Live Nation Entertainment 10-K 2024-12-31
Filed 2025-02-21. 23 sections, 528K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown · JSON
Cover and table of contents
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K
| ☒ | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024,
or
| ☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number 001-32601
LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 20-3247759 | |||||||
| (State of Incorporation) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
9348 Civic Center Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
(310) 867-7000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of Each Class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of Each Exchange on which Registered | ||||||||||||
| Common Stock, $.01 Par Value per Share | LYV | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
_____________________
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. x Yes ¨ No
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ¨ Yes x No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. x Yes ¨ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large Accelerated Filer | x | Accelerated Filer | ¨ | |||||||||||
| Non-accelerated Filer | ¨ | Smaller Reporting Company | ☐ | |||||||||||
| Emerging Growth Company | ☐ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. x
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. x
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ☐ Yes x No
On June 30, 2024, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the Common Stock beneficially held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $14.8 billion. (For purposes hereof, directors, executive officers and 10% or greater stockholders have been deemed affiliates).
On February 13, 2025, there were 233,401,156 outstanding shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.01 par value per share, including 2,288,158 shares of unvested restricted stock awards and excluding 408,024 shares held in treasury.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of our Definitive Proxy Statement for the 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, expected to be filed within 120 days of our fiscal year end, are incorporated by reference into Part III.
LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
INDEX TO FORM 10-K
LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS
| AOCI | Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) | ||||
| AOI | Adjusted operating income (loss) | ||||
| Company | Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and subsidiaries | ||||
| FASB | Financial Accounting Standards Board | ||||
| GAAP | United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles | ||||
| GTV | Gross transaction value | ||||
| Liberty Media | Liberty Media Corporation | ||||
| Live Nation | Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and subsidiaries | ||||
| LNE | Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. | ||||
| SEC | United States Securities and Exchange Commission | ||||
| SOFR | Secured Overnight Financing Rate | ||||
| VIE | Variable interest entity (as defined under GAAP) | ||||
| Ticketmaster | The ticketing business of the Company |
PART I
“Live Nation” (which may be referred to as the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) means Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries, or one of our segments or subsidiaries, as the context requires.
Special Note About Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this Form 10-K (or otherwise made by us or on our behalf from time to time in other reports, filings with the SEC, news releases, conferences, internet postings or otherwise) that are not statements of historical fact constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, notwithstanding that such statements are not specifically identified. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our financial position, business strategy, competitive position, potential growth opportunities, potential operating performance improvements, the effects of competition, the effects of future legislation or regulations and plans and objectives of our management for future operations. We have based our forward-looking statements on our beliefs and assumptions considering the information available to us at the time the statements are made. Use of the words “may,” “should,” “continue,” “plan,” “potential,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “outlook,” “could,” “target,” “project,” “seek,” “predict,” or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those set forth under Item 1A.**—**Risk Factors as well as other factors described herein or in our quarterly and other reports we file with the SEC (collectively, “cautionary statements”). Based upon changing conditions, should any risk or uncertainty that has already materialized, or should one or more of the currently unrealized risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in any forward-looking statements. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the applicable cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. We do not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.
Item 1. BUSINESS
Our Company
We believe that we are the largest live entertainment company in the world, connecting over 788 million fans across all of our concerts and ticketing platforms in 51 countries during 2024.
We believe we are the largest producer of live music concerts in the world, based on total fans that attend Live Nation events as compared to events of other promoters, connecting 151 million fans to approximately 11,000 artists at 54,000 events in 2024. Live Nation owns, operates, has exclusive booking rights for or has an equity interest for which we have a significant influence in 394 venues globally, including House of Blues*®* music venues and prestigious locations such as The Fillmore*®* in San Francisco, Brooklyn Bowl*®* in New York City*,* the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, the Moody Center© arena in Austin, the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, 3Arena in Dublin, Royal Arena in Copenhagen and Spark Arena in Auckland. We believe we are one of the world’s leading artist management companies based on the number of artists represented. Our artist management companies manage music artists and acts across all music genres.
We believe we are the world’s leading live entertainment ticketing sales and marketing company, based on the number of tickets we sell. Ticketmaster provides ticket sales services and marketing and distribution globally through www.ticketmaster.com and www.livenation.com and our mobile apps, other websites and numerous retail outlets, distributing over 637 million tickets through our systems in 2024. Ticketmaster serves approximately 11,500 clients worldwide across multiple event categories, providing ticketing services for leading arenas, stadiums, festival and concert promoters, professional sports franchises and leagues, college sports teams, performing arts venues, museums and theaters.
We believe our global footprint is one of the world’s largest music advertising networks for corporate brands and includes one of the world’s leading ecommerce websites based on a comparison of gross sales of top internet retailers.
Our principal executive offices are located at 9348 Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills, California 90210 (telephone: 310-867-7000). Our principal website is www.livenationentertainment.com. Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol “LYV.”
Our Strategy
Our strategy is to grow our global leadership position in live entertainment, promote more shows, sell more tickets and partner with more sponsors, thereby increasing our revenue, earnings and cash flow. We serve artists, venues and sports teams and leagues to secure content and tickets; we invest in technology to build innovative products which advance our ticketing, digital presence, including mobile platforms, and advertising; and we are paid by advertisers that want to connect their brands with our passionate fan base.
Our core businesses surrounding the promotion of live events include ticketing and sponsorship and advertising. We believe our focus on growing these businesses will increase shareholder value as we continue to enhance our revenue streams and achieve economies of scale with our global platforms. We also continue to strengthen our core operations, further expanding into global markets and optimizing our cost structure. We execute on our strategy and thereby grow and innovate through the initiatives listed below.
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Expand our Concert Platform. We will deliver more shows, grow our fan base and increase our ticket sales by continuing to build our portfolio of concerts globally, expanding our business into additional top global music markets, and further building our presence in existing markets. This includes investing capital expenditures in new venues and enhancements to existing venues. Through our culture of serving artists and a focus on supporting the development of emerging artists, we believe we can continue to expand our concert base.
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Grow our Revenue per Show. We will grow our revenue per show across our venues through more effective ticket pricing, broader ticketing distribution and more targeted promotional marketing. We will also grow our onsite fan monetization by improving ease of purchase, through improved onsite food and beverage and other products, merchandising, and enhanced experiences for our fans.
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Invest in our Ticketing Platform. We will continue to invest in our ticketing enterprise system and develop innovative products to better serve our enterprise clients and continue to build our global client base. These include technological and digital transformations, enhanced marketing capabilities, and improved analytical tools to meet the needs of venues, event organizers and our fans.
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Grow our Marketplace Capabilities. We are focused on selling tickets through a wide set of sales channels including mobile, online and affiliate partners while continuing to broaden our digital rollout. We will grow the volume of secondary tickets sold through a trusted environment for fan ticket exchanges, allowing our fans to have a dependable, secure destination for secondary ticket acquisition for all events. Within this, we will continue to invest in tools that reduce fraud and help artists and teams determine how to get their tickets into the hands of real fans. Lastly, we are focused on leveraging our platform by growing non-service fee revenue streams including insurance, additional enterprise tools, payment integration and other upsells.
*•*Grow Sponsorship and Advertising Partnerships. We will continue to drive growth in our sponsorship relationships and capture a larger share of the global music sponsorship market by further monetizing our fan base and growing our portfolio of brands. We will focus on expanding existing partnerships and developing new corporate sponsor partners to provide them with targeted strategic programs, accessing the fans attending our shows. We will continue to develop and to scale new products in order to drive onsite and digital revenue.
Our Strengths
We believe we have unique resources that are unmatched in the live entertainment industry.
*•*Fans. During 2024, we connected over 788 million fans to their favorite live events. Our database of fans and their interests provides us with the means to efficiently communicate to them about shows they are likely to be interested in.
*•*Artists. We have extensive relationships with artists ranging from those just beginning their careers to established superstars. In 2024, we promoted shows for approximately 11,000 artists globally. In addition, through our artist management companies, we managed more than 380 artists in 2024.
*•*Digital Platforms and Ticketing. We own and operate various branded websites, both in the United States and abroad, which are customized to reflect services offered in each jurisdiction. Our primary commercial websites, www.livenation.com and www.ticketmaster.com, together with our other branded ticketing websites, are designed to promote ticket sales for live events. We also have both Live Nation and Ticketmaster mobile apps that our fans can use to access event information and buy tickets.
*•*Distribution Network. We believe that our global network of promoters, venues and festivals provides us with a strong position in the live concert industry. We believe we have one of the largest global networks of live entertainment businesses in the world, with offices in 47 countries worldwide. In addition, we own, lease, operate, have exclusive booking rights for, or have an equity interest for which we have a significant influence in 394 venues and have operations located across 51 countries as of the end of 2024, making us, we believe, the second largest operator of music venues in the world. We also believe that we are one of the largest music festival producers in the world with 137 festivals globally in 2024. In addition, we believe that our global ticketing distribution network—with approximately 11,500 clients worldwide in 2024 — makes us the largest ticketing network in the world.
*•*Sponsors. We monetize our physical and digital assets through long-term sponsorship agreements and advertising. We employ a sales force of approximately 760 people that worked with more than 1,500 sponsors during 2024, through a combination of strategic partnerships, local venue-related deals, national agreements and digital campaigns, both in North America and internationally. Our sponsors include some of the most well-recognized national and global brands across diverse sectors including consumer, financials and leisure, such as Citibank, O2, Mastercard, Cisco, Red Bull and Anheuser Busch (each of these brands is a registered trademark of the sponsor).
Our Industry
We operate in the following main industries within the live entertainment business: live music events, music venue operations, the provision of management and other services to artists and athletes, ticketing services and sponsorship and advertising sales.
The live music industry includes concert promotion and/or production of music events or tours. Typically, to initiate live music events or tours, booking agents work with artists. Booking agents then work with promoters, who will contract with them or with artists directly, to promote events. Promoters earn revenue primarily from the sale of tickets. Artists are paid by the promoter under one of several different formulas, which may include fixed guarantees and/or a percentage of ticket sales or event profits. In addition, promoters may also reimburse artists for certain costs of production, such as sound and lights. Under guaranteed payment formulas, promoters assume the risks of unprofitable events. Promoters may renegotiate lower guarantees or cancel events because of insufficient ticket sales in order to reduce their losses. Promoters can also reduce the risk of losses by entering into global or national touring agreements with artists and including the right to offset lower performing shows against higher performing shows on the tour in the determination of overall artist fees. Artist managers primarily provide services to music artists to manage their careers. The artist manager negotiates on behalf of the artist and is paid a fee, generally as a percentage of the artist’s earnings.
We believe the artist-fan connection is the source of nearly all commercial value and as a result, our artists receive the majority of all ticketing revenue. For music tours, four to eight months typically elapse between initially booking artists and the first performances. Artists, in conjunction with promoters, managers and booking agents, set ticket prices and advertising plans. Promoters market events, sell tickets, rent or otherwise provide venues and arrange for local production services, such as stages and equipment.
Venue operators typically contract with promoters to have their venues rented for specific events on specific dates and receive fixed fees and/or percentages of ticket sales as rental income. In addition, venue operators provide services such as concessions, parking, security, ushering and ticket scanning at the gate, and receive some or all of the revenue from concessions, merchandise, parking and premium seating.
Ticketing services generally refers to the sale of tickets primarily through online and mobile channels, but also include sales through phone, outlet and box office channels. Ticketing companies will contract with venues and/or promoters to sell tickets to events over a period of time, generally three to five years. The ticketing company generally gets paid a fixed fee per ticket sold or a percentage of the total ticket service charges. The ticketing company receives the cash for the ticket sales and related service charges at the time the ticket is sold and periodically remits these receipts to the venue and/or promoter after deducting its fee. Venues will often also sell tickets through a local box office at the venue using the ticketing company’s technology. Venues set the ticketing service fee to be charged on tickets and typically retain the majority of these fees.
Ticketing resale services generally refers to the sale of tickets by a holder who originally obtained the tickets from a venue or other entity. Resale tickets are also referred to as secondary tickets. Generally, the ticket resale company is paid a service charge when the ticket is resold and the remaining ticket value is paid to the holder.
The sponsorship and advertising industry within the live entertainment business involves the sale of international, national, regional and local advertising and promotional programs to a variety of companies to advertise or promote their brand, product or service. These sponsorships typically include venue and festival naming rights, onsite venue signage, online and in-app advertisements and exclusive partner rights in various categories such as credit card, beverage, travel and telecommunications, and may include venue and festival event pre-sales and onsite product activation.
Our Business
Our reportable segments are Concerts, Ticketing and Sponsorship & Advertising.
Concerts. Our Concerts segment principally involves the global promotion of live music events in our owned or operated venues and in rented third-party venues, the operation and management of music venues, the production of music festivals across the world, the creation of associated content and the provision of management and other services to artists. Including intersegment revenue, our Concerts business generated $19.0 billion, or 82%, of our total revenue during 2024. We promoted more than 54,000 live music and other events in 2024. While our Concerts segment traditionally operates year-round, we experience higher revenue during the second and third quarters due to the seasonal nature of shows at our outdoor amphitheaters and festivals, which primarily occur from May through October. We expect our seasonality trends to evolve as we continue to expand our global operations.
As a promoter, we earn revenue primarily from the sale of tickets and pay artists under one of several formulas, including a fixed guaranteed amount and/or a percentage of ticket sales or event profits. For each event we promote, we either use a venue we own or operate, or rent a third-party venue. Revenue is generally impacted by the number of events, volume of ticket sales and ticket prices. Event costs such as artist fees and production expenses are included in direct operating expenses and are typically substantial in relation to the revenue. As a result, significant increases or decreases in promotion revenue do not typically result in comparable changes to operating income.
As a venue operator, we generate revenue primarily from the sale of concessions, parking, premium seating, rental income and ticket rebates or service charges earned on tickets sold under ticketing agreements. In our amphitheaters, the sale of concessions is outsourced and we receive a share of the net revenue from the concessionaire, which is recorded in revenue with limited associated direct operating expenses. Revenue generated from venue operations typically has a higher margin than promotion revenue and therefore typically has a more direct relationship to changes in operating income. As we have continued to build our skill at venue operations, this has become an increasingly large part of our Concerts strategy, with a substantial focus on building our global owned or operated venue platform.
As a festival promoter, we typically book artists, secure festival sites, provide for third-party production services, sell tickets and advertise events to attract fans. We also provide or arrange for third parties to provide operational services as needed such as concessions, merchandising and security. We earn revenue from the sale of tickets and typically pay artists a fixed guaranteed amount. We also earn revenue from the sale of concessions, camping fees and service charges earned on tickets sold. For each event, we either use a festival site we own or rent a third-party festival site. Revenue is generally impacted by the number of events, volume of ticket sales and ticket prices. Event costs such as artist fees and production expenses are included in direct operating expenses and are typically substantial in relation to the revenue. Since the artist fees are typically fixed guarantees for these events, significant increases or decreases in festival promotion revenue will generally result in comparable changes to operating income.
Ticketing. Our Ticketing segment is primarily an agency business that sells tickets for events on behalf of its clients and retains a portion of the service charge as its fee. We sell tickets for our events and also for third-party clients across multiple live event categories, providing ticketing services for leading arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters, music clubs, concert promoters, professional sports franchises and leagues, college sports teams, performing arts venues, museums and theaters. We sell tickets through mobile apps, websites and ticket outlets. Our Ticketing segment also manages our online activities including enhancements to our websites and product offerings. Including intersegment revenue, our Ticketing business generated $3.0 billion, or 13%, of our total revenue during 2024, which excludes the face value of tickets sold and is net of the fees paid to our ticketing clients. Through all of our ticketing services, we sold approximately 331 million tickets in 2024 on which we were paid fees for our services. In addition, approximately 307 million tickets were sold, for which we did not receive a fee, using our Ticketmaster systems, including season seat packages, our venue clients’ box offices, and other channels. Our ticketing sales are impacted by fluctuations in the availability of events for sale to the public, which may vary depending upon event scheduling by our clients. As ticket sales increase, related ticketing operating income generally increases as well.
We sell tickets on behalf of our clients through our ticketing platforms across the world. We generally enter into written agreements with individual clients to provide primary ticketing services for specified multi-year periods, typically ranging from three to five years. Pursuant to these agreements, clients and their content partners generally determine and then tell us what tickets will be available for sale, when such tickets will go on sale to the public and what the ticket price will be, sometimes with our analytical support. Agreements with venue clients in North America and Australia generally grant us exclusive rights to sell tickets for all events presented at the relevant venue for which tickets are made available to the general public. Agreements with promoter clients in other international markets generally grant us the right to an allocation of tickets for events presented by a given promoter at any venue, unless that venue is already covered by an existing exclusive agreement with our ticketing business or another ticketing service provider. Similarly, in such international markets we have venue agreements which provide Ticketmaster an allocation of tickets for all events at those venues. While we generally have the right to sell a substantial portion of our clients’ tickets, venue and promoter clients often sell and distribute a portion of their tickets in-house through their box office and season ticket programs. In addition, under many written agreements between promoters and our clients, and generally subject to Ticketmaster approval, the client may allocate certain tickets for artist, promoter, agent and venue use and do not make those tickets available for sale by us. Due to these and other permitted third-party ticket distribution channels, we do not always sell all of our clients’ tickets, even at venues where we are the exclusive primary ticketing service provider, and the amount of tickets that we sell varies from client to client and from event to event, and also varies as to any given client from year to year. We pay our clients for the rights to sell certain tickets, generally in the form of upfront payments, a portion of service fee revenue and the portion of other services at low or no cost.
We currently offer ticket resale services, sometimes referred to as secondary ticketing, principally through our integrated inventory platform, league/team platforms and other platforms internationally. We enter into arrangements with the holders of tickets previously distributed by a venue or other source to post those tickets for sale at a purchase price equal to a new sales price, determined by the ticket holder, plus a service fee paid by the buyer. The seller in this circumstance receives the new sales price less a seller service fee.
Sponsorship & Advertising. Our Sponsorship & Advertising segment employs a sales force that creates and maintains relationships with sponsors through a combination of strategic, international, national and local opportunities that allow businesses to reach customers through our concert, festival, venue and ticketing assets, including advertising on our websites. We work with our corporate clients to help create marketing programs that support their business goals and connect their brands directly with fans and artists. We also develop, book and produce custom events or programs for our clients’ specific brands, which are typically presented exclusively to the clients’ consumers. These custom events can involve live music events with talent and media, using both online and traditional outlets. Including intersegment revenue, our Sponsorship & Advertising business generated $1.2 billion, or 5%, of our total revenue during 2024. We typically experience higher revenue in the second and third quarters as a large portion of sponsorships are usually associated with our outdoor venues and festivals, which are primarily used in or occur from May through October. We expect our seasonality trends to evolve as we continue to expand our global operations.
We believe that we have a unique opportunity to connect the music fan to corporate sponsors and therefore seek to optimize this relationship through strategic sponsorship programs. We continue to also pursue the sale of national and local sponsorships, both domestically and internationally, and placement of advertising, including signage, online advertising and promotional programs. Many of our venues have naming rights sponsorship programs. We believe national and international sponsorships allow us to maximize our network of venues and festivals and to arrange multi-venue or multi-festival branding opportunities for advertisers. Our local and venue-focused sponsorships include venue signage, promotional programs, onsite activation, hospitality and tickets, and are derived from a variety of client companies across various industry categories.
Live Nation Venue Details
In the live entertainment industry, venue types generally consist of:
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Stadiums—Stadiums are multi-purpose facilities, often housing local sports teams. Stadiums typically have 30,000 or more seats. Although they are the largest venues available for live music, they are not specifically designed for live music.
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Amphitheaters—Amphitheaters are generally outdoor venues with between 5,000 and 30,000 seats that are used primarily in the summer season. We believe they are popular because they are designed specifically for concert events, with premium seat packages and better lines of sight and acoustics.
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Arenas—Arenas are indoor venues that are used as multi-purpose facilities, often housing local sports teams. Arenas typically have between 5,000 and 20,000 seats. Because they are indoors, they are able to offer amenities that other similar-sized outdoor venues cannot, such as luxury suites and premium club memberships. As a result, we believe they are popular for higher-priced concerts aimed at audiences willing to pay for these amenities.
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Theaters—Theaters are indoor venues that are built primarily for music events, but may include theatrical performances. These venues typically have a capacity of between 1,000 and 6,500. Theaters represent less risk to concert promoters because they have lower fixed costs associated with hosting a concert and may provide a more appropriately-sized venue for developing artists and more artists in general. Because these venues have a smaller capacity than an amphitheater or arena, they do not offer as much economic upside on a per show basis. Theaters can also be used year-round.
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Clubs—Clubs are indoor venues that are built primarily for music events, but may also include comedy clubs. These venues typically have a capacity of less than 1,000 and often without full fixed seating. Because of their small size, they do not offer as much economic upside, but they also represent less risk to a concert promoter because they have lower fixed costs associated with hosting a concert and also may provide a more appropriately-sized venue for developing artists. Clubs can also be used year-round.
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Restaurants & Music Halls—Restaurants & Music Halls are indoor venues that offer customers an integrated live music, entertainment and dining experience. This category includes our House of Blues® and Brooklyn Bowl® venues whose live music halls are specially designed to provide optimum acoustics and typically can accommodate between 1,000 to 2,000 guests. A full-service restaurant and bar is located adjacent to the live music hall. We believe that the strength of the brand and the quality of the food, service and unique atmosphere in our restaurants attract customers to these venues independently from a live music event and generate a significant amount of repeat business from local customers.
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Festival Sites—Festival sites are outdoor locations used primarily in the summer season to stage large single-day or multi-day concert events featuring several artists on multiple stages. Depending on the location, festival site capacities can range from 10,000 to over 100,000 fans per day. We believe they are popular because of the value provided to the fan by packaging several artists together for an event. While festival sites only host a few events each year, they can provide higher operating income because we are able to generate income from many different services provided at the event.
*•*Other Venues—Other venues includes restaurants and exhibition and convention halls that typically are not used for live music events.
The following table summarizes the number of venues by type that we owned, leased, operated, had exclusive booking rights for or had an equity interest over which we had a significant influence as of December 31, 2024:
| Venue Type | Capacity | Owned | Leased | Operated | Exclusive Booking Rights | Equity Interest | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | More than 30,000 | — | 2 | 1 | — | — | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amphitheater | 5,000 - 30,000 | 10 | 44 | 1 | 18 | — | 73 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arena | 5,000 - 20,000 | 3 | 15 | 2 | 5 | — | 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Theater | 1,000 - 6,500 | 10 | 76 | 9 | 32 | 2 | 129 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Less than 1,000 | 5 | 56 | 1 | 13 | — | 75 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Restaurants & Music Halls | 1,000 - 2,000 | 2 | 15 | — | — | — | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Festival Sites (1) | Varies | 2 | — | 53 | — | — | 55 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other Venues | Varies | — | 14 | — | 1 | 2 | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total venues in operation | 32 | 222 | 67 | 69 | 4 | 394 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Venues currently under construction | — | 13 | — | — | 1 | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Venues not currently in operation | 2 | — | — | 5 | 3 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total venues in operation by location: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North America | 22 | 169 | 25 | 68 | 4 | 288 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International | 10 | 53 | 42 | 1 | — | 106 |
**(1)**Operated festival sites includes multi-year agreements providing us the right to use public or private land for a defined period of time leading up to and continuing after the festival. We may enter into multiple agreements for a single festival site or use the same site for multiple festivals. We have aggregated the agreements for each festival site and reported them as one festival site.
Competition
Competition in the live entertainment industry is intense. We believe that we compete primarily on the basis of our ability to deliver quality music events, sell tickets and provide enhanced fan and artist experiences. We believe that our primary strengths include:
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the quality of service delivered to our artists, fans, ticketing clients and corporate sponsors;
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our track record and reputation in promoting and producing live music events and tours both domestically and internationally;
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our artist relationships;
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our global footprint;
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the quality of our ticketing software and services;
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our ecommerce site and effective marketing capabilities;
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our diverse distribution platform of venues;
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the scope, effectiveness and expertise of our advertising and sponsorship programs; and
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our financial stability.
Although we believe that our products and services currently compete favorably with respect to such factors, we cannot provide any assurance that we can maintain our competitive position against current and potential competitors, especially those with significantly greater brand recognition, or greater financial, marketing, technical and other resources.
In the markets in which we promote music concerts, we face competition from other promoters and venue operators. We believe that barriers to entry into the promotion services business are low and that certain local promoters are increasingly expanding the geographic scope of their operations.
Some of our competitors in the live music promotion industry are Anschutz Entertainment Group, or AEG, Another Planet Entertainment, CTS Eventim, Jam Productions, Ltd., I.M.P., Outback Presents and TEG Dainty in addition to numerous smaller regional companies and various casinos and venues in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. AEG operates under a number of different names including AEG Presents, Concerts West, Frontier Touring, Goldenvoice and Messina Touring Group. Some of our competitors in the live music industry have a stronger presence in certain markets, have access to other sports and entertainment venues and may have greater financial resources in those markets, which may enable them to gain a greater competitive advantage in relation to us.
In markets where we own or operate a venue, we compete with other venues to serve artists likely to perform in that general region. Consequently, touring artists have various alternatives to our venues when scheduling tours. Our main competitors in venue management include ASM Global, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp., The Nederlander Organization and Bowery Presents, in addition to numerous smaller regional companies in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Some of our competitors in venue management may have more attractive or a greater number of venues in certain markets, and may have greater financial resources in those markets.
The ticketing services industry includes the sale of tickets primarily through online and mobile channels, but also through telephone and ticket outlets. The transition to online and mobile ticket purchases has made it easier for technology-based companies to offer primary ticketing services and standalone, automated ticketing systems that enable venues to perform their own ticketing services or utilize self-ticketing systems. In the online environment, we compete with other websites, online event sites and ticketing companies to provide event information, sell tickets and provide other online services such as fan clubs and artist websites.
We experience competition from other national, regional and local primary ticketing service providers to secure new venue clients and to reach fans for events. Resale, or secondary, ticketing services have created more aggressive buying of primary tickets whereby certain brokers are using automated internet “bot” technology to attempt to buy the best tickets when they go on sale, notwithstanding federal and state prohibitions. We actively develop and apply methods to mitigate the impact of these bots, however, the bot technology constantly evolves and changes. The internet allows fans and other ticket resellers to reach a vastly larger audience through the aggregation of inventory on resale websites and marketplaces, and provides consumers with more convenient access to tickets for a larger number and greater variety of events.
We also face significant and increasing competition from companies that sell self-ticketing systems, as well as from venues that choose to integrate self-ticketing systems into their existing operations or acquire primary ticketing service providers. Our competitors include primary ticketing companies such as Tickets.com, AXS, Paciolan, Inc., CTS Eventim AG, Eventbrite, eTix, SeatGeek, Ticketek, See Tickets and Dice; secondary ticketing companies such as StubHub, Vivid Seats, Viagogo and SeatGeek; and many others, including large technology and ecommerce companies that could enter these markets.
Our main competitors at the local market level for sponsorships and advertising dollars include local sports teams, which often offer state-of-the-art venues, strong brand association and attractive local media packages, as well as festivals, theme parks and other local events. On the national level, our competitors include the major sports leagues that sell sponsorships combined with significant national media packages.
Government Regulations
We are subject to federal, state and local laws, both domestically and internationally, governing matters such as:
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privacy and the protection of personal or sensitive information;
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compliance with the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010 and similar regulations in other countries;
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primary ticketing and ticket resale services;
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construction, renovation and operation of our venues;
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licensing, permitting and zoning, including noise ordinances;
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human health, safety, security and sanitation requirements;
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the service of food and alcoholic beverages;
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working conditions, labor, minimum wage and hour, citizenship and employment laws;
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compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), the United Kingdom’s Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 (“DDA”) and similar regulations in other countries;
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hazardous and non-hazardous waste and other environmental protection laws;
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sales and other taxes and withholding of taxes;
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marketing activities via the telephone and online; and
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historic landmark rules.
We believe that we are materially in compliance with these laws.
We are required to comply with federal, state and international laws regarding privacy and the storing, sharing, use, disclosure and protection of personally identifiable information and user data, an area that is increasingly subject to legislation and regulations in numerous jurisdictions around the world, including the European Union’s GDPR (as defined and discussed below in Item 1A.—Risk Factors) and the California Consumer Protection Act.
We are required to comply with the laws of the countries in which we operate and also the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010 regarding anti-bribery regulations. These regulations make it illegal for us to pay, promise to pay or receive money or anything of value to, or from, any government or foreign public official for the purpose of directly or indirectly obtaining or retaining business. This ban on illegal payments and bribes also applies to agents or intermediaries who use funds for purposes prohibited by the statute.
From time to time, federal, state, local and international authorities and/or consumers commence investigations, inquiries or litigation with respect to our compliance with applicable consumer protection, advertising, unfair business practice, antitrust (and similar or related laws) and other laws, particularly as related to primary ticketing and ticket resale services.
The regulations relating to our food service operations in our venues are many and complex. A variety of regulations at various governmental levels relating to the handling, preparation and serving of food, the cleanliness of food production facilities and the hygiene of food-handling personnel are enforced primarily at the local public health department level.
We also must comply with applicable licensing laws, as well as state and local service laws, commonly called dram shop statutes. Dram shop statutes generally prohibit serving alcoholic beverages to certain persons such as an individual who is intoxicated or a minor. If we violate dram shop laws, we may be liable to third parties for the acts of the customer. Although we generally hire outside vendors to provide these services at our larger operated venues and regularly sponsor training programs designed to minimize the likelihood of such a situation, we cannot guarantee that intoxicated or minor customers will not be served or that liability for their acts will not be imposed on us.
We are also required to comply with the ADA, the DDA and certain state statutes and local ordinances that, among other things, require that places of public accommodation, including our websites as well as existing and newly constructed venues, be accessible to customers with disabilities. The ADA and the DDA require that venues be constructed to permit persons with disabilities full use of a live entertainment venue. The ADA and the DDA may also require that certain modifications be made to existing venues to make them accessible to customers and employees who are disabled. In order to comply with the ADA, the DDA and other similar ordinances, we may face substantial capital expenditures in the future.
From time to time, governmental bodies have proposed legislation that could affect our business. For example, some legislatures have proposed laws in the past that would impose potential liability on us and other promoters and producers of live music events for entertainment taxes and for incidents that occur at our events, particularly relating to drugs and alcohol. Some jurisdictions have also proposed legislation that would restrict ticketing methods or mandate ticket practices.
In addition, we and our venues are subject to extensive environmental laws and regulations relating to the use, storage, disposal, emission and release of hazardous and non-hazardous substances, as well as zoning and noise level restrictions which may affect, among other things, the hours of operations of and the type of events we can produce at our venues.
Our People and Culture
Bringing more than 54,000 events to life and connecting over 788 million fans across all of our concerts and ticketing platforms, as we did in 2024, is a massive undertaking, made possible by our thousands of employees spread across 47 countries. Our teams come together every day to grow our business, and we recognize our people are the key to our success—whether they’re putting on a show at one of our venues, selling tickets, working with our brand partners or supporting our businesses in a myriad of other ways.
Taking Care of Our Own
Our core value with our employees is “taking care of our own,” which means a top priority is making sure that every employee can rely on us to go above just providing standard compensation and benefits by offering assistance for a range of planned and unplanned situations. We also ensure that our employees have direct access to senior executives to raise concerns and share ideas. Our programs are structured under eight core pillars, designed to support key life moments:
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Taking Care of Yourself: To enhance overall happiness and wellness, we offer flexible vacation time, free ticket perks, in-house and on-demand virtual meditation sessions, crisis support, crowdfunding networks, and more. We launched Sober Nation to provide sobriety and recovery support for our employees and help destigmatize addiction and recovery in the industry. In 2024, we extended our offerings to include part-time club staff and partnered with artists to host events at our headquarters highlighting the intersection of sobriety and mental health.
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Taking Care of Your Health: Beyond a full suite of medical, dental and vision benefits, we provide access to telehealth and telemedicine platforms available to employees and their family members enrolled in our medical plan.
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Taking Care of Your Mental Health: Our mental well-being offerings include free virtual mental health coaching or therapy sessions, group support sessions, 24/7 counselor support line, and both in-person and virtual meditation and yoga sessions. In 2024, we extended our offerings to include part-time club staff.
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Taking Care of Your Family: We provide assistance with fertility needs such as egg-freezing, egg-donation and IVF, as well as adoption or surrogacy, primary caregiver leave for new parents, sick leave to care for loved ones, and leave for bereavement or end-of-life care.
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Taking Care of Your Career: Our School of Live learning and development center at our Los Angeles headquarters has furthered our career advancement opportunities including leadership workshops for mid-career employees. In 2024, we expanded offerings to include more global live and on-demand learning and professional development and coaching opportunities for employees. We also offer recognition for successful patent recipient applications and tuition reimbursement to further ongoing education.
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Taking Care of Your Wealth: To support long-term financial goals, we traditionally provide 401(k) or pension matching, a stock reimbursement program, and student loan repayment assistance. In 2024, we expanded our $20.00 per hour minimum wage to our part-time club and seasonal amphitheater staff based on tenure.
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Taking Care of Our Own: During life’s most difficult moments, we offer employees financial support to help them through a variety of crises, including unexpected deaths, natural disasters, and escaping domestic violence. Through the end of 2024, our Crew Nation global relief fund has provided financial support to over 16,000 live music crews in over 50 countries to which we have donated over $15 million since March 2020.
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Taking Care of Others: In order to empower our employees to get involved in causes that are meaningful to them, we provide paid time off for them to volunteer in their local communities.
Our People
We aspire to foster a workplace where all employees can contribute fully and feel valued. Some programs key to this mission include:
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Promotion and Pay: Ongoing reviews of positions and compensation with the goal of ensuring that all employees across Live Nation are paid appropriately and provided with promotion opportunities.
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Employee Resource Groups: Our employee-led groups, with executive leaders as sponsors, offer programming across our teams that promotes growth and connection through collaboration, professional development, networking, nonprofit support and community outreach.
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Our Workforce: As a global organization, we are committed to valuing and respecting all backgrounds, experiences, abilities and perspectives that enrich our workforce, and reflect our artist community and fan base.
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Industry Engagement: In 2024, we partnered with various nonprofit organizations to launch music business intensive courses and paid internship programs to introduce the next generation of industry newcomers to the technical skills required to succeed in careers in the live industry.
Human Capital
Our compensation philosophy is focused on attracting and retaining talented individuals who contribute to our values and help lead our dynamic and innovative environment. To determine market-competitive pay for our employees, we use a combination of entertainment and technology industry benchmarks.
We are committed to encouraging and rewarding pay-for-performance that is aligned with business objectives in the best interest of our shareholders for long-term growth and profitability. We further strive to reward individual achievements and contributions that are both aligned with and supportive of our short- and long-term goals and core business values. We believe that our efforts in these areas are working and contributing to the overall success of the Company, as evidenced by accolades such as obtaining a Great Place to Work® certification (2017-19, 2022-24), placing on Forbes’ World’s Best Employers List (2023), America’s Best Large Employers List (2022-24) and America’s Dream Employers List (2025), placing on TIME’s World’s Best Companies (2023) and 100 Most Influential Companies (2023), Newsweek’s America’s Best of the Best (2024) and placing on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies List (2018-21, 2024, 2025), Most Innovative Companies List (2024) and 500 List (2010-2020, 2023, 2024).
As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately 16,200 full-time employees. Our staffing needs vary significantly throughout the year and we also employ seasonal and part-time employees, primarily for our live music venues and festivals. At the end of 2024, we employed approximately 16,000 seasonal and part-time employees and during peak seasonal periods, particularly in the summer months, we employed as many as 34,500 seasonal and part-time employees in 2024.
Labor Relations
The stagehands at some of our venues and other employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements. Our union agreements typically have a term of three years and thus regularly expire and require negotiation in the course of our business. We believe that we have good relationships with our employees and other unionized labor involved in our events, and there have been no related significant work stoppages in the past three years. Upon the expiration of any of our collective bargaining agreements, however, we may be unable to renegotiate on terms favorable to us, and our business operations at one or more of our facilities may be interrupted as a result of labor disputes or difficulties and delays in the process of renegotiating our collective bargaining agreements. In addition, our business operations at one or more of our facilities may also be interrupted as a result of labor disputes by outside unions attempting to unionize a venue even though we do not have unionized labor at that venue currently. A work stoppage at one or more of our owned or operated venues or at our promoted events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. We cannot predict the effect that a potential work stoppage will have on our business operations.
Information About Our Executive Officers
Set forth below are the names, ages and current positions of our executive officers and other significant employees as of February 13, 2025.
| Name | Age | Position | ||||||||||||
| Michael Rapino | 59 | President, Chief Executive Officer and Director | ||||||||||||
| Omar Al-Joulani | 47 | Co-President–U.S. Concerts and President–Touring | ||||||||||||
| Carlos Alvarez | 50 | Chief Technology Officer–Ticketmaster | ||||||||||||
| Joe Berchtold | 60 | President and Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||||||
| Brian Capo | 58 | Senior Vice President–Chief Accounting Officer | ||||||||||||
| Liz Dyer | 39 | Senior Vice President–Human Resources | ||||||||||||
| Arthur Fogel | 71 | Chairman–Global Music and President–Global Touring | ||||||||||||
| Kaitlyn Henrich | 34 | Senior Vice President–Corporate Communications and Social Impact | ||||||||||||
| John Hopmans | 66 | Executive Vice President–Mergers and Acquisitions and Strategic Finance | ||||||||||||
| Bob Roux | 67 | President–U.S. Concerts | ||||||||||||
| Michael Rowles | 59 | General Counsel and Secretary | ||||||||||||
| Russell Wallach | 59 | President–Sponsorship and Advertising | ||||||||||||
| Michael Wichser | 46 | Chief Operating Officer–Ticketmaster | ||||||||||||
| Mark Yovich | 50 | President–Ticketmaster | ||||||||||||
| Jordan Zachary | 42 | Co-President–U.S. Concerts and President–Regions U.S. Concerts |
Michael Rapino is our President and Chief Executive Officer and has served in this capacity since August 2005. He has also served on our board of directors since December 2005. Mr. Rapino has worked for us or our predecessors since 1999.
Omar Al-Joulani is our Co-President of U.S. Concerts and President of Touring and has served in this capacity since September 2021. Prior to that, Mr. Al-Joulani served in various North America touring roles since joining us in March 2010.
Carlos Alvarez is our Chief Technology Officer of Ticketmaster and has served in this capacity since September 2020. Prior to that, Mr. Alvarez served in various information technology roles since joining us in August 2014.
Joe Berchtold is our President and Chief Financial Officer. He has served as President since December 2017 and Chief Financial Officer since July 2021. Prior to that, Mr. Berchtold served as our Chief Operating Officer since joining us in April 2011.
Brian Capo is our Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer and has served in this capacity since joining us in December 2007.
Liz Dyer is our Senior Vice President of Human Resources and has served in this capacity since September 2020. Prior to that, Ms. Dyer served in various human resources roles since joining us in April 2016.
Arthur Fogel is the Chairman of our Global Music group and President of our Global Touring division and has served in these capacities since 2005. Mr. Fogel has worked for us or our predecessors since 1999.
Kaitlyn Henrich is our Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Social Impact and has served in this capacity since January 2022. Prior to that, Ms. Henrich served in various corporate communications roles since joining us in January 2016.
John Hopmans is our Executive Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions and Strategic Finance and has served in this capacity since joining us in April 2008.
Bob Roux is President of our U.S. Concerts division and has served in this capacity since October 2010. Mr. Roux has worked for us or our predecessors since 1990.
Michael Rowles is our General Counsel and has served in this capacity since joining us in March 2006 and as our Secretary since May 2007.
Russell Wallach is President of our Sponsorship and Advertising division and has served in this capacity since July 2006. Mr. Wallach has worked for us or our predecessors since 1996.
Michael Wichser is our Chief Operating Officer of Ticketmaster and has served in this capacity since January 2021. Prior to that, Mr. Wichser served in various mergers and acquisitions and strategy and development roles since joining us in September 2014.
Mark Yovich is President of Ticketmaster and has served in this capacity since December 2020. Prior to that, Mr. Yovich served as President of Ticketmaster’s International division since November 2011. Mr. Yovich has worked for us or our predecessors since 2000.
Jordan Zachary is our Co-President of U.S. Concerts and President of Regions U.S. Concerts and has served in this capacity since April 2021. Prior to that, Mr. Zachary served in various strategy and development roles since joining us in April 2015.
Available Information
We are required to file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any materials we have filed with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. Our filings with the SEC are also available to the public through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
You can find more information about us online at our investor relations website located at www.investors.livenationentertainment.com. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports are available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with the SEC. The information posted on or accessible through our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider each of the following risks and all of the other information set forth in this Annual Report. The following risks relate principally to our business and operations, our leverage and our common stock. If any of the risks and uncertainties develop into actual events, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline.
Risks Relating to Our Business and the Live Events and Ticketing Industries
Our business is highly sensitive to public tastes and is dependent on our ability to secure popular artists and other live music events, and we and our ticketing clients may be unable to anticipate or respond to changes in consumer preferences, which may result in decreased demand for our services.
Our business is highly sensitive to rapidly changing public tastes and is dependent on the availability of popular artists and events. Our live entertainment business depends in part on our ability to anticipate the tastes of consumers and to offer events that appeal to them. Since we rely on unrelated parties to create and perform at live music events, any unwillingness to tour or lack of availability of popular artists could limit our ability to generate revenue. In particular, there are a limited number of artists that can headline a major North American or global tour or who can sell out larger venues, including many of our amphitheaters. If those artists do not choose to tour, or if we are unable to secure the rights to their future tours, then our concerts business would be adversely affected. Our artist management business could be adversely affected if the artists it represents do not tour or perform as frequently as anticipated, or if such tours or performances are not as widely attended by fans as anticipated due to changing tastes, general economic conditions or otherwise. Our ticketing business relies on third parties to create and perform live entertainment, sporting and leisure events and to price tickets to such events. Accordingly, our ticketing business’ success depends, in part, upon the ability of these third parties to correctly anticipate public demand for particular events, as well as the availability of popular artists, entertainers and teams.
In addition, our live entertainment business typically books our live music tours four to eight months in advance of the beginning of the tour and often agrees to pay an artist a fixed guaranteed amount prior to our receiving any revenue. Therefore, if the public is not receptive to the tour, or we or an artist cancel the tour, we may incur a loss for the tour depending on the amount of the fixed guarantee or incurred costs relative to any revenue earned, as well as revenue we could have earned at booked venues. We have cancellation insurance policies in place to cover a portion of our losses if an artist cancels a tour but such policies may not be sufficient and are subject to deductibles. Furthermore, consumer preferences change from time to time, and our failure to anticipate, identify or react to these changes could result in reduced demand for our services, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business depends on relationships between key promoters, executives, agents, managers, artists and clients and any adverse changes in these relationships could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The live music business is uniquely dependent upon personal relationships, as promoters and executives within live music companies such as ours leverage their existing network of relationships with artists, agents and managers in order to secure the rights to the live music tours and events which are critical to our success. Due to the importance of those industry contacts to our business, the loss of any of our promoters, officers or other key personnel could adversely affect our business. Although we have entered into long-term agreements with many of those individuals described above to protect our interests in those relationships, we can give no assurance that all or any of these key employees or managers will remain with us or will retain their associations with key business contacts, including music artists, as some agreements between a manager and an artist are not for a fixed period of time and are instead terminable at will.
The success of our ticketing business depends, in significant part, on our ability to maintain and renew relationships with existing clients and to establish new client relationships. We anticipate that, for the foreseeable future, the substantial majority of our Ticketing segment revenue will be derived from both online and mobile sales of tickets. We also expect that revenue from primary ticketing services, which consists primarily of our portion of per ticket convenience charges and per order service fees, will continue to comprise the substantial majority of our Ticketing segment revenue. We cannot provide assurances that we will be able to maintain existing client contracts, or enter into or maintain new client contracts, on acceptable terms, if at all, and the failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Another important component of our success is our ability to maintain existing and to build new relationships with third-party distribution channels, advertisers, sponsors and service providers. Any adverse change in these relationships, including the inability of these parties to fulfill their obligations to our businesses for any reason, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We face intense competition in the live music and ticketing industries, and we may not be able to maintain or increase our current revenue, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our businesses are in highly competitive industries, and we may not be able to maintain or increase our current revenue due to such competition. The live music industry competes with other forms of entertainment for consumers’ discretionary spending and within this industry we compete with other venues to book artists, and, in the markets in which we promote music concerts, we face competition from other promoters and venue operators. Our competitors compete with us for key employees who have relationships with popular music artists and who have a history of being able to book such artists for concerts and tours. These competitors may engage in more extensive development efforts, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies and make more attractive offers to existing and potential artists. Due to increasing artist influence and competition to attract and maintain artist clients, we may enter into agreements on terms that are less favorable to us, which could negatively impact our financial results. Our competitors may develop services, advertising options or music venues that are equal or superior to those we provide or that achieve greater market acceptance and brand recognition than we achieve. Within the live music industry, our artist management business also competes with numerous other artist management companies and individual managers in the United States alone, both to discover new and emerging artists and to represent established artists. Across the live music industry, it is possible that new competitors may emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share.
Our ticketing business faces significant competition from other national, regional and local primary ticketing service providers to secure new and retain existing clients on a continuous basis. Additionally, we face significant and increasing challenges from companies that sell self-ticke
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Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
Item 1C. CYBERSECURITY
Our Board of Directors (the “Board”) is responsible for overseeing our risk management program and cybersecurity is a critical element of this program. The Information Security and Privacy team leads cybersecurity risk management for our business. Effective Cyber Risk Management is foundational to our Information Security and Privacy program and is based on recognized frameworks established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Our Information Security and Privacy Risk Management program includes processes and controls for the business to ensure that cybersecurity risks are identified and responded to promptly. These range from formal processes that are triggered in certain circumstances, to detective controls and technology that we use to identify and manage risks. Information Security and Privacy’s Risk Management process is consistent with our Enterprise Risk Management Policy, which describes how we manage risks generally. The Information Security and Privacy team also engages with external consultants to ensure best practices in our Cyber Risk Management.
Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy
Our cybersecurity risk management and strategy focus on several areas:
- Risk Identification and Reporting:** We have implemented a comprehensive, cross-functional approach to assessing, identifying, and managing material cybersecurity threats and incidents. The program includes controls and procedures to properly identify, classify, and escalate certain cybersecurity incidents to provide management visibility and obtain an assessment from management as to the public disclosure and reporting of material incidents in a timely manner. The Information Security and Privacy team’s responsibilities include:
◦Conducting privacy impact assessments;
◦Rating cyber risk severity, coordinating remediation, and monitoring cyber risks within our enterprise risk register;
◦Cyber threat intelligence functions, including monitoring cybercrime and geopolitical developments;
◦Supporting mergers and acquisitions activities, including integration of newly acquired businesses;
◦Performing security architecture reviews, both of existing enterprise systems and those of newly acquired organizations;
◦Monitoring and ensuring Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) compliance where required across the enterprise; and
◦Conduct and supervision of penetration testing.
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Technical Safeguards:** We have implemented technical safeguards that are designed to protect our information systems from cybersecurity threats, including firewalls, intrusion prevention and detection systems, anti-malware functionality, and access controls, which are evaluated and improved through vulnerability assessments and cybersecurity threat intelligence, as well as outside audits and certifications. The Information Security and Privacy team also manages and carries out logging, and vulnerability and application scanning, to support the identification of cyber risks.
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Incident Response and Recovery Planning:** We maintain comprehensive incident response, business continuity, and disaster recovery plans designed to guide our response to cybersecurity incidents. We also conduct regular tabletop exercises to test these plans and ensure personnel are familiar with their roles in a response scenario.
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Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM):** We maintain a comprehensive, risk-based approach to identifying and overseeing material cybersecurity threats presented by third parties, including vendors, service providers, and other external users of our systems, as well as the systems of third parties that could adversely impact our business in the event of a material cybersecurity incident affecting those third-party systems, including any outside auditors or consultants who advise on our cybersecurity systems.
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Education and Awareness:** We provide regular, mandatory training for all levels of employees regarding cybersecurity threats to equip our employees with effective tools to address cybersecurity threats, and to communicate our evolving information security policies, standards, processes, and practices.
Governance
The Board, in coordination with our Global Data Governance Board (GDGB) and the Audit Committee, oversees our risk management program, including the management of cybersecurity threats. The GDGB receives regular presentations and reports on developments in the cybersecurity space, including risk management practices, recent developments, evolving standards, vulnerability assessments, third-party and independent reviews, the threat environment, technological trends, and information security.
The Chief Information Security and Privacy Officer (CISPO) is the risk manager overseeing the organization’s information security risk management function. As the Risk Manager, the CISPO is responsible for the administration of the information security risk management program, policy, and procedures. This includes ensuring that risks are properly identified, assessed, managed, and reported as prescribed by the organization. The Risk Manager also has the responsibility of promoting an effective risk management culture through regular training across the organization. The CISPO has direct communication with senior executives regarding cybersecurity risks and works collaboratively with our leadership to respond to and manage the response to cybersecurity incidents. The CISPO has nearly 20 years of legal and data protection experience with a focus on Information Security, Privacy, and Abuse Prevention.
Material Effects of Cybersecurity Incidents
Risks from cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, have not materially affected us, including its business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. Further information regarding cybersecurity risks can be found in Item 1A. Risk Factors - Risks Relating to Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Intellectual Property.
Item 2. PROPERTIES
As of December 31, 2024, we own, operate or lease 216 entertainment venues throughout North America and 105 entertainment venues internationally. We have a lease ending June 30, 2030 for our corporate headquarters in Beverly Hills, California, used primarily by our executive group and certain of our domestic operations management staff. We also lease office space and other facilities in 47 countries that support our Concerts, Ticketing and Sponsorship & Advertising segment operations. We believe our venues and facilities are generally well-maintained and in good operating condition and have adequate capacity to meet our current business needs.
Our leases are for varying terms ranging from monthly to multi-year. These leases can typically be for terms of three to 10 years for our office leases and five to 25 years for our venue leases, and many include renewal options. There is no significant concentration of venues under any one lease or subject to negotiation with any one landlord. We believe that an important part of our management activity is to negotiate suitable lease renewals and extensions.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Information regarding our legal proceedings can be found in Part II—Financial Information—Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Note 8 – Commitments and Contingent Liabilities.
PART II—FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Our common stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “LYV” beginning on December 21, 2005. There were 2,515 stockholders of record as of February 13, 2025. This figure does not include an estimate of the indeterminate number of beneficial holders whose shares may be held of record by brokerage firms and clearing agencies.
Purchase of Equity Securities
The following table provides information regarding repurchases of our common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2024.
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased (1) | Average Price Paid per Share (1) | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Program (2) | Maximum Fair Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Program (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 2024 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 2024 | 132,425 | $140.50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 2024 | 2,044 | $135.95 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 134,469 |
| (1) | Represents shares of common stock that employees surrendered as part of the default option to satisfy withholding taxes in connection with the vesting of restricted stock awards under our stock incentive plan. Pursuant to the terms of our stock plan, such shares revert to available shares under the plan. | ||||
| (2) | We do not have a publicly announced program to purchase shares of our common stock. Accordingly, there were no shares purchased as part of a publicly announced program. |
Dividend Policy
Information regarding our dividend policy can be found in Part II —Financial Information —Item 8.—Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Note 11 – Equity.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Item 6. [RESERVED]
Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations together with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections about our industry, business and future financial results. Our actual results could differ materially from the results contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed under Item 1A.—Risk Factors and other sections in this Annual Report.
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations generally discusses 2024 and 2023 items along with year-over-year comparisons between these two years. Discussion of 2022 items and year-over-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022 can be found in Item 7—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Executive Overview
In 2024, we saw demand for the live experience growing across the globe with emerging to superstar acts performing to packed houses across all genres and in venues big and small. After a record 2023 fueled by our highest volume of stadium shows ever, we surpassed last year’s revenue results. While operating income declined double-digits as a result of the Astroworld legal contingency, we grew our AOI by double-digits and our underlying businesses thrived in 2024. Our Concerts segment generated over $0.5 billion in AOI for the first time ever, growing by over 50%. We added over 5 million fans and nearly 5,000 additional shows in Concerts, with new venues added to our global footprint and plans to open more in the year ahead.
Our overall revenue increased by $429 million, or 2%, to $23.2 billion as compared to last year. The increase in revenue was $664 million without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates. Operating income for the year declined by $260 million or 24% primarily related to the Astroworld estimated loss contingencies of $455 million partially offset by stronger performance in our Concerts and Sponsorship segments. The decrease in operating income was $208 million without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates. Consolidated AOI for the year increased by $265 million, or 14%, to $2.1 billion this year. The increase in AOI was $320 million without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates.
Our event-related deferred revenue balance increased by $336 million, or 11%, to $3.3 billion as of December 31, 2024 compared to December 31, 2023. This, coupled with current ticket sales for 2025, suggests ongoing strong demand for concerts, making us confident in our continued success in the year ahead.
For the year, we experienced unfavorable foreign currency translation impacts of $235 million on revenues, $52 million on operating income and $55 million on AOI. The majority of the impacts came from Latin American currencies.
All of the segment financial comments below are based on reported foreign currency exchange rates.
Our Concerts segment revenue for the year increased by $283 million, or 2% compared to 2023, from $18.7 billion to $19.0 billion. The growth in revenue was the result of more fans enjoying their favorite artists and spending more money at events to maximize their unique live experiences. Approximately 151 million fans attended our shows in the year, our largest annual fan count ever, compared to approximately 146 million last year, for growth of over 5 million or 4%. The growth was relatively evenly distributed across our global markets with notable strength in the United States, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Growth in amphitheater, arena and theater & club fan count drove the increase in show attendance. In particular, arena fan count increased by almost 8 million fans to over 50 million fans globally. Some of the larger acts touring globally in the year included Coldplay, Pink, Metallica and Olivia Rodrigo, reflecting the global diversified base of our artists.
Concerts AOI for the year increased by $209 million, or 65%, compared to 2023, from $320 million to $530 million. Our ancillary revenue spending at our United States amphitheater shows was over $44 per fan for the year, growing by nearly $1 over 2023, driven by higher food and beverage spending as well as merchandise and premium offerings. After extensive renovations, our Jones Beach amphitheater re-opened on Long Island and produced double-digit growth on premium seating, concessions and VIP club revenues. Similarly the Estadio GNP stadium (formerly known as Foro Sol) re-opened in Mexico City over the summer, offering fans an elevated concert-going experience with several new VIP lounges and additional points of sale for all fans.
Our Ticketing segment revenue for the year increased by $29 million, or 1%, compared to 2023, from $2.96 billion to $2.99 billion. We sold 331 million fee-bearing tickets in 2024 compared to 329 million tickets last year, essentially flat for the year. GTV for the year was $34.7 billion, down $1 billion, or 3% compared to 2023. Despite some sales headwinds during the year and a tough 2023 comparison with respect to stadium activity, the year ended on an encouraging note with the fourth quarter coming in as our highest quarter ever for transacted ticket sales and GTV. This resulted in a record fourth quarter for Ticketing across all of our key financial metrics – revenue, operating income and AOI.
Ticketing AOI for the year was $1.1 billion, roughly in line with our 2023 results. We signed 22.8 million net new tickets in 2024, of which 14.3 million, or roughly 60%, are from clients outside of North America, highlighting the significance of our international operations and our global expansion opportunity. This gives us confidence that our ticketing platforms’ features and functionalities will continue to fuel growth going forward.
Our Sponsorship & Advertising segment revenue for the year increased by $100 million, or 9%, compared to 2023 from $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion. The increase was largely driven by our international divisions with new naming rights and other deals for Estadio GNP in Mexico City, newly acquired festivals in Colombia, additional sponsorable content in Mexico and the timing of the Rock in Rio Brazil and Portugal festivals which play every two years. Sponsorship & Advertising AOI increased by $89 million, or 13%, compared to 2023, from $675 million to $764 million.
We are optimistic about the long-term potential of our Company and are focused on the key elements of our business model: expanding our global platforms to connect artists and fans.
Consolidated Results of Operations
| Year Ended December 31, | % Change 2024 vs 2023 | % Change 2023 vs 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As Reported | Currency Impacts | Constant Currency* | As Revised | As Revised | As Reported |
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Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Required information is within Item 7.— Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Market Risk.
Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, changes in equity and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a)2 (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2024 and 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2024, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework), and our report dated February 20, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of the critical audit matter does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the account or disclosure to which it relates.
| Goodwill impairment assessment | |||||
| Description of the Matter | As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, management conducts a goodwill impairment assessment annually, and when events or changes in circumstances indicate that it is more likely than not that the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value. For one reporting unit with goodwill of $337 million, the Company performed a quantitative assessment as part of their annual impairment assessment as of October 1, 2024. No goodwill impairment charges were recorded for the year ended December 31, 2024. Auditing the Company’s annual goodwill impairment test was complex due to the significant judgment in estimating the fair value of the reporting unit when a quantitative assessment of fair value is performed. In particular, the fair value estimate was sensitive to significant assumptions, such as changes in the weighted average cost of capital and projected margins, which are affected by expectations about future market or economic conditions. | ||||
| How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit | We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of controls over the Company’s goodwill impairment review process, including controls over management’s review of the significant assumptions described above. To test the estimated fair value of the Company’s reporting unit, we performed audit procedures that included, among others, assessing the valuation methodologies used, testing the significant assumptions described above and testing the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data the Company used in its analyses. For example, we compared the projected margins used in the valuation to actual historical, current industry and economic trends and assessed the historical accuracy of management’s estimates. With the assistance of our internal valuation specialists, we also developed an independent range for the weighted average cost of capital and compared it to the weighted average cost of capital determined by management. We performed sensitivity analyses of the significant assumptions to evaluate the changes in the fair value of the reporting unit that would result from changes in the assumptions. |
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2005.
Los Angeles, California
February 20, 2025
LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
| December 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| As Revised | |||||||||||
| (in thousands, except share data) | |||||||||||
| ASSETS | |||||||||||
| Current assets | |||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 6,095,424 | $ | 6,231,866 | |||||||
| Accounts receivable, less allowance of $72,663 and $82,350, respectively | 1,747,316 | 2,024,649 | |||||||||
| Prepaid expenses | 1,247,184 | 1,147,581 | |||||||||
| Restricted cash | 10,685 | 7,090 | |||||||||
| Other current assets | 189,528 | 122,163 | |||||||||
| Total current assets | 9,290,137 | 9,533,349 | |||||||||
| Property, plant and equipment, net | 2,441,872 | 2,101,463 | |||||||||
| Operating lease assets | 1,618,033 | 1,606,389 | |||||||||
| Intangible assets | |||||||||||
| Definite-lived intangible assets, net | 985,812 | 1,161,621 | |||||||||
| Indefinite-lived intangible assets, net | 380,558 | 377,349 | |||||||||
| Goodwill | 2,620,911 | 2,691,466 | |||||||||
| Long-term advances | 520,482 | 623,154 | |||||||||
| Other long-term assets | 1,780,966 | 934,849 | |||||||||
| Total assets | $ | 19,638,771 | $ | 19,029,640 | |||||||
| LIABILITIES AND EQUITY | |||||||||||
| Current liabilities | |||||||||||
| Accounts payable, client accounts | $ | 1,859,678 | $ | 1,866,864 | |||||||
| Accounts payable | 242,978 |
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Item 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.
Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We have established disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that material information relating to our company, including our consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to the officers who certify our financial reports and to other members of senior management and our board of directors.
Based on their evaluation as of December 31, 2024, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) are effective to ensure that (1) the information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and (2) the information we are required to disclose in such reports is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls will prevent all possible errors and fraud. Our disclosure controls and procedures are, however, designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives, and our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective at that reasonable assurance level.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Our management conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the 2013 framework in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). Based on its evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2024.
Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has issued an attestation report on our internal control over financial reporting. The attestation report is included herein.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 that have materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.
Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the 2024 consolidated financial statements of the Company and our report dated February 20, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Los Angeles, California
February 20, 2025
Item 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
No director or officer adopted or terminated any Rule 10b5-1 plan, or any other written trading arrangement that meets the requirements of a “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement” during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
Item 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not applicable.
PART III
Item 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Other than the information set forth under Item 1. Business—Information About Our Executive Officers, the information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to our Definitive Proxy Statement, expected to be filed within 120 days of our fiscal year end.
Item 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to our Definitive Proxy Statement, expected to be filed within 120 days of our fiscal year end.
Item 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to our Definitive Proxy Statement, expected to be filed within 120 days of our fiscal year end.
Item 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to our Definitive Proxy Statement, expected to be filed within 120 days of our fiscal year end.
Item 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference to our Definitive Proxy Statement, expected to be filed within 120 days of our fiscal year end.
PART IV
Item 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a)1. Financial Statements.
The following consolidated financial statements are included in Item 8:
(1) Prior period financial statements were revised as further discussed in Part II — Financial Information—Item 8.—Financial Statements—Note 2 – Correction of Errors in Previously Reported Consolidated Financial Statements.
(a)2. Financial Statement Schedule.
The following financial statement schedule for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 is filed as part of this report and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements.
Schedule II Valuation and Qualifying Accounts
All other schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulation of the SEC are not required under the related instructions or are inapplicable, and therefore have been omitted.
LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
SCHEDULE II
VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
| Description | Balance at Beginning of Period | Charges of Costs, Expenses and Other | Write-off of Accounts Receivable | Other | Balance at End of Period | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended December 31, 2022 | $ | 50,491 | $ | 29,281 | $ | (10,364) | $ | (6,114) | $ | 63,294 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | $ | 63,294 | $ | 32,645 | $ | (10,771) | $ | (2,818) | $ | 82,350 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | $ | 82,350 | $ | 10,430 | $ | (22,901) | $ | 2,784 | $ | 72,663 |
LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
SCHEDULE II
VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS
Deferred Tax Asset Valuation Allowance
| Description | Balance at Beginning of Period | Charges of Costs, Expenses and Other | Deletions | Other (1) | Balance at End of Period | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended December 31, 2022 | $ | 1,219,496 | $ | 38,811 | $ | — | $ | (17,426) | $ | 1,240,881 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended December 31, 2023 | $ | 1,240,881 | $ | (93,450) | $ | — | $ | 46,943 | $ | 1,194,374 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended December 31, 2024 | $ | 1,194,374 | $ | (650,231) | $ | — | $ | 25,352 | $ | 569,495 |
(1) During 2024, 2023 and 2022, the valuation allowance was adjusted for acquisitions, divestitures and foreign currency adjustments.
(a)3. Those exhibits required by Item 601 of Regulation S-K
| Incorporated by Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exhibit No. | Exhibit Description | Form | File No. | Exhibit No. | Filing Date | Filed Herewith | |||||||||||||||||
| 10.49 | Indenture, dated as of December 6, 2024 by and among Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., the Guarantors identified therein and HSBC Bank USA National Association, as trustee. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 14.1 | Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. | 10-K | 001-32601 | 14.1 | 3/01/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 19.1 | Insider Trading Policy. | 10-K | 001-32601 | 96 | 2/22/2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 21.1 | Subsidiaries of the Company. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 23.1 | Consent of Ernst & Young LLP. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 24.1 | Power of Attorney (see signature page). | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 31.1 | Certification of Chief Executive Officer. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 31.2 | Certification of Chief Financial Officer. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 32.1 | Section 1350 Certification of Chief Executive Officer. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 32.2 | Section 1350 Certification of Chief Financial Officer. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 97 | Policy for Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation. | 10-K | 001-32601 | 97 | 2/22/2024 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 101.INS | XBRL Instance Document - The instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the inline XBRL document. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 101.SCH | XBRL Taxonomy Schema Document. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 101.CAL | XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase Document. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 101.DEF | XBRL Taxonomy Definition Linkbase Document. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 101.LAB | XBRL Taxonomy Label Linkbase Document. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 101.PRE | XBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document. | X | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101) | X |
§ Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
We have not filed long-term debt instruments of our subsidiaries where the total amount under such instruments is less than ten percent of the total assets of the Company and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. However, we will furnish a copy of such instruments to the Commission upon request.
Item 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
Not applicable.
Table of Contents
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on February 20, 2025.
| LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT, INC. | |||||
| By: | /s/ Michael Rapino | ||||
| Michael Rapino | |||||
| President and Chief Executive Officer |
Table of Contents
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints, jointly and severally, Michael Rapino and Joe Berchtold, and each of them, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or their or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Name | Title | Date | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Michael Rapino Michael Rapino | President, Chief Executive Officer and Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Joe Berchtold Joe Berchtold | Chief Financial Officer | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Brian Capo Brian Capo | Chief Accounting Officer | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Maverick Carter Maverick Carter | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Ping Fu Ping Fu | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Jeffrey T. Hinson Jeffrey T. Hinson | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Chad Hollingsworth Chad Hollingsworth | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Jimmy Iovine Jimmy Iovine | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ James S. Kahan James S. Kahan | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Gregory B. Maffei Gregory B. Maffei | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Randall T. Mays Randall T. Mays | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Richard A. Paul Richard A. Paul | Director | February 20, 2025 | ||||||||||||
| /s/ Latriece Watkins Latriece Watkins | Director | February 20, 2025 |