Live Nation to invest US$1 billion in U.S. music venues

The Live Nation Entertainment Inc. application is seen on an iPhone in this photograph taken in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017.

Live Nation Entertainment said on Tuesday it will invest $1 billion to build 18 new live music venues across the U.S. as the concert promoter sees strong demand for musical performances from fan-favorite artists.

This investment comes amid Live Nation’s grown optimism in the live entertainment industry, driven by long-overdue ticketing reforms and growing fan demand.

Live Nation expects two-thirds of the concert fan growth to be in the second half of the year, Chief Financial Officer Joe Berchtold said in May.

The Ticketmaster parent said it will open doors or break ground on the new venues, ranging from intimate clubs to large outdoor amphitheaters, over the next 18 months in a bid to bring more big shows to smaller cities.

The company, which said it is gearing up for its biggest year of live music ever, already boasts a portfolio of 150 venues across the U.S., representing roughly 4% of all music venues nationwide.

“To support this historic run, Live Nation venues have hired 37,000 U.S. workers to help deliver unforgettable experiences,” it added.

The Department of Justice and dozens of state attorneys general sued Live Nation and its ticket-selling unit, Ticketmaster, last year for allegedly monopolizing markets across the live concert industry in ways that hurt artists and fans.

The department is also conducting a criminal antitrust probe of Live Nation and AEG’s response to concert cancellations at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Live Nation confirmed while denying any collusion in May.

President Donald Trump in March signed an executive order aimed at protecting fans from “exploitative ticket scalping” and reforming the U.S. live entertainment ticketing industry.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Alan Barona)