Live Nation Inks Five-Year Deal To Sell Most Tickets For SMG

Live Nation has signed "a five-year deal to sell tickets" for SMG, which manages "more than 200 major venues," including the L.A. Forum and Soldier Field, according to Ethan Smith of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Under the deal, which will begin in '09, Live Nation will sell the "vast majority of tickets to events at SMG venues -- at least 25 million of about 30 million tickets." Those sales "represent an estimated [$50-60M] in ticketing fees." While Ticketmaster President & CEO Sean Moriarty said that SMG "lacks authority to make a deal on behalf of the municipally owned venues it runs," SMG said that "only a small fraction of its agreements require competitive bidding." Live Nation North American Music CEO Jason Garner said that Live Nation "plans to seek more avenues to get into the ticketing business." Terms of the deal were not disclosed (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/11).