Live Nation Entertainment has posted a strong Q2 with a solid 40% increase in revenue to hit $4.4bn (£3.62bn/€4.3bn) compared to 2019, and an improvement on $575.9m in Q2 last year.
Concerts revenue amounted to $3.5bn while ticketing brought in $575m. Sponsorship and advertising brought in $263.8m while other eliminations amounted to a loss of $2.7m bringing the total to $4.4bn for Q2.
Operating income amounted to $318.7m compared to a $127.3m loss in the same period the year prior, an 86% increase. Adjusted operating income amounted to $479.6m compared to $9.7m for Q2 in 2021, a 50% increase.
During the second quarter, Live Nation promoted over 12,500 concerts for 33.5 million fans, which is over 20% more compared to the second quarter of 2019. Of the six million additional fans this quarter, five million came from International markets, driven by the acquisition of OCESA and the reopening of most global markets following the pandemic.
Transacted fee-bearing ticket volume was up 48% to 77 million and transacted GTV (gross transaction value) was up 76% to $7.3bn. Live Nation said this was its highest fee-bearing GTV quarter ever and that 75% of this growth came from concerts.
Live Nation also said that its transacted ticket pricing globally was approximately 15% higher for the first half of the year, compared to 2019.
“Even with strong primary ticketing sales and increased pricing, demand for live events on our secondary ticketing marketplace remains high, and as a result, our GTV more than doubled for the quarter relative to Q2 2019,” said Michael Rapino, president and chief executive of Live Nation.
Sponsorship also benefited Live Nation, driving a 74% growth in revenue compared to Q2 in 2019. Festival sponsorship performed well during the first six months of the year, more than doubling compared to 2019. This is in part thanks to nine new festival additions Live Nation’s Mexico and Latin American businesses, which accounted for roughly half of the increase alongside sponsorship growth for North America festivals.
Rapino added: “As we look forward to the second half of 2022 and into 2023, we have sold over 100 million tickets for our concerts this year, more than we sold for the entire year in 2019. Fan demand remains strong, with continued growth in ticket buying and on-site spending. And given the long-term nature of most of our sponsorship partnerships, our planned sponsorship for the year is now fully committed.
“As we prepare for 2023, everywhere globally is open for concerts, and we are actively routing into all markets with the largest artist pipeline we have ever seen at this point in the year. For the 2023 tours we have put on sale so far, all signs continue pointing to strong fan demand.”
Image: Antoine J. on Unsplash
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