Live Nation Jury to Weigh Proof of ‘Competitor’ Versus ‘Bully’

A New York jury set to decide whether Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and its Ticketmaster unit should be broken up heard the company defend itself as a “fierce competitor” while the states suing over antitrust concerns called it a “monopolistic bully.”

Live Nation “kept digging the moat deeper around the monopoly castle” for live events by locking up concert venues with lengthy exclusive contracts and threatening any that switched ticket sellers, Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer for 33 states and Washington DC, said Thursday in a closing statement following a six-week trial.

“We need you to hold them accountable,” Kessler ...