Through tariffs, inflation and financial uncertainty, music followers proceed to clamor for live performance tickets. For proof, look no additional than Reside Nation’s second quarter earnings report, which noticed income bounce 16% to $7 billion on the power of $5.95 billion of live performance income, up 19% yr over yr.
“World enlargement continues to drive touring progress, with fan attendance hitting new highs and ticket shopping for sturdy at each worth level from VIP to the again row,” CEO Michael Rapino mentioned in a press release. By investing in high-growth markets and fan experiences, the corporate can produce double-digit progress in income and adjusted working earnings “this yr and for years to return,” he added.
Associated
Like Rapino’s forward-looking assertion, many of the dialog throughout Reside Nation’s Thursday (Aug. 7) earnings name targeted on future alternatives, not second-quarter outcomes. Listed here are a number of key takeaways.
Worldwide Progress
Worldwide markets produced a 30% enhance in fan attendance within the second quarter, and worldwide area fan depend was up 20%. Of the 20 million ticket gross sales Reside Nation has added this yr, 70% got here from worldwide markets, and many of the progress in fan attendance in 2025 is coming from the U.Ok., Europe and Latin America, mentioned CFO Joe Berchtold.
Potential in Latin America
Per week after Reside Nation purchased an additional 24% of Mexican promoter OCESA, bringing its stake to 75%, Rapino sang the praises of the corporate’s relationship with OCESA and its administration staff led by CEO Alejandro Soberón. “We predict [that] Mexico, below Alex, has continued nice progress forward of it,” he mentioned. There’s much more potential exterior of Mexico, the place OCESA just lately reworked Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico Metropolis. Reside Nation is working Enviornment Cañaveralejo, a stadium in Cali, Colombia, in partnership with Grupo Páramo and OCESA. And Brazil “is one other Mexico,” mentioned Rapino. “Enormous alternative in Brazil. Apart from Rock in Rio and a few excursions, we actually are underdeveloped in most of Latin America.”
The World Cup Gained’t Be a Issue
The U.S., Canada and Mexico will host the World Cup subsequent yr, successfully eradicating some stadiums from the music touring circuit. The event runs from June 11 to July 19 in 16 cities throughout the continent. However Reside Nation assured traders that the World Cup isn’t prone to intervene with live performance excursions. As a result of Reside Nation began planning nicely upfront, “we’ve been in a position to safe a extremely good ’26 stadium enterprise,” mentioned Rapino. Whereas the U.S. “may need a number of much less stadiums,” he added, Reside Nation goes to have “an enormous, huge enterprise in Europe subsequent yr [and] we’re going to have huge enterprise in Latin America.”