Roger Alford
Law School
Professor of Law
- Antitrust laws
- International law
- Comparative law
Alford in the News
Bloomberg
State AGs Took Live Nation Case to Finish Line for Music Lovers
April 29, 2026
Roger Alford is a law professor at Notre Dame Law School and former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.
The Hill
Jury finds Live Nation, Ticketmaster holds an illegal monopoly
April 16, 2026
One of the ex-officials, Roger Alford, called Wednesday’s decision a “massive win for the state AGs and an historic miss for the DOJ. The DOJ had the talent, the material, and the audience. It just lacked leadership with the courage to step on stage,” Alford said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal
Live Nation Illegally Monopolized Concerts and Ticketing, Jury Finds
April 16, 2026
“It is a major affordability win for the consumer and just a huge missed opportunity for the Department of Justice, which settled on the cheap in the manner that they did,” said Roger Alford, a former senior Justice Department official who has said lobbyists wield too much influence over how the Trump administration resolves antitrust cases.
Variety
Senators Call for Court to Scrutinize DOJ’s Live Nation-Ticketmaster Settlement
April 16, 2026
The settlement allegedly resulted in the firing of Slater’s top aides, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roger Alford and Deputy Assistant Attorney William Rinner, both of whom objected to the settlement. After his firing, Mr. Alford specifically warned that “Live Nation and Ticketmaster have paid a bevy of cozy MAGA friends to roam the halls of the [Antitrust Division] in defense of their monopoly abuses.”
The Hollywood Reporter
Live Nation Break Up Is Less Likely After DOJ Overhaul. What Would a Deal Look Like?
April 16, 2026
Signs point to an agreement to end the lawsuit without a trial. In August, Roger Alford, Slater’s former-second-in-command, described a “new normal” in which cases are “being resolved based on political connections, not the legal merits.”
The New York Times
Jury Finds Live Nation Acts as a Monopoly in a Victory for States
April 16, 2026
Roger Alford, who was ousted last year as the top deputy in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, and later criticized Live Nation for hiring people connected to the Trump administration to press its case, called the verdict a “major missed opportunity” for the federal government. “They had victory in their grasp and then they just walked away from it,” he said. “To the extent the Department of Justice is not going to exercise its responsibility to enforce the antitrust laws, we now have confidence that the state attorneys general and the private bar will pick up the baton.”
Newsweek
What the Ticketmaster Verdict Means for Future Ticket Prices
April 16, 2026
"This was a massive win for the state AGs and an historic miss for the DOJ. The DOJ had the talent, the material, and the audience. It just lacked leadership with the courage to step on stage,” Roger Alford, Notre Dame Law School professor and former principal deputy assistant attorney general, said in a statement sent to Newsweek.
Bloomberg
Live Nation Court Loss Leaves Breakup of Ticket Seller to Judge
April 16, 2026
“This was a massive win for the state AGs and an historic miss for the DOJ,” said Roger Alford, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who was the Trump administration’s No. 2 antitrust official until he was fired last summer. “The DOJ had the talent, the material, and the audience. It just lacked leadership with the courage to step on stage.”
CBS News
Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally monopolized big concert venues, jury rules
April 16, 2026
Now, a judge could eventually reject the settlement in light of the ruling on the states' complaint, according to Roger Alford, a professor at the Notre Dame Law School.
Rolling Stone
Live Nation Operated as a Monopoly, Jury Finds
April 16, 2026
Roger Alford, a law professor at Notre Dame and a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, tells Rolling Stone, “After decades of trying to address Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s abuse of monopoly power, we hope that those abuses will now end.”
NPR
Jury finds that Live Nation acted as a monopoly and overcharged ticket buyers
April 16, 2026
Notre Dame law professor Roger Alford commended the states for seeing the antitrust trial through. "This was a massive win for the state AGs and an historic miss for the DOJ," Alford wrote. "The DOJ had the talent, the material, and the audience. It just lacked leadership with the courage to step on stage."
The New York Times
Google is back in court
September 23, 2025
While the government is “swinging for the fences,” Google is taking a “very, very minimalist approach,” said Roger Alford, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who until recently was part of the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
Yahoo
Trump antitrust cop has a message for companies: ‘We’re going to be very serious’ about illegal competition
May 16, 2025
“There was, I think, an assumption that the Trump administration was going to be like the Bush administration,” the US Justice Department’s principal antitrust division deputy, Roger Alford, said during a Tuesday panel discussion at George Washington Law School.
Bloomberg
New DOJ Antitrust Chief Builds Team From Prior Administrations
March 13, 2025
Slater, who was sworn in Wednesday as assistant attorney general for antitrust, will name as her top deputy Roger Alford, according to the people, who asked not to identified discussing confidential information. Alford is a Notre Dame University law professor who served in the DOJ during Trump’s first term as president as a liaison with international antitrust enforcers. Alford’s new role will put him first in line to take the lead on any matters in which Slater may be recused.
WSBT TV
RealPage software under scrutiny, accused of helping set unfair rent prices
Video
December 11, 2024
Notre Dame Professor of Law Roger Alford said, "In the anti-trust world, we call that a hub and spoke cartel, or a price fixing scheme that uses a central hub for the other participants to engage.
CNBC
Visa and Mastercard execs grilled by senators on ‘duopoly,’ high swipe fees
November 20, 2024
“When we think of consumer spending, credit card swipe fees are not the first thing that comes to mind, yet those fees are a surprisingly large part of consumer spending,” Notre Dame University law professor Roger Alford said. “Last year, the average American spent $1,100 in swipe fees, more than they spent on pets, coffee or alcohol.”
The Conversation
Robo price-fixing: Why the Justice Department is suing a software company to stop landlords colluding on rents
November 18, 2024
Roger Alford, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame
Bloomberg
AI Antitrust Enforcement Supports Consumers, National Security
November 01, 2024
The Hill
What to know about Google's second antitrust trial
September 13, 2024
However, Roger Alford, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, suggested the search decision could be significant when it comes to defining the market in the ad tech case.
The New York Times
U.S. Prepares to Challenge Google’s Online Ad Dominance
September 09, 2024
“Everything that’s not behind a paywall is free to the reader,” said Roger Alford, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, “but it costs the publishers of the websites, and the advertisers of those websites, significant amounts of money in order to present their product for free.”
The Washington Post
Why is rent so high? The Justice Dept. blames a tech firm’s algorithm.
August 26, 2024
“With the RealPage lawsuit, the DOJ has declared that algorithmic price fixing will be subject to the same condemnation as other price-fixing schemes,” said Roger Alford, a former Justice Department antitrust lawyer who now teaches at the University of Notre Dame.
The Washington Post
Google monopoly ruling shows 19th-century law can police Big Tech
August 09, 2024
“This decision generates momentum for those other cases in the coming months,” said Notre Dame Law School professor Roger Alford, who is consulting for state attorneys general in a second anti-monopoly case against Google, involving its role in the digital advertising market.
The Hill
‘Seismic’ Google decision boosts Big Tech antitrust cases
August 07, 2024
“This is one of the most important monopoly cases that the Department of Justice has brought since the Microsoft case,” said Roger Alford, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, referring to the landmark antitrust decision against Microsoft in 2001.
USA Today
How Google's huge defeat in antitrust case could change how you search the internet
August 06, 2024
The case is the most significant victory for the Justice Department in a monopoly case in decades, said Notre Dame Law School professor Roger Alford, who served in the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
Associated Press
Google loses massive antitrust case over its search dominance
August 05, 2024
"The court confirmed what almost everyone in the industry already knew: that Google is a monopoly and is abusing its power to harm consumers and enrich itself," said Roger Alford, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.
The Wall Street Journal
The DOJ Asks: Does the Landmark Real-Estate Settlement Go Far Enough?
July 14, 2024
Roger Alford, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who previously served at the Justice Department, said he thinks the department will likely want to take further action before the election in November.
“They want to lay down a marker that, ‘This is a real concern for us,’” said Alford, who also testified as an expert witness for the plaintiffs.
Reuters
Biden faces uphill battle in spat with Microsoft over Activision deal
December 09, 2022
"Vertical merger challenges are really difficult to win so it will be an uphill battle for the FTC," said Roger Alford, who teaches law at the University of Notre Dame.
Wired
Actually, the Antitrust Case Against Facebook Is Very Much Alive
June 29, 2021
“I think they can go into sufficient detail to overcome a motion to dismiss, going forward,” said Roger Alford, a law professor at Notre Dame who served in the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice during the Trump administration.