Market Report: Latvia
International acts are growing their share of sales in Latvia, but there is still scope to experiment with flexible pricing to ensure the sector doesn’t slip due to inflation-driven worries among consumers.
Primary ticketing
Biļešu Serviss, a subsidiary of Piletilevi Group, is the strongest player, while Biļešu Paradīze offers services for local artists’ events. Small players include Aula, eKase, and Ticket Shop.
Distribution of sales
“The market is 90% digital/10% physical,” says Līga Rubine, CEO of Biļešu Serviss. “Mobile apps and digital wallets are increasingly popular,” she suggests. “Traditional printed tickets are less common but still used.”
“The market is 90% digital/10% physical.”
Value of market
Statista forecasts that the live market will generate $13.8m in 2024, increasing to $15.0m by 2028.
“Ticket prices have generally been increasing in line with inflation, with the highest inflation experienced in 2023,” notes Rubine. “The market demonstrates the ability to sustain these price increases, supported by consumer demand for quality entertainment and a resilient economy.”
“The market demonstrates the ability to sustain these price increases, supported by consumer demand for quality entertainment and a resilient economy.”
Secondary ticketing
Biļešu Serviss recently began offering secondary ticketing for some events. “A number of sold-out events dictate the need for a secondary market,” says Rubine.
International/domestic splits & genres
There has been a notable increase in ticket sales for domestic acts and events, according to Rubine.
Cultural analysis
“The ticketing sector is responding by enhancing digital platforms, offering personalised recommendations, and adopting greener practices, such as digital-only tickets,” is Rubine’s summation of the key market trends.
Due to inflation and a rising cost of living, consumers are more hesitant in their ticket purchasing. Rubine says the sector needs to experiment with flexible pricing strategies to make tickets affordable.
Taxes & charges
“The standard VAT rate on tickets in Latvia is 21%,” explains Rubine. “However, the Latvian tax practice for cultural events has a different methodology, and promoters only pay tax in certain cases at the end.”
Country Profile: Latvia
Gints Putnins of key regional promoter L Tips Agency says Latvia is a “tough” market where “the big shows roll and other market segments aren’t as easy.” Apart from L Tips, he estimated there are only two or three promoters capable of handling tours of the Baltics for international acts.
Given the challenges, he says it is almost impossible for new players to enter, gain a sufficient foothold, and last the distance.
He does feel, however, that international perception of the market needs to change and hopes his promotion of stadium shows by Ed Sheeran over the border in Lithuania will contribute significantly to that shift in perspective. “We are still considered as beginners, but this is no longer true,” he says.
Cost barriers to promote acts in the market are falling away, and he believes this should encourage more acts to play there. “In general, it seems that big-budget advertising campaigns no longer work,” he says.
“In general, it seems that big-budget advertising campaigns no longer work”
“If enough information is provided on the Internet, fans learn about future shows, and they spread the information further. Our three markets [in the Baltics] are small. Start from club level and grow gradually.”
He is hugely positive about the potential for the Baltics as a whole, and Latvia in particular, but that could be unevenly distributed as major names will likely account for the bulk of ticket sales in the short-to-medium term. “I assume that more and more stadium-level artists will visit the Baltics,” he says. “I do not foresee any growth for the shows of club- and
medium-arena-level artists.”
He also notes that family shows “have been struggling in recent years” and, while there is potential for touring exhibitions, this cannot properly take off due to the lack of suitable venues.
Of the three Baltic nations, he suggests Latvia has, in genre terms, the most potential for a wider range of acts to tour. “Although we are small countries and nations that live close to each other, we are still very different,” he explains. “Estonians are more rock-oriented, Lithuanians [like] alternative and pop, while Latvia is somewhere in the middle.”
Arena Market: Latvia
With a capacity from 2,000–14,500, Arēna Rīga more than holds its own in a competitive market, serving as the ideal leg enroute from Helsinki to other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Indeed, some artists, such as Thirty Seconds To Mars and Andrea Bocelli, have chosen to play here on their current tours instead of neighbours such as Tallinn’s Unibet Arena and Vilnius’s Twinsbet Arena.
It also helps that Arēna Rīga is a multifunctional arena capable of hosting any kind of sports, including ice hockey, futsal, and extreme sports, as well as having the requirements for a wide variety of music and entertainment live shows. “The next 12 to 18 months look healthy with lots of bookings – several local acts, sports, and some international acts,” says Șirts Krastiņš, Arēna Rīga’s chairman. In addition to those artists mentioned above, Bryan Adams will swing through town in July, while 50 Cent, Robbie Williams, and One Republic have all graced the arena’s stage recently.
Sports fans can look forward to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Basketball Tournament this summer, while the future also looks good; Arēna Rīga will host matches for EuroBasket 2025, including the final phase, and for UEFA Futsal Euro 2026.
“The demand for international acts is back, but the offer is not there yet”
Such bookings are all part of the arena’s – and the region’s– recovery after Covid-19 and a few difficult years. Yet, while noting that the general trends are positive, challenges remain, not least growing regional tension. “The demand for international acts is back, but the offer is not there yet,” adds Krastiņš. “International acts are touring less in our region due to economic factors, as well as the geopolitical situation with the war between Russia and Ukraine.” Indeed, he notes that these issues are the greatest contributors to the fact that international live entertainment “is not where we would like it to be” but says that focusing on sports, local content, and international competitions is helping the arena overcome them.
To this end, Krastiņš says the venue is working closely with local acts to increase the number of shows in the arena, to compensate for the decrease in international acts. And, driven by a desire to maintain their competitiveness, constant improvement remains on his agenda – digitalisation of static advertising spots, new restaurant menus tailormade for different types of events and fans, and developing online platforms for selling hospitality products, are just a few of their current initiatives.