Investing.com -- On Monday evening at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by music icon Kid Rock, signed an executive order cracking down on price gouging and ticket scalping in the entertainment market.

The order mandates the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice to enforce competition laws, ensure price transparency, and rigorously apply the Better Online Ticket Sales Act.

Additionally, it requires coordination with state officials to crack down on deceptive and anti-competitive practices in the secondary ticket market.

The order also calls for a report within 180 days on enforcement actions and potential regulatory or legislative recommendations to protect consumers and artists.

The new Trump order most closely impacts ticket giant Live Nation Entertainment Inc (NYSE:LYV), and analysts at Rosenblatt see the news as “partially helpful” for the company.

“Scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking them head-on,” Live Nation said in a statement. “We support any meaningful resale reforms — including more enforcement of the BOTS act, caps on resale prices, and more."

Rosenblatt analyst Barton Crockett said “[s]calper-driven bots are a clear negative for Live Nation -- sucking up inventory, clamming up ticket sales systems, creating fan frustration often misdirected at Live Nation, highlighted by the furor over Taylor Swift ticket sales.” 

However, the analyst also points to language “thematically consistent” with a Biden-era antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation.

This, according to Crockett, is “tonally inconsistent with investor hopes that Trump would adopt a more pro-business stance that could lead to dropping or settling this case.”

The analyst notes that antitrust mentioned in the order is “suboptimal” for hopes that the Trump administration drops the antitrust suit again the company. That said, it might not mean much given the fact that Trump's new DOJ antitrust head Gail Slater has not commented on the case.

“Her general comments are suggestive of greater openness to settlements than her predecessors under Biden,” the analyst added. “But the LYV case has progressed since she was appointed. Our take is that a settlement still makes sense, as LYV has operated under a consent decree in the past, and a settlement would allow Trump to claim a victory without risking a legal defeat in an arena that has now been stepped up in political importance with the EO.”

The analyst maintained a Buy rating and $174 price target on Live Nation while updating estimates to account for seasonally lower assumptions for 1Q25 and higher assumptions for 4Q25.

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