Press Coverage January 2, 2026

Antitrust Cases Ahead: Live Nation, Middleman On Trial

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Barbara T. Sicalides

Barbara Sicalides, a partner in Troutman Pepper Locke’s Business Litigation Practice Group, was quoted in the January 2, 2026 Law360 article, “Antitrust Cases Ahead: Live Nation, Middleman On Trial.”

  • Troutman Pepper Locke antitrust partner Barbara T. Sicalides says the Agri Stats litigation is of a piece with the array of cases alleging hotels, landlords and others across a range of industries are using pricing recommendation algorithms to fix prices. The DOJ itself has targeted RealPage and multiple landlords, netting settlements with several, including RealPage.
  • While Agri Stats uses industry reports, not instantaneous algorithms, Sicalides says it’s still a middleman that allegedly shares competitively sensitive information. She described such intermediary cases as a test of the law and companies’ ability to hire a third party to help make them more efficient.
  • “These cases are seeking to shift the law on hub and spoke conspiracy,” Sicalides said, referring to a theory of antitrust liability in which one company serves as the central hub connecting individual participants into the wider conspiracy. If the cases are successful, she warned, it would “create more inefficiency in the market” because companies wouldn’t want to rely on those intermediaries.
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