Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507060077
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
A target of widely publicized protests by the rock band Pearl Jam and by consumer groups, the Los Angeles-based company had been under investigation by the department's antitrust division for alleged anticompetitive and monopoly practices.
The company sold 55 million tickets last year for an estimated $1.6 billion. Pearl Jam claimed the company priced tickets too high for the band's teenage fans.
In a two-sentence statement, the Justice Department said it had informed the parent company, Ticketmaster Holdings Group Inc., that ``it is closing its antitrust investigation into that firm's contracting practices.''
No lawsuit was filed, so the case is over. But the antitrust division warned industry participants that the government ``will continue to monitor competitive developments in the ticketing industry.'' That kind of statement means the government would have to see actions or evidence it currently cannot find before taking any action.
Department spokesman James Sweeney declined to elaborate on the reasons for the government's decision.
Ticketmaster spokesman Larry Solters said the Justice Department's decision confirmed his company's belief in the American system.
``Its investigation, which was ... exploited by self-serving special interest groups, demonstrates that these claims have no merit,'' Solters said. ``Ticketmaster does not set ticket prices or determine touring schedules. We simply provide consumers with a convenient way of buying tickets.''
At ETM Entertainment Network, which ticketed Pearl Jam's tour this summer, Peter Schniedermeier said the Justice Department's decision came as no surprise and that he's not worried because he believes the market will take care of itself.
``We're doing the industry much differently than the competition,'' he said. At his company, ``It's definitely business as usual.''
Ticketmaster earned an estimated $240 million last year from its service fees on tickets sold for 3,000 locations around the nation.
Two-thirds of the nation's 10 million concert arena seats are governed by exclusivity contracts between Ticketmaster and arena managers, according to the industry newsletter Pollstar.
Pearl Jam fought with Ticketmaster last year over the service charge it tacks on the price of tickets.he band decided to tour without Ticketmaster, but canceled the plans after learning it wouldn't be easy. Two of its members testified against the agency last year at a congressional hearing.
The Justice Department's refusal to act against Ticketmaster was blasted by Ray Garman, president of Fillmore Mercantile Bank of Philadelphia, which financed the Pearl Jam tour and developed the software to sell tickets for it.
``The Justice Department did not step up to the plate but rather handed the keys back to the monopolists, shutting us out,'' Garman said. He complained that he had been scheduled to provide Justice lawyers today with actual economic data about Ticketmaster's impact on the industry that his company had derived from working on the Pearl Jam tour.
``I find it amazing they would choose to make this decision the evening before receiving that real data and chose to make that decision based on their theoretical models,'' Garman said.
by CNB