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LIVE NATION

After Astroworld fatalities, Travis Scott offers refunds and cancels Vegas gig

August Brown Los Angeles TimesAfter last week’s crowd-crush tragedy at Houston’s Astroworld Festival, rapper Travis Scott has reportedly pulled out of this weekend’s Day N Vegas festival in Las Vegas and will refund all ticket fees for Astroworld. Sources told Variety that Scott was “too distraught to play,” though several attendees are already suing Scott, fellow rapper Drake and Live Nation, Astroworld’s promoter. Representatives for Live Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. “Instead, their night was one of fear, injury, and death.”A second lawsuit, from concertgoer Manuel Souza, names Scott, Live Nation and concert promoter ScoreMore. Live Nation said in a statement on Saturday that it was “heartbroken for those lost and impacted at Astroworld last night.

myrgv.com

When can Americans go back to concerts and travel? Soon, Wall Street is betting

Wall Street is growing increasingly convinced that Americans will soon be eager to attend concerts, shop in malls, travel and engage in other once-typical activities that have been all but snuffed out during the coronavirus pandemic. The stock price of concert company Live Nation, for instance, hit an all-time high of just over $90 earlier this month. Wall Street analysts who follow the company predict its sales from putting on concerts and processing ticket sales will reach $2.4 billion this summer. Speaking to Wall Street analysts in February, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said he expects the concert business to come back strong this summer. The question is whether Wall Street and investors are jumping the economic gun.

cbsnews.com

As entertainment and leisure stocks hit records, trader says one name is best in breed

The PEJ entertainment and leisure ETF, which holds Disney, Airbnb and Live Nation, hit a record high on Thursday for the third day in a row. One of the high flyers has been AMC Entertainment, buoyed by interest from retail and Reddit investors. Danielle Shay, director of options at Simpler Trading, said it would be wise to wait on some of the names. Stocks in that area stand to benefit from that for quite a while more," he said during the same segment. To Chiavarone's point, Shay says another stock, Airbnb, could benefit from consumers' desire to travel.

cnbc.com

Amid pandemic, Live Nation announces drive-in concert series

(AP Photo)NEW YORK Tour promoter Live Nation has announced its first-ever drive-in concerts series in the U.S. for July, months after the live music industry has been on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. All venue staff are required to wear masks, and Live Nation requests that attendees wear masks upon arrival, where there will be contact-less ticket scanning through their windows. Masks are not required once fans are in their designated tailgate areas, and Live Nation is not requiring that fans wear gloves. Tom See, president of Live Nation Venues-US Concerts, said the company spent months working to find a safe, enjoyable way to put on live shows during the pandemic. A menu of hot food items and nonalcoholic will be available for purchase, Live Nation said.

Businesses in survival mode raise cash; commodities take off

This artist rendering released by Live Nation shows the set up for Live Nation's Live from the Drive-In, concert series taking place July 10-12. The Fed is using its tools to help, but most of the cash is being raised in the private sector. American Airlines will try to raise $3.5 billion to offset the cash its burning through with airports still largely empty. TripAdvisor said Monday that it had $693 million of cash and cash equivalents at the end of last month, down $105 million from the end of March. Two commodities monitored closely because they can indicate activity in construction copper and lumber are up 10% and 15% over the past month, respectively.

Saudi Arabia buys $500 million stake in coronavirus-hit Live Nation, stock jumps nearly 10%

Shares of Live Nation popped about 10% on Monday on the news that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund bought a 5.7% stake in the American events company, which is parent to Ticketmaster. The stake, worth about $518 million based on the company's current stock price, comprises 12,337,569 shares, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The purchase by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund comes as Live Nation the world's largest concert and events promoter is seeing revenues vanish as the coronavirus pandemic hammers the events industry and the global economy. Saudi Arabia's investment makes its Public Investment Fund the third-largest shareholder in the company after Liberty Media Corp and Vanguard Group. The purchase follows numerous reports of the Saudi wealth fund buying stakes in companies whose stock prices have been obliterated by the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns around the world.

cnbc.com

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Invesco, Dominoes, Chevron, Target, Expedia & more

Invesco Shares of Invesco tanked more than 14% after the asset manager reported disappointing quarterly results. Invesco earned 34 cents in the first quarter, missing analysts' estimate of 52 cents, according to FactSet. The company did beat Wall Street expectations for its first quarter, reporting $3.07 in earnings per share and $873.1 million in revenue. PulteGroup reported earnings per share of 74 cents, while analysts estimates 70 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. The company, which has a market cap of under $1 billion, reported earnings of $1.36 per share on $473 million in revenue.

cnbc.com

Ticketmaster, LiveNation backtrack, ease refund policy for postponed and rescheduled events

HOUSTON – Ticketmaster and its parent company LiveNation appear to be easing up and relaxing a stringent refund policy that stuck thousands of consumers with the cost of event tickets, even when the events were canceled on the originally scheduled date. We told you about Phyllis Bailey’s efforts to get a refund when the March concert she planned to attend was rescheduled for August. She wanted a refund instead, but Ticketmaster declined her request. Ticketmaster told her she wasn’t eligible for a refund because her tickets would “still be good” for the new show on March 24, 2022. For cancelled shows fans can choose to receive up to 150% of their ticket value as Concert Cash, and for rescheduled shows they will receive Concert Cash once they attend the new date.

Consumer expert Amy Davis gives advice on dealing with ticket sellers canceling events while refusing refunds

Now, many of those ticket holders are left waiting on refunds that may never come. When Live Nation or Ticketmaster canceled shows and concerts, instead of using the word “canceled,” the ticket sellers said the events were just “postponed.” Once rescheduled, even if the customer cannot attend on the new date, the companies won’t always refund the ticket price. Canceled concerts, refunds deniedIt happened to Houstonian Phyllis Bailey. When Bailey contacted Live Nation to get a refund of the $222.14, a representative told her the show was simply postponed until August 11. Live Nation told her she could get a refund.

Why you can't get a refund for a postponed show from Ticketmaster

There's a reason you can't get a refund from Ticketmaster for a postponed concert the online ticket seller doesn't have your money. "I think there's a lot of misperception about Ticketmaster," Joe Berchtold, the president of Live Nation, the company that owns Ticketmaster, said on CNBC's "Squawk Alley" on Tuesday. "Ticketmaster doesn't sell these tickets and sit on a mountain of cash. Ticketmaster sells tickets and gives the cash over to the venues where the events are held." Over the last week, Ticketmaster has faced backlash from consumers seeking refunds for postponed live events.

cnbc.com

Court Enters Judgment That Significantly Modifies and Extends Consent Decree With Live Nation/Ticketmaster

The Department of Justices Antitrust Division announced on Dec. 19, 2019, that it would file a petition asking the court to clarify and extend by five and a half years the Final Judgment entered by the court in United States v. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc., et al., Case No. Today, the court entered the Amended Final Judgment. The court also set the procedure for naming of the Independent Monitoring Trustee. The Independent Monitoring Trustee is just one term within the Amended Final Judgment that will make enforcement of the decree for the extended time period more efficient. The amended decree reimburses the American people millions of dollars and makes it easier for the Antitrust Division and state enforcers to identify and prosecute future transgressions.

justice.gov

Live Nation, DOJ reach deal over ticketing practices, stock jumps 9%

Live Nation and the Justice Department have reached a settlement over ticketing practices, the company confirmed Thursday. Shares of Live Nation jumped 9% on the initial news of a deal. Live Nation said that it has reached an agreement "in principle" with the DOJ to extend and clarify the consent decree that was formed in 2010 when Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster. With the extension, Live Nation will adopt some clarifications, confirming there will be no conditions in which Live Nation will threaten to retaliate against venues which don't sign up for Ticketmaster, the source said. There will also be no material fine, the source said, but Live Nation will cover the DOJ's attorney costs.

cnbc.com

Kanye West holds first Sunday Service since album release

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Live Nation(CNN) - Kanye West did it up big for his first Sunday Service after the release of his "Jesus Is King" album. West's wife, Kim Kardashian West, tweeted her excitement over the event. It's just a very spiritual Christian experience." The eagerly awaited "Jesus Is King" album release finally happened this past Friday. The album release came the same day West's IMAX film "Jesus Is King" hit select theaters.