A federal judge in New York denied Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s attempt to narrow the Justice Department’s antitrust case seeking to break off Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. after the companies merged more than 15 years ago.

The lawsuit was filed in May 2024, alleging “monopolization and other unlawful conduct that thwarts competition in markets across the live entertainment industry.” Live Nation had said that “The complaint — and even more so the press conference announcing it — attempt to portray Live Nation and Ticketmaster as the cause of fan frustration with the live entertainment industry.

The Justice Department, along with 30 state and district attorneys general, sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster last year, claiming the related companies exercise monopolistic control over U.S. performance venues.

While Live Nation-Ticketmaster may have entered the year, as they called it, “hopeful” that Donald Trump’s presidency would bode well for its fight against the massive antitrust lawsuit filed by federal prosecutors last May,