NIVA Applauds Portland City Council for Blocking Live Nation Expansion and Defending Local Live Performance
Following the federal and state monopoly verdict, cities are empowered to protect their fans and live entertainment economies from market consolidation
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 28, 2026) The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) applauds the Portland City Council for passing a landmark ordinance that will prevent the development of a proposed Live Nation–backed venue. We believe it will protect the city’s independent live entertainment ecosystem from the impacts of monopolistic consolidation.
By approving a buffer between large performance venues, the Council has taken decisive action to block the proposed 3,300-capacity project near Merrill Auditorium and safeguard the local venues, promoters, artists, and small businesses that actually power Portland’s live entertainment economy.
For months, Portland’s independently owned and operated live entertainment community, led by the Maine Music Alliance, warned that the proposed Live Nation venue could negatively impact local stages, concentrate market power, and redirect economic benefits out of the community. Tonight’s vote reflects the Council’s recognition that independent stages, artists, and fans must be protected as the cultural and economic fabric of the city.
This moment comes just weeks after a federal jury confirmed Live Nation’s illegal monopolistic and anti-competitive conduct. Now, Portland has made clear that city leaders now have the resources and power to consider competitiveness in local decisionmaking.
“Illegal monopolization in the live entertainment industry is playing out city by city, venue by venue, but Portland saw potential trouble on the horizon and acted,” says Stephen Parker, Executive Director of NIVA. “Their community spoke up, their leaders listened, and together they showed that when market power moves to corporatize culture, cities can step in and stop it. We urge local leaders nationwide to use the tools available to them to learn from what happened in Portland this week.”
“This decision shows that Portland is a city where community voices truly matter,” says Lauren Wayne, President, State Theatre Presents. “Our local music scene has been built from the ground up by independent venues, artists, and promoters, and that foundation is a big part of why Portland is such a special place to live and experience live music. In a dense, peninsula city like Portland, strategic buffers between major venues help prevent overconcentration and ensure that growth is additive, not extractive. While many of us work with partners across the industry, it’s important that growth happens in a way that strengthens, not fragments, the existing ecosystem. This is what makes the Portland community so strong.”
“We applaud City Council for taking the time to truly listen to their constituents,” said Scott Mohler, Executive Director, Maine Music Alliance. “By letting this process play out in a deliberate manner, it ensured an outcome that is in the best interest of the creative economy and all those who built it. This decision hopefully lets other municipalities know that you can fight these battles, and you can win. A community united is more powerful than any corporation.”
ABOUT NIVA
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is the national trade association representing thousands of independent live entertainment venues, festivals, promoters, and more. NIVA works to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of live entertainment. NIVA empowers members and their teams with member benefits, advocacy on the state, local, and federal levels, an annual industry-leading conference, and more.
NIVA led the Save Our Stages campaign, culminating in landmark legislation in 2020 that established the $16.25 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, the largest arts investment in U.S. history.
NIVA is committed to equity in its support of independent stages. It seeks to create and encourage opportunities for venues, promoters, and festivals owned, operated, and staffed by people of color, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people with disabilities.
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