Live Nation picking up venues one by one
Live Nation announced Tuesday that it would handle tickets for New York’s 3,200-capacity Roseland Ballroom, which has hosted major acts such as My Bloody Valentine and Madonna (a Live Nation artist).
It’s not a huge venue, and the deal isn’t a big surprise — Live Nation already handled booking for the midtown site. But it does signal that Live Nation will be aggressively pursuing Ticketmaster clients as it prepares to launch its ticketing service next year. In the words of Morgan Joseph & Co. Inc. analyst David B. Kestenbaum, “Ticketmaster is under attack.”
So which venue is next? Live Nation couldn’t be reached for comment. But the Hammerstein Ballroom, onetime host to Jay-Z and Nine Inch Nails and exclusively booked by Live Nation, could be an option. And Kestenbaum didn’t rule out larger venues such as the Cablevision-owned Madison Square Garden.
“They’re going after every venue that Ticketmaster controls,” he says.
Cablevision head James Dolan set off speculation last month by suggesting at a Goldman Sachs-sponsored conference that the Garden would consider ticketing through Live Nation, lifting Live Nation’s stock 21%. But he later backpedaled and confirmed his commitment to Ticketmaster.
On Tuesday, Live Nation shares rose 1.22% to $13.32.
--Swati Pandey
*Photo: Madonna performing at Madison Square Garden, courtesy Kathy Willens/Associated Press.
