Rock am Ring, 2025 ticket sales to which are ‘exceptionally strong,’ according to CTS Eventim. Photo Credit: Sven Mandel
CTS Eventim has posted nearly 16% year-over-year revenue growth for 2024’s initial nine months due in part to an almost 23% expansion on the ticketing side.
The Bremen-based live entertainment business just recently shed light on its performance across January and September 2024. All told, the nine-month window delivered revenue of about $2.11 billion (€2.03 billion), up 15.8% from the same period in 2023, per the breakdown.
For Q3 2024 itself, revenue reached $858.26 million/€825 million (up 13.1% YoY). However, See Tickets, acquired by CTS Eventim from Vivendi, only began factoring into the German company’s financials earlier this year (including the entirety of the third quarter).
Running with the TikTok-partnered entity’s showing on the ticketing side, Q1-Q3 2024 revenue came in at $587.21 million (€564.6 million), up 22.9% YoY. For Q3 in particular, ticketing revenue hiked 18.3% YoY to a touch shy of $215 million (€206.6 million).
Execs attributed the results in part to strong ticket sales from Ed Sheeran, Iron Maiden, Brazil’s Gilberto Gil, and Italy’s Vasco Rossi. Meanwhile, ticketing adjusted EBITDA improved 18.4% YoY for the three-quarter stretch to $250.41 million (€240.7 million).
The consolidation of French ticketing company France Billet into CTS Eventim is expected to begin in December, the Punto Ticket, Teleticket, and TicketOne parent also relayed.
Transitioning to the core concerts and festivals segment, CTS Eventim pointed to $1.56 billion/€1.49 billion in revenue for the relevant nine months (up 13.6% YoY), against $653.84 million/€628.4 million for the third quarter (up 11.4% YoY).
Nevertheless, CTS Eventim’s live events adjusted EBITDA slipped 3% YoY for Q1-Q3 ($85.53 million/€82.1 million) due to “persistently high cost pressures” as well as expenses stemming from the integration of festivals acquired from Vivendi.
In any event, construction on CTS Eventim’s massive Milan arena “is on track” – with “a further large-scale arena” yet on the way in Vienna to boot. Plus, notwithstanding certain high-profile festivals’ attendance woes, Rock am Ring and Rock im Par 2025 ticket sales are off to “an exceptionally strong start,” according to the company.
Addressing the results, CTS Eventim head Klaus-Peter Schulenberg touted his business as “continuing to deliver stable growth in an increasingly volatile political and economic environment.”
“The strategy of boosting rapid expansion and making the portfolio more financially resilient has proved to be key to our Group’s long-term performance,” the 73-year-old proceeded. “In the third quarter, factors such as the acquisition of See Tickets, the merger of two strong event companies and the performance of both our EVENTIM LIVE Group and our venue activities enabled us to lay strong foundations for our Group’s long-term success.”
Earlier this week, blockchain ticketing platform Celebratix raised roughly $1.15 million, and the Amsterdam-headquartered startup is now eyeing a buildout into several European nations.