With the U.S. Justice Department’s long-looming antitrust trial now less than a week away, Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary have filed a motion for postponement. The companies’ submission on Sunday asked that the trial date be delayed as an appeals court examines two legal questions arising from Judge Arun Subramanian’s rulings last week, which they hold could “dramatically change and substantially narrow the upcoming jury trial.”

On Wednesday, Subramian’s review of the case presented by the Justice Department and 39 states advanced the suit to trial, upholding some key claims and excising others. Subramanian ruled that claims related to Live Nation’s dominance in the large amphitheatre market and connected “artist-facing” behaviors will proceed to trial, as illegal “tying” arrangements may force artists into promotion agreements with Live Nation for access to the venues under its control. The summary judgment, delivered in response to a motion for dismissal by Live Nation’s legal counsel, also upheld claims related to Ticketmaster’s alleged monopoly in the venue-facing ticketing market, and allowed state-level claims reflecting the suit’s initial scope to proceed.

Live Nation’s motion for interlocutory appeal hinges on Subramian’s determination that the plaintiffs “do not need evidence of actual price discrimination to prove their alleged targeted customer markets in this actual monopolization case,” and that plaintiffs could “proceed with a tying claim without a properly defined market for the tied product.” The companies argue that proceedings should be postponed until the court determines whether these questions are grounds for an appeal, given their foundational importance to the Justice Department’s charges.

“If either or both legal questions were decided the other way, the nature and scope of the upcoming trial would fundamentally change,” Live Nation’s filing reads. “Of the three sets of claims this Court identified as proceeding to trial after summary judgment, the first two would be effectively eliminated. The Court should not empanel a jury to try a complex, month-long case when that trial (at least as currently envisioned) may well prove wholly unnecessary.”

The Justice Department filed its antitrust suit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster in 2024 for alleged anticompetitive practices affecting artists, venues, fans and start-ups seeking to enter the industry, driven by a flywheel of mutually reinforcing business interests. Since its initial framing, the potential implication of the hard-fought suit has been the breakup of the two companies, which the DOJ suggested have come to control an estimated 70% of the live-event market and ticket sales since their 2010 merger.

After last week’s ruling, Live Nation’s lead counsel urged against breaking up the companies in a since-deleted blog post titled “It’s Time to Move On.” “The claim that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are responsible for high concert ticket prices and fees was, and is, false,” wrote Dan Wall, EVP of corporate and regulatory affairs, per Variety. “On the eve of trial, DOJ has no evidence of that, and its argument has become that it doesn’t need to prove higher prices. We’ll see. But the bigger fiction was that this case could or should result in a court order breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. We’ve always said that was implausible and improper, and yesterday’s summary judgment decision should put that false promise to rest.”

As of now, the Justice Department’s antitrust suit will proceed to jury selection on March 2. Live Nation’s legal battles persist in several other cases, including the Federal Trade Commission’s suit for illegal ticket resale practices. Read more here.