As it has projected for many months, Live Nation racked up the biggest summer numbers in its history for the third quarter of 2022, on track to a record year.
According to its earnings report released today, revenue for the quarter was $6.2 Billion, up 63% (over 2019, the last relatively normal year), adjusted operating income was $621 Million, up 45%, and it tracked its highest quarterly attendance ever as over 44 million fans attended 11,000 events in Q3, up 40%.
President and CEO Michael Rapino said, “As we expected, our performance this quarter was led by our concert business, which held 11 thousand concerts for 44 million fans across nearly 50 countries. As a result, we generated over $5 billion of revenue and $281 million of AOI for the quarter, up 67% and 44% respectively, relative to Q3 2019.
“Shows of all types continue having strong demand, with double-digit attendance growth across all venue types including clubs, theaters, amphitheaters, arenas, stadiums and festivals. Stadiums had a particularly strong quarter with our fan count more than tripling to nearly nine million fans, driven by the global demand to see top acts across a number of genres and audiences such as Bad Bunny, The Weeknd and Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
Its Ticketmaster division is also having a powerhouse 2022, with more than 115 million tickets sold for shows this year, up 37% from this point in 2019. The report also states that “greater market pricing helping to shift $550 million of additional payments to artists this year, continuing our efforts to help artists get the full value from their shows.”
Rapino said, “On Ticketmaster, a point on some recent press regarding ticketing fees. We will continue to advocate for fee transparency in live event ticketing. 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. 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.”
Looking at its operated venues, ancillary per fan spending was up 20 – 30% on average over 2019 across U.S. and Europe amphitheaters, festivals, and clubs and theaters, with fan attendance up 14% over the same period in 2019, with more than 50 million fans expected for the year at those locations.
Rapino concluded, “Clearly 2022 has been an incredible year of returning to live events, and we expect it to finish strong. Ticket sales for concerts this year were up 34% for the quarter, and now stand at over 115 million tickets sold for shows this year, up 37% from this point in 2019.
“More importantly, momentum is strong with early signs pointing to continued growth in 2023 across our businesses. Ticket sales for shows in 2023 are pacing even stronger than they were heading into 2022, up double-digits year-over-year, excluding sales from rescheduled shows. In our sponsorship business, confirmed commitments are up 30% from this time last year, showing the resiliency and long-term commitments that brands have for our business.”
