2023 in review – September

Opening night for $2.3bn Las Vegas Sphere 

September 29 saw the opening night at the world’s most talked about venue as The Sphere in Las Vegas staged its first concert, with U2 beginning their residency. The $2.3bn (€2.7bn/$2.8bn) venue can hold more than 18,000 fans with floor-to-ceiling graphics. The opening event was attended by a string of A-list stars including Sir Paul McCartney, LeBron James and Matt Damon. Here’s what people made of it.

See Tickets auction begins

During the month, reports first surfaced that Vivendi is looking to sell See Tickets, the ticketing company it acquired more than a decade previously. Paris-headquartered Vivendi was already working with advisers on a potential disposal of parts of its Vivendi Village subsidiary. Vivendi had concluded that its live entertainment businesses do not have sufficient scale to be able to compete with industry giants such as Live Nation and AEG.

Vivid Seats heads to Japan

Online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats expanded into Japan with the acquisition of Wavedash, a fellow online ticket marketplace headquartered in Tokyo. Vivid agreed to acquire Wavedash for an enterprise value of roughly ¥8.7 billion (£48m/€56m/$61m), with the deal completing in September. Vivid said: “With approximately $35m of revenue in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023, and accretive EBITDA margins, we are excited about the strategic and financial impact Wavedash will bring.”

Paris 2024’s “on-the-water” tickets

On Location launched a series of new hospitality packages for next year’s Olympic Games, including a first-ever “on-the-water” experience for the Paris 2024 sailing events. The Gold Level Rooftop Package for the sailing programme in Marseille offers the opportunity to watch the competitions directly on the water for the first time. A fleet of private boats, led by a professional skipper and sporting expert to provide commentary, will put guests right in the field of play. The price tag? €2,750 per person!