“Live Nation posted 11 percent growth in its third quarter of 2025, with revenue rising to a record high of $8.5 billion as demand for live events remains high despite a challenging global economy and rising ticket costs. Operating income rose 24 percent to $793 million, Live Nation said, while deferred revenue was up 37 percent”, — write: www.hollywoodreporter.com
Operating income rose 24 percent to $793 million, Live Nation said, while deferred revenue was up 37 percent to $3.5 billion, which is typically a sign of strong figures for upcoming events in the months ahead. Live Nation said the company is on pace for its strongest year ever.
“Strong fan demand drove another record quarter, as we continue to attract more fans to more shows globally,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement. “With these tailwinds, 2026 is off to a strong start with a double-digit increase in our large venue show pipeline and increased sell-through levels for these shows. At the same time, we’re continuing to invest in new venues to grow the market, create jobs, and give artists even more ways to reach fans, positioning Live Nation on a clear path for double-digit operating income and AOI growth this year and compounding at this growth level over the next several years.”
Reflecting Live Nation’s growing global presence, the company said fan count for its international markets is on pace to beat out US fan count for the first time in Live Nation’s history.
On the earnings call Tuesday afternoon, Rapino said the company expects 2026 to be “a very, very strong stadium year again.”
Live Nation’s earnings come as the live music company remains in litigation over two high profile lawsuits from the US government. The DOJ sued Live Nation on monopoly allegations last year, calling to break up the eponymous concert promoter and ticketing giant Ticketmaster. Live Nation has denied the DOJ’s claims, and the suit will go to trial next year. Meanwhile, the FTC sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster back in September, accusing the company of working with ticket scalpers to skirt ticket limitations and sell tickets at considerable markups on the secondary market.
Live Nation refuted those allegations, but in October, Ticketmaster announced it would be banning the use of multiple accounts on the platform to curve scalping, and the company also closed its TradeDesk platform, which allowed brokers to list tickets on secondary markets.
Ticketmaster also appointed Saumil Mehta as its new president last month to help lead the platform for an “AI transformation.” Rapino spoke about that hire briefly on the earnings call Tuesday.
“Mark [Yovich, the former president who has been elevated to chairman] has done an incredible job, grown the business dramatically,” he said. “Our focus under Mark was to focus Ticketmaster to be a much more international business, away from being solely US focused. Mark will continue as chairman and that will be his focus. But we absolutely wanted to find someone that had a strong technical background, engineering and AI-based, who could look at the platform overall… how do we make sure we’re leading the charge on AI from an agent perspective at the front door to all the places added on the enterprise level?”