The States Moved. Thursday. Here's What They Asked For.

More than 30 state attorneys general formally filed their remedies request with U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian on Thursday, May 22, 2026, according to Sports Business Journal and The Hill. This is the remedies phase — the part where winning the verdict actually means something.

The states want Ticketmaster gone from Live Nation. Full divestiture. Not a consent decree, not a behavioral promise — an actual forced sale of the subsidiary Live Nation acquired in 2010.

The Complete Remedies the States Are Seeking

According to the filing reported by Sports Business Journal, the states are asking Judge Subramanian for:

• Divestiture of Ticketmaster
• Limitations on Live Nation's re-entry into primary ticketing for an unspecified period after divestiture
• Prohibition on content conditioning — meaning Live Nation can't use its concert content as leverage to force venues onto Ticketmaster
• Limits on Ticketmaster enforcing or extending existing contracts
• Limits on future exclusive ticketing agreements
• Divestiture of Live Nation-owned large amphitheaters
• Limits on amphitheater market acquisitions
• Modification or early termination of agreements giving Live Nation control over large amphitheater concert bookings
• Limits on tying amphitheater access to promotion services
• Active compliance oversight, including monitoring and systems to detect evasion
• Money damages for overcharges paid by state residents who bought tickets at major concert venues
• Civil penalties under each state's statutes
• Disgorgement of ill-gotten profits

The remedies request goes well beyond a simple behavioral fix.

Where the DOJ Fits In — and Why It Matters

The Justice Department reached a proposed settlement with Live Nation a week into the trial in March 2026. That deal — which still requires Judge Subramanian's approval and must go through Tunney Act proceedings, meaning federal review of any DOJ settlement — would require Live Nation to create a more open ecosystem that competing ticketers could plug into, dissolve Oak View Group's preferred ticketing deal with Ticketmaster, and pay approximately $200 million in damages to the plaintiff states, according to Sports Business Journal.

No forced Ticketmaster sale. No amphitheater divestitures. A more flexible system, some money, and a handshake.

Judge Subramanian made clear in a conference last month that the DOJ settlement is the floor — the minimum punishment. The states are now arguing for the ceiling.

One Judge Decides Everything

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, sitting in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, now holds more leverage over the live music industry than anyone in America. He decides whether the DOJ's lighter settlement gets approved. He decides what remedies to impose on top of that. He decides whether this ends with a behavioral fix or an actual breakup.

Live Nation is NOT going quietly. According to the Daily Gazette, the company is seeking to throw out the jury verdict entirely on multiple grounds. An appeal is expected, which could drag this out for years.

What the Jury Actually Found

The April 2026 verdict wasn't narrow. The jury found Live Nation illegally monopolized both the ticketing market and the amphitheater market. They also found the company illegally tied amphitheater access to its concert promotion services — meaning venues that wanted Live Nation shows had to use Ticketmaster. That's a separate violation on top of the monopoly finding, per Wikipedia's case summary and the Daily Gazette.

Tying violations typically receive structural fixes rather than behavioral remedies alone.

What's Getting Lost in Coverage

Most outlets are framing this as a simple "states want breakup" story. The states are seeking disgorgement — meaning Live Nation has to cough up profits it shouldn't have earned. They're seeking civil penalties under individual state laws, which stack on top of federal penalties. They're going after amphitheaters specifically, not just the ticketing business. And they want affirmative oversight mechanisms built into any court order to prevent Live Nation from evading the decree the way it allegedly evaded the 2010 consent decree for over a decade.

The 2010 merger came with a 10-year behavioral promise. Live Nation allegedly ignored it.

What This Means for Regular People

If Judge Subramanian orders the Ticketmaster divestiture, you'd eventually have two separate companies competing for ticketing contracts — which is the actual mechanism that could lower fees. Not promised to. Could. Competition doesn't guarantee cheap tickets, but monopoly guarantees the opposite.

The DOJ's $200 million damages figure sounds large. Spread across 40-plus states and the millions of concert-goers who overpaid for years, it's a rounding error on your Ticketmaster convenience fee.

The next move belongs to Judge Subramanian. There is no timeline yet on when he rules.