Entertainment and Sports Promotion

Live Nation posts 4th-quarter results showing losses shrink; Ticketmaster operating profit. Higher ticket fees and the lack of large impairment charges helped fourth-quarter losses abate at concert and ticketing powerhouse Live Nation Entertainment.

A month before the new House of Blues opened on Lansdowne Street last year, concert impresario Don Law made a lofty prediction. As president of the New England division of Live Nation, which owns the House of Blues chain, Law said the venue could book as many as 300 shows its inaugural year, making it far busier than the space's previous clubs, Avalon and Axis. He came close - it hosted nearly 250 shows - but he did not foresee the latest news: Boston's House of Blues sold more tickets last year than any other club in the world. According to Pollstar, the concert industry's trade publication, the House of Blues sold 314,597 tickets in 2009, restoring luster to the city's diminished nightlife scene since Avalon and Axis closed in 2007 and outdrawing well-established venues in New York (Hammerstein Ballroom), San Francisco (the Fillmore), and Washington, D.C. (9:30 Club). ``Part of it is that location has been successful for 40 years, going back to the Tea Party,'' Law said of the No. 1

Ticketmaster reaches settlement with FTC to refund money for marked-up Springsteen tickets. Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s Ticketmaster unit has reached a settlement with federal regulators to refund money to people who bought marked-up tickets to 14 Bruce Springsteen concerts last year.

Ticketmaster reaches settlement with FTC to refund money for marked-up Springsteen tickets. Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s Ticketmaster unit has reached a settlement with federal regulators to refund money to people who bought marked-up tickets to 14 Bruce Springsteen concerts last year.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands of Bruce Springsteen fans will receive refunds for what the U.S. Federal Trade Commission called deceptive sales practices by TicketsNow, a ticket reselling unit of Ticketmaster, the FTC said on Thursday.

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - After nearly a year of intense scrutiny, political posturing and consumer outcry, it's time for the music business to come to grips with its new superpower: Live Nation Entertainment.

Barnes & Noble, Cigna, Apple, Borders, Weatherford Int'l are among market movers Tuesday. The following stocks were among those that moved substantially or traded heavily Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:

Liberty Media bids for larger stake in Live Nation after merger with Ticketmaster. Liberty Media is looking to more than double its stake in Live Nation Entertainment, the new company formed by the merger of concert promoter Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Live Nation, Ticketmaster merge after US Justice Department imposes major conditions. Concert promoter Live Nation and ticket-seller Ticketmaster consummated their merger on Monday after the U.S. Justice Department approved it with conditions meant to lower ticket prices for consumers.

Summary Box: Justice Department imposes conditions on Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. TICKETING DEAL: Concert promoter Live Nation and ticket-seller Ticketmaster got clearance from the Justice Department to merge. The government imposed certain conditions.

Feds, states win concessions due to antitrust concerns. The U.S. Justice Department and 17 states have intervened in the proposed merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, demanding changes that will conform to anti-trust laws and protect consumers.

Aid from US sports continued to flow for earthquake-ravaged Haiti on Friday, with boxing promoter Top Rank pledging a share of ticket sales to relief efforts.

Top Rank pledges dollar for every ticket sold this year to Haiti earthquake relief. Boxing promoter Top Rank will donate one dollar from every ticket it sells through the end of the year to Haitian earthquake relief.

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Rapper Lloyd Banks was arrested in Canada during the weekend after he and three associates allegedly assaulted and robbed a concert promoter.

Live Nation, Ticketmaster shareholders approve merger; transaction hinges on antitrust review. Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. and ticket-selling company Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. said Friday that their shareholders approved the two companies' merger, although the deal still awaits approval by U.S. antitrust authorities.

Arizona man who told victims he promoted Rolling Stones concerts arrested in $25M Ponzi scheme. A suburban Phoenix concert promoter has been accused of running a Ponzi scheme that bilked approximately 140 investors out of $25 million, federal authorities said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has a team of litigators prepared to oppose the merger of ticketing giant Ticketmaster and concert promoter Live Nation and could decide to take the deal to court, antitrust sources said on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hopes of salvaging the hotly anticipated fight between Manny Pacquiao and American Floyd Mayweather Jr. were dealt another blow on Wednesday when the Filipino filed a lawsuit against his opponent.

MANILA (Reuters) - Manny Pacquiao plans to sue Floyd Mayweather, the American's father and Golden Boy Promotions in the next few days following a row over doping procedures, the Filipino world champion said in a statement on Friday.

Manny Pacquiao is ready to fight Floyd Mayweather after all, but the venue looks to be a court room rather than a boxing ring thanks to Pacquiao's Christmas gift to Mayweather - a lawsuit.