WME parent Endeavor posts $1.2bn revenue for Q3
WME’s parent company Endeavor has praised the resilience of live events after posting Q3 2022 revenue of $1.221 billion.
Endeavor, which owns properties such as sports agency IMG and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), recorded a net loss of $12.5 million for the quarter, but has upped its adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2022 as a whole by $10m in recognition of “continued strength across the business”.
“Our business performed well in the quarter despite a turbulent macroeconomic environment,” says Endeavor CEO Ariel Emanuel. “Given our unique positioning relative to a set of highly resilient secular industry trends across premium sports and entertainment content and live events, we remain confident in our ability to continue delivering on our long-term growth strategy while also being good stewards of capital.”
WME artists include Drake, Justin Timberlake, Adele, Bruno Mars, Pearl Jam, Kendrick Lamar, the Killers, Bjork, Frank Ocean, Foo Fighters, St Vincent and Shakira, with Snoop Dogg joining its ranks earlier this week.
Revenue from Endeavor’s representation segment was $388.3m for the three-month period, down 42% on the third quarter of 2021.
“Spending habits have shifted, but our company has a presence at every point on the purchase chain”
“The decrease was primarily due to $334 million of revenue in the prior year from the restricted Endeavor Content business, which was sold in January 2022,” says the firm. “The decrease was partially offset by continued strong demand for talent including the recovery of music and comedy touring, as well as increased corporate brand spending at [creative agency] 160over90.
Elsewhere, revenue for its owned sports properties segment was $402.3m for the quarter, up 39% on Q3 2021, while revenue from events, experiences & rights segment was down 1% to $440.6m, partially offset by growth in music and other events.
“Spending habits have shifted, but our company has a presence at every point on the purchase chain,” Emanuel told investors. “During Covid people were buying stuff, and post-Covid, they are more focused on experiences, and we are the benefit of that side of the equation.”
Full-year revenue is expected to be between $5.235bn and $5.325bn, while adjusted EBITDA is forecast to be between $1.145bn and $1.175bn, adds the company, which notes it repaid $250m of debt in the third quarter with the intent to repay an additional $250m by the year’s end.
Endeavor named Richard Weitz and Christian Muirhead as co-chairmen of WME in September, while Lucy Dickins was elevated to the position of WME global head of contemporary music and touring in August.
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CTS Eventim share price climbs after Q3 results
CTS Eventim’s share price has climbed by more than 10% on the back of the company’s Q3 financial results.
Shares in the Munich-headquartered pan-European ticketing giant, promoter and venue operator increased from €46.96 last Thursday to €51.90 yesterday after the firm recorded formidable business development in both ticketing and live entertainment.
In the third quarter of 2022, sales leapt from €115 million in the Covid-hit 2021 to €694m in the current financial year, based on preliminary figures. Quarterly sales in the last pre-pandemic year of 2019 were €378m.
Normalised group EBITDA was €130m compared to €26m in the same period of the previous year and €65m in Q3 2019.
In ticketing, revenues reached €137m – more than double the €61m achieved in the third quarter of 2021 and 29% above Q3 2019’s €107m. Normalised EBITDA was €65m (previous year €27m), 44% up on the €45m recorded in the same period in 2019.
Live entertainment revenues rocketed to €563m, dwarfing the €277m generated in 2019 and the €56m in 2021. Normalised EBITDA was €66m in the third quarter of 2022 – more than three times that of the third quarter of 2019 (€20m).
“The company expects consolidated sales of at least €1.7 billion and normalised EBITDA of at least €330 million”
“The company expects consolidated sales of at least €1.7 billion and normalised EBITDA of at least €330 million,” says management in its full year forecast for 2022. “The forecast is based on the assumption that there will be no significant impairment of business development in the remaining period of 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic or the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war.”
The full group quarterly statement will be published on 17 November .
CTS previously revealed its revenue increased to €734.4m in the first half of 2022, compared with €65.3m in the same period of 2021.
“We are very optimistic that our industry has now finally turned the corner after two very difficult years,” said CTS Eventim, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg following the second quarter results. “We believe that CTS Eventim is ideally placed to continue seizing opportunities in order to maintain its growth trajectory.”
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Live Nation scores biggest summer season yet
Live Nation has delivered its biggest summer concert season in history, with Q3 revenue up 63% on pre-pandemic levels to $6.2 billion.
The company’s operating income for the period rose 95% to $506 million, while reported AOI increased 45% to $621m as it achieved its highest quarterly attendance ever with over 44 million fans across 11,000 events.
In addition, its Ticketmaster business transacted $6.7bn of fee-generating GTV on 71m tickets, up 69% and 42% respectively, relative to Q3 2019, while sponsorship had another record quarter, droving AOI of $226m – 56% higher than Q3 2019.
“Clearly 2022 has been an incredible year of returning to live events, and we expect it to finish strong”
“Clearly 2022 has been an incredible year of returning to live events, and we expect it to finish strong,” says Live Nation chief Michael Rapino. “Ticket sales for concerts this year were up 34% for the quarter, and now stand at over 115 million tickets sold for shows this year, up 37% from this point in 2019.
“More importantly, momentum is strong with early signs pointing to continued growth in 2023 across our businesses. Ticket sales for shows in 2023 are pacing even stronger than they were heading into 2022, up double-digits year-over-year, excluding sales from rescheduled shows. In our sponsorship business, confirmed commitments are up 30% from this time last year, showing the resiliency and long-term commitments that brands have for our business.
“Beyond these specific leading indicators, going into 2023, we expect we will drive growth in our concert business by adding more venues to our operated portfolio, continue increasing ancillary per fan revenue and further our efforts to deliver market value for the show to artists. And in ticketing, we expect to benefit from these market pricing trends, while also continuing to globally add new clients to our world-class platform.”
“I look at our top artists we’ve had this year – Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Morgan Wallen, The Weeknd, Olivia Rodrigo – and these are all artists that are at the early stages of their career”
Fan count at stadiums more than tripled to nearly nine million, driven by global demand for artists such as as Bad Bunny, The Weeknd and Red Hot Chili Peppers. And speaking to investors, Live Nation CFO Joe Berchtold says the firm is not reliant on heritage acts.
“I look at our top artists we’ve had this year – Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, Morgan Wallen, The Weeknd, Olivia Rodrigo – and these are all artists that are at the early stages of their career. These are tremendous talents that are just showing the breadth of supply that we have in our business.
“Our sales for next year are up double digits. We’re most up in stadiums which, by their definition, are going to be the largest artists that can sell the most tickets. So that would indicate we are off to a good quality start.”
“A concert ticket is still a really affordable ticket. The majority of the tickets are sold are $50 to $75
Rapino projects that 2023 will be “a similar year in terms of quality” and says the imminent sale for Taylor Swift’s 2023 US tour was “probably going to break all records” for Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan scheme.
“Artists are seeing the demand is there if you price it smart and you have got the right markets,” he says. “We are not feeling the demand from inflation or ‘23 pressures that are driving strategy. It’s just overall us being better at what we do today than we were last year and the year before on pricing strategy per market by artist for territory.
“A concert ticket is still a really affordable ticket. The majority of the tickets are sold are $50 to $75. So, although we have a great premium business… we’re seeing demand strong on all levels. Whether it’s a $19 ticket, it’s filling up the clubs or the premium at the stadiums and arenas. So we do think we have something for everyone.”
“We don’t believe there will be any impact whatsoever if there was a nationwide mandate for all-in pricing”
Berchtold and Rapino also reiterate LN’s backing of US president Joe Biden’s call for transparency around ticketing fees, having endorsed a law passed in New York this summer requiring ticket sellers to share all fees upfront.
“We don’t believe there will be any impact whatsoever if there was a nationwide mandate for all-in pricing,” says Berchtold. “We think it makes sense. It just has to be done collectively at the same time… So I think that we will work with the FTC. We will work with the DA in the State of New York, and we’re very supportive of that and some other shifts to make ticketing more transparent and a better consumer experience.”
“We tend to do better as regulation comes into play in this space,” adds Rapino. “A lot of our business has been chasing the secondary business for years that’s kind of unregulated. We would love spec selling to be outlawed. We’d love better rules on bot ticketing. We love all-in pricing. We’re adhering to all-in pricing in New York right now.
“I think we’re probably the only ticketing company actually adhering to those regulations right now. So we like sunlight coming to the business… Most of the noise is generated from the secondary business. So we love regulation, it puts us on an equal footing.”
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