Live Nation Nearly Tripled Its Revenue From 2021 to 2022

Live Nation increased its revenue in 2022 by roughly 166 percent over its 2021 revenue, as the live event conglomerate’s newly reported yearly earnings reveal. Early figures pointed to the huge jump.

At the same time, ticket prices for concerts skyrocketed, as recent reports have shown.

Live Nation, which includes the ticket retailer Ticketmaster, reported its fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday (Feb. 23), showing its total 2022 revenue reached a record $16.7 billion, according to Billboard.

Indeed, that’s a 166-percent increase — almost three-fold — over 2021 revenue of $6.27 billion (Variety). It’s a 44-percent increase over pre-pandemic 2019 revenue, $11.55 billion, which is the percentage difference Live Nation touted to investors this week. A slow return of shows in 2021 and a bustling 2022 lent to the sum.

The Track Record of Ticketmaster

Ticketmaster has long maintained a stronghold on concert ticket sales in the United States. In 2010, the retailer merged with Live Nation, the promoter, to become a singular company.

Last year, a group of U.S. concertgoers sued Live Nation Entertainment — the corporation enveloping both companies — for allegedly violating antitrust laws and using what they called “predatory” selling.

But the concert giant emerged victorious when the court ruled buyers had waived their rights to sue in favor of arbitration per the company’s terms and conditions.

Live Nation’s Record 2022 Revenue

In Live Nation’s 2022 SEC filing, the corporation breaks down its yearly numbers, explaining, “Our concerts business generated $13.5 billion, or 80.9 percent, of our total revenue during 2022. We promoted more than 43,600 live music and other events in 2022.”

In a revealing passage, it adds that “approximately 270 million tickets were sold using our Ticketmaster systems. … As ticket sales increase, related ticketing operating income generally increases as well.”

See Live Nation’s 2022 financial results at this link. Find the corporation’s 2022 FEC filing here. See the 2021 numbers at this link.

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