German ticketing company CTS Eventim says its recently-cemented partnership with Live Nation will boost its revenue significantly with additional earnings of €120 million ($179 million) a year by 2014.
The Munich-based company says its ticket sales will double in its first year as a result of the global partnership with Live Nation. As previously reported (Billboard.Biz, Dec. 20 2007), Live Nation will take its ticketing operation in-house as of Jan. 1 2009 through a long-term agreement with CTS Eventim. The 10-year deal takes effect at the end of this year when LN’s contract with Ticketmaster expires.
CTS Eventim says it generated revenues of €343 million on sales of 60 million tickets in 2006. No figures for 2007 are yet available, but the company expects 60 million additional tickets will be sold in 2008 as a result of the Live Nation tie-in. In addition to key European markets, the partnership will also cover the U.S. and Canada
“In future,” says CTS CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, “we will be operating internationally, making us a global player in the ticket sector. In particular, an exclusive agreement in the U.K. is very valuable. The barriers to entry [there] are especially high. Together with Live Nation we are now in an excellent starting position for a successful entry to an attractive market.”
Live Nation president/CEO Michael Rapino describes CTS as an “ideal partner.” According to Rapino: “in terms of technology, Eventim is the most advanced ticketing platform in the world. Together, we will expand on our current market position and implement our innovative ideas.”
Live Nation will be using CTS software in North American under an exclusive 10-year licence, while CTS Eventim will provide infrastructure in the U.K. and Europe. The German company will also be a contracted partner with Live Nation in Mexico, South America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Los Angeles-based Live Nation is the world’s biggest live events company. In the first nine months of 2007, it claims to have organised and produced more than 20,000 live events with a total attendance exceeding 48 million.
