Live Nation's third-quarter attendance jumped 19% to 61 million fans as its court fights go on

Live Nation Entertainment said on November 5, 2026, that 61.1 million fans attended its concerts in the three months to September 30, up 19% from 51.3 million a year earlier. Revenue also rose 19%, to $10.1 billion, in what the company called a record quarter. Through late October it had sold about 170 million tickets for 2026 shows, up 13% and already more than for all of 2025, and it now expects nearly 180 million fans for the year, after 159 million in 2025.

The biggest legal questions over the company remain open. Its quarterly report, filed the same day, says its motions to overturn April's antitrust jury verdict have not been decided. It also reports that the court hearing the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit over ticket resale and pricing denied Live Nation's motion to dismiss in September.

Where the growth came from

Markets outside North America set the pace. The filing says the United Kingdom and Europe had their strongest summers ever, and that South America's fan count grew about fivefold, with the Rock in Rio festival and added venues in Santiago and Buenos Aires. Among the quarter's notable acts it names The Weeknd, Bruno Mars, BTS and Karol G.

Chief executive Michael Rapino said international markets had passed the U.S. in concert attendance so far this year. The filing counts the U.S. together with Canada, and on that basis North America is still ahead over nine months, with 69.0 million fans against 64.6 million.

Size and profit sit in different places. Concerts produced 86% of the three segments' revenue but 48% of their adjusted operating income, a non-GAAP profit measure the company uses, while ticketing produced 9% of revenue and 25% of that income (our calculations). Over nine months, operating income fell 25% to $1.04 billion, mainly because of a $450 million accrual for the antitrust case. No further amount was recorded in the third quarter.

Tickets and resale

Live Nation's ticketing business sold 98.3 million fee-bearing tickets, and the company said concerts accounted for 95% of the increase, helped by early on-sales for 2027 shows. The value of secondary, or resale, tickets was flat. Growth in sports offset lower concert resale, which Live Nation described as “consistent with efforts to constrain scalper sales.”

Resale is also at the center of the FTC's case. The agency and seven states sued in September 2025, alleging bait-and-switch pricing and that Ticketmaster claimed to enforce strict ticket limits that brokers routinely exceeded. Live Nation says it does not believe a loss is probable at this time and that it will defend itself.

What the courts still have to decide

A jury in New York found against Live Nation and Ticketmaster on April 15, in the case pursued by the states that kept litigating after the Justice Department settled (our explainer). According to the new filing, the court heard argument in July on the company's motions for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial, and those motions “are still pending.”

More steps follow. In a remedies phase, the states propose and the court assesses the relief sought, which the filing says includes divestiture of Ticketmaster and the cancellation of some ticketing contracts, along with civil penalties under certain state laws. The judge must also approve the Justice Department settlement under the Tunney Act before it takes final effect, and Live Nation says it intends to appeal to the Second Circuit as needed. The filing gives no date for any of these.

Consumer suits continue separately. A class was certified in December 2025 in an antitrust case in the Central District of California, while two similar cases in New York were sent to arbitration in June 2026.

The rest of the year

Live Nation expects its venue business to host more than 75 million fans in 2026, up more than 15%, and plans capital spending of nearly $1.1 billion, with $800 million of it directed at venues. It also pointed to 2027: through the third quarter, the value of primary tickets sold for 2027 shows was up by double digits from the same point last year.