Live Nation and subsidiary DF Entertainment have secured a 40-year deal to operate Buenos Aires’ Luna Park in Argentina.

The companies won an auction to manage the 92-year-old, 8,400-capacity arena in the downtown San Nicolás neighbourhood, and will invest US$34 million (€32m) to increase the venue’s capacity to 13,000 – rivalling the city’s 15,000-cap Movistar Arena.

The agreement is for an initial 20 years, with an option to extend it for a further 20 years. According to La Politica, the firms will pay the stadium owners a $1m premium and guarantee a minimum of $1m in annual profit.

Since 2013, Luna Park has been owned by two branches of the catholic church. International acts to perform at the indoor arena in recent times include Placebo, Interpol, and 5 Seconds of Summer.

Live Nation bought a majority stake in DF Entertainment in 2018

Buenos Aires-based DF was founded in August 2015 by leading promoter Diego Finkelstein. Live Nation bought a majority stake in the company in 2018.

DF, which runs Lollapalooza Argentina, inked an exclusive multi-year deal to promote concerts at Buenos Aires’ River Plate Stadium, aka the ‘Monumental’, in 2023.

It also sold out an unprecedented 10 nights at the 65,000-cap stadium with Coldplay in 2022, staged Taylor Swift’s first ever concerts Argentina last year and is collaborating on Oasis’ upcoming reunion gigs at the venue on 15-16 November.

The next edition of Lollapalooza Argentina, meanwhile, is slated for 21-23 March 2025 at San Isidro Racecourse, also in Buenos Aires. Headliners include Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morissette, Shawn Mendes, Tool, Olivia Rodrigo, Rüfüs Du Sol and Tan Bionica.

Read our lowdown on the Argentina market from IQ‘s 2024 Global Arena Guide here.

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Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is continuing to smash records after millions of people attempted to buy tickets for the singer’s first concerts in Argentina.

Promoter DF Entertainment says Swift’s 9-11 November dates at Buenos Aires’ 65,000-cap River Plate Stadium sold out in a matter of hours following “unprecedented” demand during this week’s onsale.

More than three million people were in the virtual queue to buy tickets at one point according to DF boss Diego Finkelstein, who tells IQ the “epic” accomplishment speaks for itself.

A third show was added after the first two nights sold out. Prices ranged from 18,000 (€69) to 86,000 (€328) Argentine pesos.

Founded by Finkelstein in 2015, DF inked an exclusive multi-year deal to promote concerts at the famed stadium, aka the ‘Monumental’, earlier this year. The company previously sold out a record 10 nights at the venue with Coldplay last year.

Swift’s November shows form part of her first round of international dates for the Eras Tour

DF has upcoming concerts with artists such as The Weeknd, Roger Waters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and 5 Seconds of Summer. Live Nation acquired a majority stake in the firm in 2018.

Swift’s November shows form part of her first round of international dates for the Eras Tour. The 33-year-old will also play three dates in Mexico’s Foro Sol stadium before visiting Argentina and Brazil, with a closing show on 26 November in São Paulo at Allianz Parque (cap. 43,713).

The Latin American dates will be supported by pop singer Sabrina Carpenter and produced by Taylor Swift Touring.

Eras is tipped to eclipse the superstar’s 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour, which became the US’ highest-grossing tour in history, selling over two million tickets for 38 shows for a total of $266.1 million. Swift has just over 20 dates remaining of the North American leg, which saw “historically unprecedented demand” when it went on sale last year.

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Argentina’s DF Entertainment has inked an exclusive multi-year agreement to promote concerts at the famed Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires.

DF, which was founded in August 2015 by veteran concert promoter Diego Finkelstein, previously sold out an unprecedented 10 nights at the 65,000-cap stadium with Coldplay last year.

“We are very excited and happy about this news,” Finkelstein tells IQ. “River is known as the biggest and most emblematic stadium in Latin America and is a must-play for the biggest artists in the world.

“In 2022, DF Entertainment promoted the 10 sold-out Coldplay shows at River, which set a new record in the market, plus two sold-out Harry Styles shows and one sold-out Guns N’ Roses show. Very soon, we will announce the amazing acts who will be performing at River Plate Stadium in 2023 and the following years.”

DF also has upcoming shows in Argentina with the likes of The Weeknd, Imagine Dragons and Ludovico Einaudi

The national record previously belonged to Roger Waters, who played nine The Wall concerts at the “Monumental” venue in March 2012.

Buenos Aires-based DF also has upcoming shows in Argentina with the likes of The Weeknd, Imagine Dragons and Ludovico Einaudi. Live Nation acquired a majority stake in the firm in 2018.

A special live broadcast of Coldplay’s 28 October 2022 Buenos Aires concert was screened in cinemas in more than 80 countries – a record-breaking number of countries for a live cinema event – topping the box office charts in Argentina, Mexico, Chile amd Netherlands

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Coldplay have made history in Argentina by completing an unprecedented 10-night sellout run at the 65,000-cap Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires.

The national record previously belonged to Roger Waters, who played nine shows at the legendary “Monumental” venue in March 2012 during his The Wall Live tour.

The British band’s Music Of The Spheres tour resumed in the Argentine capital on 25 October after a string of Brazilian tour dates were postponed until early 2023 when frontman Chris Martin contracted a serious lung infection.

“We have 10 sold-out dates at River Plate Stadium – that’s 650,000 tickets in one city – but I am not surprised because Coldplay have a huge connection with people in Argentina,” said local promoter Diego Finkelstein of Buenos Aires-based DF Entertainment in IQ‘s recent tour report.

“On the last tour, I had lunch with [Coldplay manager] Dave Holmes and told him that we could sell out 10 stadiums in Buenos Aires, but he was reluctant to commit to that many at the time. So when we went on sale, we went with four shows at River Plate and that was supposed to be the end of the tour leg, but the speed they sold out at was incredible, so I pushed for more.”

“It was incredible, but if we wanted, the demand was still there to sell even more dates”

The residency wrapped up with the 10th and final show on 8 November. Finkelstein explained that the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar’s unusual November start date proved a blessing in disguise, bringing a halt to domestic football and freeing up River Plate Stadium.

“We invested $2m [€1.96m] in pitch protection to persuade the stadium to give us more dates,” he said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get so many dates at River Plate, so we begged the band to extend the tour. On 24 May, we put shows five, six, and seven on sale and they blew out in one day. The following week we sold out shows eight and nine.

“The 10th show went on sale on 7 June and sold out in two hours. It was incredible, but if we wanted, the demand was still there to sell even more dates.”

A special live broadcast of the group’s 28 October Buenos Aires concert was screened in cinemas in more than 80 countries – a record-breaking number of countries for a live cinema event – topping the box office charts in Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Netherlands, and breaking the top 10 worldwide across the weekend covering 28-30 October, according to Comscore.

“The band’s triumphant return to the stage in Buenos Aires, with the welcomed addition of Jin from BTS as a special guest, clearly resonated on a worldwide scale”

Directed by BAFTA-winning and Grammy-nominated director Paul Dugdale, the presentation saw the band team up once more with Trafalgar Releasing, which also served as executive producer alongside CJ 4DPlex.

“We are elated with the success of the broadcast, following our release of A Head Full of Dreams in 2018,” says Trafalgar Releasing CEO Marc Allenby. “The band’s triumphant return to the stage in Buenos Aires, with the welcomed addition of Jin from BTS as a special guest, clearly resonated on a worldwide scale and once again proved the power of cinema to bring fans together. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Coldplay team in 2023.”

The live event was supported by DHL, which has partnered with the band to reduce carbon emissions from their world tour.

“It’s such a groundbreaking tour in such a challenging market,” Coldplay agent Josh Javor of X-ray Touring told IQ earlier this year. “A lot of other things in the world are just not selling at the moment, but it’s completely bucked the trend.”

Ticket sales for the Music Of The Spheres tour have exceeded 5.4 million since UK and European stadium dates went on sale for 2023.

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