NATHANIEL MANOR—Whether you’ve experienced the visceral moment when the sunrise shines through its glass rooftop after a night of dancing or not, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Miami native that hasn’t heard of the institution forming the bedrock of the city’s nightlife scene: Club Space. But beyond the strobe lights and techno beats, the nightclub’s legal dispute with Insomniac highlights a growing battle between small local venue operators and behemoth national promoters, shaping the live entertainment industry one EDM track at a time.
For years, Club Space has been a cornerstone of Miami nightlife, famous as much for its marathon dance floor sets as for its cultural influence. In 2019, Club Space entered into a major partnership with Insomniac, a national electronic music promoter responsible for some of the world’s largest festivals. Under the deal, Insomniac acquired a 51% stake in Club Space, bringing with it significant capital, branding power, and access to national touring infrastructure.
The partnership proved to be commercially successful, increasing Club Space’s revenue by a reported 700% over the last six years. That success later fueled expansion in 2021 when the parties opened Factory Town, a multi-stage outdoor venue in Hialeah designed to host massive open-air events during major weekends like Halloween and Miami Music Week.
But while Miamians were being treated to more live EDM events, the partnership itself grew increasingly strained. By 2024, disputes began over ownership interests and revenue splits related to Factory Town; each side accused the other of attempting to renegotiate agreed-upon terms once the venue proved lucrative. Those disagreements led the parties into mediation in mid-2025, where they reached a confidential settlement intended to wind down certain aspects of their relationship while allowing a limited number of major events to proceed, including Halloween’s “Hocus Pocus” festival and Miami Music Week programming.
However, that settlement did not resolve the conflict. On August 4, 2025, Insomniac filed suit alleging that Club Space’s operators had breached their agreements by acting unilaterally and undermining the collaborative partnership established by the settlement. The operators of Club Space responded with a countersuit on September 24, disputing Insomniac’s claims and alleging that Insomniac obstructed their ability to operate and withheld cooperation in an effort to squeeze local partners out of a rapidly growing business venture.
As the litigation remains ongoing, both sides maintain they acted within their contractual rights. Yet the dispute highlights a much larger issue within the modern live entertainment industry. When local venues partner with national promoters, is the courtroom, rather than the dance floor, the next stop? Are corporate mega-promoters pushing local operators out of the scene they created with their own blood, sweat, and glitter-filled tears?
Across the country, the live entertainment industry has undergone rapid consolidation, with national promoters partnering with or acquiring significant stakes in local venues aimed at scaling events and maximizing revenue. While these relationships often begin as mutually beneficial collaborations, disputes may emerge as the business grows. Local operators contribute creative visions and cultural credibility, while national promoters bring the capital and infrastructure backing to bring those goals to life. But when growth accelerates in an industry built on creativity, questions of control, vision, and profit allocation are often left unanswered.
As industry research discovered, 2025 was a devastating year for nightclubs around the country, with many independent venues closing their doors due in part to the monopolization of corporate conglomerates. With less federal funding for independent live music venues, local owners often find themselves in financially precarious positions that open the door for corporate promoter buyouts. This is especially true in the post-pandemic world where local venues have suffered crippling losses, forcing many of them to shutter their doors or seek refuge from giants like Live Nation or Goldenvoice. But while they may stay afloat financially, their creativity suffers from the “homogenization” of its new corporate funder, thwarting the chances for these spaces to showcase emerging talent in favor of big names that draw in the masses… and their wallets. This trend has emerged across the country, from San Francisco to Nashville to Chicago and now to Miami.
The Club Space litigation unfolds against this larger shadow, as federal regulators continue to scrutinize live event space consolidation. In 2024, the Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, alleging monopolization, exclusionary conduct, and unlawful dominance across the industry. For Club Space, its operators have framed Insomniac’s suit as a similar monopolization attempt to “methodically and unilaterally” force them out of their own creation. Fans likewise view this as stripping away the authenticity and creativity that made Club Space the institution that it is, instead replacing it with a mainstream, cookie-cutter formula aimed at maximizing profits.
Miami has long been a city built on the innovation of its creatives who lived the scene from its inception, and Club Space has come to symbolize the crown jewel of that legacy. Although only time will tell the outcome of Club Space’s battle with Insomniac, one thing remains true: the modern live event industry is no longer just about who controls the bumping sound system or who fires the CO2 cannons—it’s about who controls the business behind the experience. Even the dance floor can quickly turn into a courtroom. As Miami’s nightlife continues to evolve, the legal disputes unfolding in our backyard continue to offer an early glimpse into the future of live entertainment litigation across the country.
