The bid-rigging charges brought against Oak View Group (OVG) CEO Tim Leiweke earlier this week grew out of the federal government’s 10-month regulatory review of the merger between Legends Hospitality and ASM Global last year, multiple sources have confirmed to Billboard.
During that review, emails surfaced between Leiweke and former Legends CEO Shervin Mirhashemi that government officials allege show Leiweke conspiring to “rig the bidding to develop, manage, and operate an arena” at the University of Texas in Austin. Leiweke has denied any wrongdoing in the case and vowed to fight the charges.
The government also uncovered evidence during the review that OVG’s venue management division encouraged its clients to sign ticketing agreements with Ticketmaster while failing to disclose that OVG was paid an upfront payment of $20 million in November 2022, along with $7 million in annual payments, to steer clients to the ticketing giant, according to documents attached to OVG’s non-prosecution agreement with the government over the big-rigging charges.
OVG executives allegedly lobbied the company’s venue clients on behalf of Ticketmaster “to remain or become the exclusive ticketing service provider for venues that OVG360 managed,” documents attached to the non-prosecution agreement read. “When OVG advocated in this way for [Ticketmaster], OVG did not disclose to the venue owners that OVG had entered into an agreement with [Ticketmaster] that called for OVG to receive payments in connection with ticket sales,” it adds.
It’s unclear how the government plans to use the information it uncovered about Ticketmaster, as the criminal indictment against Leiweke makes no mention of the ticketing company. However, in federal court filings in the 2024 civil antitrust lawsuit the Department of Justice brought against Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation, Leiweke was described as a “pimp,” “hammer” and “protector” for Ticketmaster, though neither OVG nor Leiweke are defendants in that case.
Legal experts tell Billboard that the criminal case against Leiweke is not particularly strong and predicated on a series of business maneuvers that seem relatively mundane in the cutthroat live entertainment business. The charges were, however, serious enough that the board of directors for both OVG and Legends signed non-prosecution agreements with the Department of Justice. As part of its agreement, OVG also agreed to pay $15 million in penalties, while Legends agreed to pay $1.5 million.
OVG was not being prosecuted, writes Omeed A. Assefi, deputy assistant attorney general, because the company “cooperated and has agreed to continue to cooperate with the Antitrust Division in any ongoing criminal investigation of the conduct of the Company and its business partners.”
As part of its non-prosecution agreement, OVG agreed to “use its best efforts to make available for interviews or testimony any current or former owners, officers, directors, employees, agents, and consultants of OVG,” the document reads. This obligation includes “sworn testimony before a federal grand jury or in federal criminal trials,” with one exception — Leiweke’s daughter Francesca Bodie, the company’s COO.
“OVG shall not be required to make individuals available to provide interviews, testimony, or other cooperation against immediate family members,” the agreement reads.
Legends has paid $5 million total as a result of multiple federal probes into the company. Last year, the company agreed to pay $3.5 million in fines after government attorneys uncovered evidence that Mirhashemi violated mandatory waiting period laws — known as “gun-jumping” charges — as part of its $2.3 billion acquisition of ASM Global.
On November 3, 2023, Legends agreed to purchase ASM from owners AEG and Onex and submitted a notification to the Justice Department as part of the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Act, which requires advanced notification of corporate mergers. According to the HSR Act, merging companies must adhere to a 30-day waiting period prior to closing the transaction while the government decides whether or not to open a second, more in-depth investigation and study the deal’s potential impact on competitiveness.
During the secondary review, which began on Jan. 8, 2024, Legends was barred from operating ASM Global or sharing sensitive information with ASM executives, but Legends officials reportedly broke the rules three times, including by changing an ASM bid for a building contract to include Legends.
The gun-jumping charges led to a wider review of Legend’s contracts, including its involvement in OVG’s bid to build the Moody Center Arena in Austin, Texas, sources tell Billboard — ultimately leading the DOJ to review the emails between Leiweke and Mirhashemi.
Leiweke previously served as the CEO of former ASM Global owner AEG and was one of the co-founders of the company, previously known as AEG Facilities, which he left in 2013 after a fallout with AEG owner Phil Anschutz. Working with partner Irving Azoff and with financial backing from investment firm Silver Lake, Leiweke would begin building OVG, first by acquiring media companies like Pollstar and Venues Today and eventually by leading an acquisition of venue management firm Spectra. OVG would go on to build and operate a number of top-tier arenas, including Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, UBS Arena in New York, Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif., Co-Op Live in Manchester, U.K., and dozens of other clients through its management companies and groups like the Arena Alliance.
On Wednesday, Leiweke announced that he was stepping down as OVG’s CEO but would continue on with the company as vice chair of its board of directors.
Live Nation declined to comment for this story. Representatives for OVG, Legends and the DOJ did not respond to requests for comment.