LIVE NATION’S Q3 PORTENDS A RECORD-SETTING YEAR

Live Nation’s post-pandemic momentum continues unabated as revenue jumped a whopping 63% to $6.2 billion in its fiscal third quarter. Operating income was up 95% to $506m.

The concert superpower saw its highest quarterly attendance ever, with more than 44m concertgoers showing up for 11k events, bringing the year-to-date tally to 89m fans and 31k events. Ancillary per-fan spending grew 30% through September at U.S. amphitheaters.

Ticketmaster also registered an all-time high in reported fee-bearing gross transacted value (GTV) of $7.3b, up 62%.

Nine months into 2022, all signs point to a record year, with continued growth on the horizon.

“These results demonstrate the ongoing and increasing demand for live events globally, with attendance up at events of all sizes from clubs to stadiums,” LN ruler Michael Rapino said in a letter announcing the quarterly results.

“Fans around the world continue prioritizing their spend on live events, particularly concerts. Despite varying economic headwinds including inflation, we have not seen any pullback in demand as on-sales, on-site spending, advertising and all other operating metrics continue showing strong year-on-year growth.”

Rapino also shared some good news about the acts who fill the seats, noting, “As we have grown attendance, we have also continued driving greater market pricing for our concerts and now expect to transfer over $550m of additional payments to artists this year, continuing our efforts to help artists get the full value from their shows.”

Peep LN's Q3 hype sheet immediately below.