Form- Versus Effects-Based Approaches to the Abuse of a Dominant Position : The Case of Ticketmaster Ireland

The paper applies a form-based and an effects-based approach to determine whether allegations that TicketMaster Ireland's exclusive contracts with the two leading promoters on the island of Ireland resulted in high or excessive prices for the ticketing services provided by TicketMaster Ireland to consumers. The form-based approach strongly supported the allegations of high prices based on exclusive contracts, while the effects-based analysis found, correctly, that countervailing buyer power, efficiencies and other factors meant that TicketMaster Ireland was neither dominant nor that its conduct was anticompetitive. The paper concludes with some suggestions as to the more general implications for the burden of proof in such exclusive contract cases