Live Nation Q3 report sees, “Our best quarter ever”

Live Nation Entertainment continues its record-breaking run, with global revenue up 11% year-over-year to US$3.8 billion in the 2018 third quarter.

Concert tickets sold through the year totalled 85 million, with 5 million transacted throughout the month of October.

Operating income was up 16% for the quarter to $234 million, and adjusted operating income up 16% to $386 million.

Revenue for sponsorship & advertising expanded 13% through October while Ticketmaster’s fee-bearing gross transaction value was up 15% through the month.

Live Nation president and CEO Michael Rapino calls the results “best quarter ever” adding “all our divisions — concerts, sponsorship, and ticketing — each delivered their strongest third quarter AOI results ever.”

Expanding on the company’s concert performance, he states:

“Our concerts business is our flywheel, attracting over 33 million fans to shows globally in the quarter, up 12% year-over-year, which then drove record results in our on-site, ticketing and sponsorship businesses.

“Through October, we have sold 85 million tickets for concerts in 2018, up 6% year-on-year, and we are on track to sell over 90 million tickets this year.

“With continued strong global demand for concerts through the third quarter, we drove an 8% increase in attendance to 71 million fans attending our 24,000 shows across 40 countries, driving revenue up 11%, operating income more than doubling and AOI up 29% for the nine months.”

Show count grew 17% during Q3 while revenue per show also escalated through pricing optimization.

“Across our arenas and amphitheatres, our average ticket pricing is up 14%, driven by front-of-house pricing which is up 25%.

“Collectively, these increases have grown artist earnings by over $300 million across roughly 6,000 shows.”

As a result of the financial advances from the concerts, Live Nation confidently predicts more shows, more attendees, “more effectively pricing and selling tickets, and delivering a better fan experience than ever before.

“As a result, we will spend over $6 billion producing concerts this year, making Live Nation far and away the largest financial partner to musicians,” Rapino says.

Ticketmaster is predicted to deliver almost 500 million tickets worth about $31 billion in GTV across 28 countries for the full year.

“All three quarters in 2018 have been among our top five quarters ever for recognized GTV.”

Rapino expects a record full-year for 2018.

“All of our businesses — concerts, sponsorship and ticketing — have delivered growth year-to-date through September, and based on their key operating metrics, we expect each to deliver record revenue, operating income, and AOI for the full year.

“As we look forward, we see tremendous opportunities to continue the global expansion of our concerts and ticketing businesses, and for further growth in sponsorship and ticketing from the concerts flywheel.”