Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLive Nation has released financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021, and those results are strong, despite a return to concerts that was disrupted by omicron and the tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival last fall.While comparisons to 2020 are virtually moot, the company’s revenue thundered back in 2021, more than tripling to $6.27 billion, according to the company’s earnings report issued Wednesday; while that is just slightly more than half of its 2019 revenue of $11.55 billion, it is based on what was effectively a half-year at best of live entertainment.
Concert revenue was $4.72 billion, up $3.3 billion.The company has continued the resilience it has displayed throughout the pandemic, putting on more than 17,000 concerts for 35 million fans in 2021, mainly in the U.S.
and U.K. markets. The company even topped its 2019 numbers by nearly 25% for the final five months of the year in those territories, with more than 15 million fans attending outdoor events — festivals, stadiums, and amphitheaters.
The omicron variant struck during a traditionally slower part of the year for live entertainment — December and January — which worked to the benefit of both events and touring, and the company’s earnings.
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