Ahead of a possible trial date in March, Live Nation says it is preparing for the possibility of having to cede its exclusive ticketing contracts with venues.

The Department of Justice has brought suit against Live Nation alleging that the company, which also owns Ticketmaster, uses its position as the largest concert promoter, ticket seller and venue operator in the U.S. to undermine competition. As part of this, the suit alleges that the company is illegally pushing venues into exclusive ticketing contracts, and retaliating against those who choose to work with another ticketing operator. One of the governments proposed remedies has been separating Ticketmaster from Live Nation. However, speaking at an investor conference Wednesday, Live Nation President Joe Berchtold said he believes the alleged issue could be addressed by if venues are not allowed to exclusively auction off ticketing rights.

Most of the things that we think are the greatest concern around exclusivity, length of exclusivity, these are not things that are ultimately drivers of our success. Exclusivity and ticketing is driven by how venues, certainly in the US, how venues seek to monetize their rights. So the question isnt, are we doing anything bad by forcing exclusivity? Because were not forcing it. Were not demanding it. Thats what theyre auctioning off. So, you know, if theyre told that they cant auction off exclusivity, then fine, well adjust, Berchtold said.

Beyond preparing for that possibility, Berchtold said the larger business is operating as usual (the concert business has been booming) with a handful of executives focused on the DOJ regulatory issues and pending trial date.

We spend time on DOJ regulatory issues. More broadly, a handful of us at corporate, we do our best to keep the businesses focused on running the business. Everything that weve told our teams at Ticketmaster on the concert side, the venue side is you guys keep running. You guys should not wait for one minute about any of that. You guys just go out and compete hard, he said.