Live Nation Q3 2026: Revenue Up 19%, but Segment AOI Tells a Different Story

Live Nation reported third-quarter 2026 results on Nov. 5, and the headline numbers are large: $10.1 billion in revenue, up 19% from a year earlier, and 61 million fans through the doors, up 19%. The more useful question is where the money comes from. Using the figures in the company’s own release, here is how the quarter breaks down (Live Nation Q3 2026 release, SEC filing).

The quarter in figures

AOI is Live Nation’s own non-GAAP measure. It is not GAAP profit or net income, and the company says it should be considered in addition to operating income and net income, not as a substitute.

By business: revenue and profit tell different stories

The three segments together generated $10,122.4 million in revenue and $1,268.8 million in AOI. Consolidated results are lower after other adjustments and eliminations, including $85.3 million in corporate AOI expense and $4.2 million in other AOI eliminations. The percentages below use the three-segment totals as the denominator.

Our arithmetic from those figures: concerts bring in about 86% of the three segments’ combined revenue but about 48% of their combined AOI. Ticketing and sponsorship together are about 14% of revenue and about 52% of AOI. In AOI terms per dollar of revenue, concerts earned roughly 6.9 cents in the quarter, ticketing about 36 cents and sponsorship about 69 cents. Those ratios are an illustration of mix, not a statement about profit on any single show.

Consolidated AOI margin declined by about half a point

Consolidated AOI was 11.7% of revenue in the quarter, against 12.2% a year earlier (our calculation: $1,179.3 million over $10,105.0 million, and $1,033.0 million over $8,499.1 million). Revenue rose 19% while AOI rose 14%, and corporate AOI expense increased about 15%, from $74.0 million to $85.3 million. The release does not explain the margin change, so we do not either.

What the company says about demand

• It reports about 170 million tickets sold for 2026 through late October, up 13% and already above full-year 2025. The company’s expectation, not a completed result, is close to 180 million fans for the year.
• International markets drove much of the growth: attendance up 29%, and fee-bearing tickets up 20%, which the company says is 75% of the total fee-bearing ticket growth.
• North America attendance rose 13%, with stadiums and amphitheaters driving 90% of that growth, the company says.
• For ticketing, the company says full-year AOI growth is now expected to be up high single digits.
• For 2027, the company says primary ticketing gross transaction value sold so far is up double digits on the same point last year. That is early sales data, not a completed outcome.

What this does not tell you

• Company framing. Attendance, ticket and demand claims are from Live Nation’s own release and have not been independently audited here.
• Legal and regulatory matters. This article does not examine Live Nation’s legal and regulatory matters. The company’s release references litigation-related adjustments in its non-GAAP definitions, and its nine-month reconciliation shows a $450.0 million “Governmental Investigations and Litigation” item excluded from AOI, with none shown for the third quarter. The company’s Form 10-Q contains additional disclosures. Those matters are outside the scope of this segment analysis.
• Per-share results. We do not report earnings per share, because the release’s per-share lines depend on adjustments we have not reconciled.
• No independent forecast. The forward-looking figures quoted above are Live Nation management’s expectations, not ChorusWire predictions, and this is not a view on the stock.