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Key US and UK markets offer Live Nation boost in 2021

Live Nation Entertainment witnessed a significant boost in revenue for the year 2021, thanks to the restart of concerts and live shows in key markets such as the US and UK.

In total, revenue amounted to $6.27bn (£4.68bn/€5.62bn) in 2021, compared to $1.86bn in 2020.

Across the 12 months in 2021, revenue for concerts came in at $4.7bn compared to $1.47bn in a pandemic-hit 2020. Ticketing revenue amounted to $1.13bn for the same period, compared to $188.4m the year prior. Sponsorship and advertising brought in $411.9m, while other and eliminations amounted to roughly $100,000.

Operating income for 2021 amounted to $417m compared to £1.65bn in 2020, with adjusted operating income falling to $323.9m compared to $1.02bn the year prior. This means an improved full year operating income, up $1.2bn versus 2020.

Revenue in the fourth quarter was particularly strong compared to the same period in 2020, understandably. For concerts, reported revenue came in at $2.044bn, compared to $178.4m in Q4 in 2020.

Ticketing revenue improved in the fourth quarter compared to 2020, up from $10.9m to $487.7m.

In a release accompanying the financial results, president and chief executive of LNE, Michael Rapino, said that “restarting our concerts business in the second half of the year” resulted in 17,000 concerts attended by 35 million fans in 2021, mostly in the US and UK markets.

Rapino added: “In the final five months of the year, in the US and the UK, we had over 15 million fans attend our outdoor events – festivals, stadiums and amphitheatres – nearly 25% higher than during the same period in 2019.”

Operating income amounted to $124.5m in the fourth quarter, covering concerts, ticketing, sponsorship and advertising, other and eliminations, and corporate expenditure. Adjusted operating income amounted to $160.3m.

“With the strength in ticket sales, not surprisingly, we are seeing every leading indicator for 2022 up relative to 2019, reinforcing our confidence that we will have a record year in 2022 that sets us up for growth over the next several years,” said Rapino.

He added: “For concert ticket sales, through mid-February we have sold 45 million tickets for shows this year, up 45% from this point in 2019.

“Our sponsorship and advertising pipeline is similarly setting up for a strong 2022, up double-digits through mid-February relative to 2019, with over 80% of our planned revenue for the year.

“Taking this strong pipeline and combining it with our more efficient cost structure, I expect 2022 to deliver record financial performance overall and for each division.”

Image: Roger Harris on Unsplash