Live Nation Entertainment just had its biggest summer concert season in history.
The company’s concert business reported its highest quarterly attendance to date, in the three months ended Sept. 30, with more than 44 million fans attending 11,000 events. Total revenue for the quarter hit $6.2 billion, with more than $5 billion of that coming from the concert business, up 63 percent from a year earlier. Net income was $397 million, up from $86.8 million a year earlier.
Even in a tough economic environment, Live Nation said it had not seen an impact on consumer spending, with ancillary per fan spending up 20 percent to 30 percent compared to 2019, across Live Nation venues in the U.S. and Europe.
“Fans around the world continue prioritizing their spend on live events, particularly concerts. Despite varying economic headwinds including inflation, we have not seen any pullback in demand, as on-sales, on-site spending, advertising and all other operating metrics continue showing strong year-on-year growth,” Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation, stated.
Stadium concerts by Bad Bunny, The Weeknd and Red Hot Chili Peppers contributed to overall global demand. However, Live Nation said it was saying “double-digit attendance growth” over 2019 at all venues, including clubs, theaters, amphitheaters, arenas, stadiums and festivals.
Live Nation’s ticketing business, Ticketmaster, also saw an increase in sales, with the company hitting an all-time high in reported fee-bearing gross transacted value reaching $7.3 billion, up 62 percent from 2019.
The company touched on legislation that passed in New York in June which requires ticket sellers, including Ticketmaster, to list all fees upfront. Live Nation said it wants to see the law expanded nationwide.
“We advocated for the all-in pricing mandate passed in New York earlier this year, which requires face-value prices and fees to be shown upfront – and we support the FTC mandating this nationally,” Rapino said.
“We operate ticketing marketplaces in more than 30 countries around the world and have seen all-in pricing adopted successfully in many countries when mandated across the board. This only works if all ticketing marketplaces adopt together, so that consumers truly can accurately compare as they shop for tickets,” he continued.
The company expects continued growth ahead. Ticket sales for 2023 are currently “pacing even stronger” than they were headed into 2022, excluding sales from rescheduled shows.