Live Nation’s Revenues Dropped 98% In Second Quarter Of 2020

Live Nation Entertainment has released its second quarter 2020 results. The concert promoter reported a 98% drop in revenue, from Q2 2019 to Q2 2020, including a 95% drop in concert revenue ($2.6 billion in Q2 2019, vs. $141.8 million in Q2 2020) and an 88% drop in sponsorship and advertising revenue.

While undoubtedly a significant drop in revenues, it’s not unexpected with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic bringing touring schedules and live concerts to a halt.

Live Nation also posted a negative $86 million revenue for ticketing, primarily because of refunds to music fans, while a year ago, Live nation posted positive ticketing revenues of $371 million.

In its 2020 second quarter, Live Nation had 24 concerts in North America, bringing in 8,000 fans, as compared to 7,213 concerts in its second quarter of 2019, which brought in 15.84 million fans.

Live Nation President/CEO Michael Rapino also noted that Live Nation has already sold 19 million tickets to more than 4,000 concerts and festivals slated for 2021.

“Over the past three months, our top priority has been strengthening our financial position to ensure that we have the liquidity and flexibility to get through an extended period with no live events. Our expectation is that live events will return at scale in the summer of 2021, with ticket sales ramping up in the quarters leading up to these shows. Importantly, we remain confident that fans will return to live events when it is safe to do so. Our strongest indicator of demand is that fans are holding on to their tickets, even when given the option of a refund. Through the end of the second quarter, 86% of concert fans are keeping their tickets for rescheduled shows, demonstrating their continued desire to attend concerts in the future despite the current uncertainty,” said Rapino.

Click here for a full review of Live Nation Entertainments’s quarterly results.