A fresh appeals court ruling has become the latest battleground in the antitrust case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, with both sides telling a federal judge it supports their position.

The plaintiff group — the District of Columbia and 33 states — submitted a letter to the court on July 22, 2026, citing a July 13 ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Cumulus Media New Holdings v. The Nielsen Co. (US) as supplemental authority. In that case, the Second Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction, finding that Nielsen had likely unlawfully tied the sale of its national market data to the purchase of its local market data — meaning a buyer who wanted one product was forced to take the other as well. The states argue the ruling supports their opposition to Live Nation's post-trial motions to overturn the jury verdict or secure a new trial.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster fired back the next day, July 23, telling the court the Cumulus decision actually backs their side. They argue that under Cumulus, a tying claim requires proof a buyer was coerced into purchasing an unwanted product, and there is no evidence of any artist unwillingly purchasing Live Nation's promotion services. They also contend that a tying claim requires proof of harm to competition in the tied market, and that rivals such as AEG had not been shown to suffer such harm.

The filings land three days before oral arguments scheduled for July 31, 2026, before Judge Arun Subramanian in the Southern District of New York.

The case, United States v. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and Ticketmaster LLC (docket 1:24-cv-03973), was filed on May 23, 2024. A jury delivered its verdict on April 15, 2026, finding that Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally monopolised US ticketing and amphitheatre markets, and that consumers were overcharged by $1.72 per ticket. The jury also found Live Nation unlawfully tied its artist promotion services to the use of its large amphitheatres — meaning artists had to accept those promotion services to play those venues.

Live Nation filed its post-trial motions on May 21, 2026, asking the judge to throw out the verdict or order a new trial, calling the jury's monopoly finding "legally indefensible" in its filing.

Separately, the Justice Department and Live Nation reached a settlement in which the company agreed to create a $280 million fund to settle claims or pay civil penalties to states.

The July 31 hearing will let both sides argue directly before Judge Subramanian on whether the verdict stands, whether a new trial is warranted, and how the Cumulus ruling fits into an already complex legal record. For ticket buyers who paid the $1.72 per-ticket overcharge the jury identified, the question of remedy remains tied to whether the verdict survives this next stage.