It looks like 2025 will be Live Nation’s best year ever
Live Nation announced Q3 results this week and more records were broken.
- Revenues of US$8.5 billion, which is up 11% year-over-year.
- Breaking that down, we have:
- The concert business up 11% to US$7.2 billion.
- Ticketing (i.e. Ticketmaster which processed 89 million tickets, 4% more than last year) up 15% to $797.6 billion
- Sponsorships up 13% to US$442.7 million
- Fans are spending more on-site.
Why the huge bump? An increase in the number of stadium shows. (We’re looking at you Oasis, Coldplay, and My Chemical Romance.) Stadium shows were up 60%–and that’s without Taylor Swift touring.
Live Nation says it sold 160 million tickets to 51 million people so far in 2025 with most of that coming in international markets. In fact, Live Nation will serve more fans outside the US for the first time. Europe and Mexico are doing exceptionally well. However, there were 250 fewer amphitheatre shows, something that Live Nation is concerned about because they own so many of them.
Projections? By the time the year ends, Live Nation will expect to have served 160 million fans. They’ve already sold 26 million for shows scheduled for 2026–and that’s before Oasis officially announces their schedule.
The downside? Live Nation must be watching the increasing number of canceled shows. (The Toronto Curse is a problem.) And then, of course, there are all of Live Nation’s legal issues.
The concert business is never dull.
