet, but ordered the documents unsealed yesterday.

Live Nation has touted the experiences it offers concertgoers at amphitheaters but sought “to exclude candid, internal messages in which the individual who is currently Head of Ticketing for these amphitheaters calls fans ‘so stupid,’ explains that he ‘gouge[s]’ them, and brags that Live Nation is ‘robbing them blind, baby,’” said a memorandum of law filed by the US and states.

The messages were “sent between Live Nation employees Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold on the workplace collaboration tool known as Slack,” the memorandum said. The “robbing them blind” message was sent by Baker.

“As of 2022 (when most of the messages were sent), Mr. Baker was a regional Director of Ticketing for venues including Live Nation’s MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre (a major concert venue),” the brief said. “Mr. Weinhold was also a regional Director of Ticketing for venues including Jiffy Lube Live (another major concert venue). Mr. Baker is now Head of Ticketing for Venue Nation (the component of Live Nation responsible for operating its amphitheaters), and Mr. Weinhold is a Senior Director of Ticketing for Live Nation’s Capital Region.”

The brief said that “Live Nation’s excessive prices for ancillary services,” like those boasted of in the internal messages, “are directly relevant to Plaintiffs’ claims” regarding how “Live Nation monetizes its monopoly position in the amphitheater market.”

The trial itself could be halted and restarted at a later date because the Trump administration decided to settle with Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The US and states filed their motion to exclude the evidence on March 8, the same day that the US and Live Nation informed the court of a proposed settlement.

The US/Live Nation settlement blindsided state attorneys general, who have said they intend to take over the lead role in litigating the case. State AGs criticized the settlement terms and asked for a mistrial to give them time to prepare for a new trial. The judge reportedly urged the state AGs and Live Nation to hold settlement talks and to be prepared to continue the trial next week if they don’t reach a settlement.

The exhibits that Live Nation wanted to exclude were posted on the court docket yesterday. “I charge $50 to park in the grass lmao,” said a 2022 message from Baker. “I charge $60 for closer grass.”

Baker wrote, “parking alone I did almost $200K more than 2019…with LESS shows.” He shared an image that showed an increase in premier parking revenue from $499,415 in 2019 to $666,230 in 2021 and added, “robbing them blind baby… that’s how we do.” Weinhold replied, “lol.”

Baker complained that a Dead & Company cancellation prevented him from taking second place in a sales competition. “Gimme a plaque dammit,” he wrote. In a discussion about ticket prices and promotions, Baker wrote, “I gouge them on ancil prices to make up for it.”

Weinhold wrote in another chat, “I have VIP parking up to $250 lol.” Baker replied, “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.” Weinhold then mentioned that he raised club prices to $125 and Baker replied, “I wonder if I can get $225.”

Live Nation said the messages aren’t reflective of the company’s general operations. “The Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate,” Live Nation said in a statement provided to Ars today. “Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly. Our business only works when fans have great experiences, which is why we’ve capped amphitheater venue fees at 15 percent and have invested $1 billion in the last 18 months into US venues and fan amenities.”

The US and states said Live Nation is downplaying Baker’s position at the company. “Defendants’ brief fails to mention this individual has since been promoted and now serves as Head of Ticketing for Venue Nation, with responsibilities relating to all of Live Nation’s venues,” the plaintiffs’ brief said.

Live Nation said in a March 8 filing that the messages aren’t relevant to the trial because they concerned fees for things like VIP club access, premier parking, or lawn chair rentals. “These products are not primary concert tickets, are sold separately from tickets, and are not part of the ticketing services markets at issue in this trial; they bear no relevance to the parties’ claims and defenses,” Live Nation told the court.

Live Nation said the only purpose of using the exhibits as evidence “is to portray Defendants in an unflattering light and inflame the jury against Defendants,” and that the exhibits “would confuse and mislead the jury, invite decision-making on an improper emotional basis, and cause unfair prejudice to Defendants.” The company also asked the court to bar plaintiffs “from questioning Ben Baker or any other witness about the substance of these Exhibits or about similar communications concerning ancillary, fan-facing products and services not encompassed by the markets and claims proceeding to trial.”

The brief from US and states said the messages about ancillary fees are highly relevant. The brief said the ancillaries “include facilities fees that Live Nation imposes on fans as part of the ticket price, portions of service fees that Live Nation imposes on fans in addition to the ticket price, and Live Nation’s sale of ‘onsite’ services, such as upgraded parking and access to the VIP lounge.”

The brief said that Live Nation boasted in its latest annual report that ancillary revenue was over $45 per fan for the year, and that “Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino has cited ‘onsite’ ancillary sales [as] a ‘high margin business’ enabled by Live Nation’s scale.”

Live Nation’s argument that ancillary services are irrelevant to trial questions about concert tickets “completely misses the point,” the plaintiffs said. “The fact that Live Nation uses the high-margin ancillary business to monetize the amphitheater monopoly at issue in this case is sufficient on its own to demonstrate relevance. Second, Live Nation is able to degrade the fan experience by charging excessive prices for ancillary services without fear of artists switching away, which demonstrates its monopoly power in the amphitheater market.”

Urging the judge to allow the chats as evidence, the brief said the messages “provide important context and insight to the jury of how Defendants in fact operate their businesses, potentially contrary to the testimony the witness may provide in the courtroom.”