• Reuters , Friday, September 12, 2008 8:20 AM

Pitting itself squarely against Ticketmaster, the leading U.S. ticket vendor, concert promoter Live Nation has inked a seven-year deal to sell tickets at the North American arenas, stadiums and theatres managed by SMG. Ticketmaster's rights to sell tickets to Live Nation events expire at the end of this year. Afterward, Live Nation plans to launch its own rival ticketing service to manage its own events as well as those managed by other companies.

SMG manages such facilities as Chicago's Soldier Field, New Orleans' Superdome, Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Long Island, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco and a number of venues in small- to medium-sized markets.

Ticketing is key to Live Nation's drive to become a comprehensive music business covering concert promotion, music licensing, recordings, merchandising, sponsorship and other related businesses. Live Nation's own ticketing service will allow the company to control customer data, assemble valuable concert ticket packages for customers and pursue sponsorship opportunities.

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