10 Jay Marciano

PRESIDENT/CEO AEG PRESENTS COO/OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN AEG

AEG Presents’ $2 billion second-place finish on Billboard Boxscore’s Top Promoters chart of 2023 is somewhat misleading. Because Taylor Swift doesn’t report her box-office results to Billboard, the estimated $906.1 million grossed on her The Eras Tour — 66 shows promoted by AEG partner Messina Touring Group — isn’t included in that official total. Were it added, the live-entertainment giant’s numbers would have increased 25% to 30% over 2022. (As it stands, they’re about even year to year.) By the time Swift’s tour is done, she will almost certainly break the record for biggest concert gross of all time, an achievement currently held by another AEG-promoted artist: Elton John, whose Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which ended last year, grossed $939.1 million from 330 shows. Six AEG-affiliated shows placed in the top 20 of last year’s top tours, including John’s final 65 dates, which landed him at No. 7 with $210 million. MTG promoted Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour (No. 5, $256.9 million) and 11 George Strait shows (No. 17, $107.5 million); AEG handled “Blackpink’s [Born Pink] Encore outing (No. 10, $148.3 million) and Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old shows (No. 13, $113.5 million). “I don’t think anyone could have foreseen the year-over-year increase in demand we’ve experienced for live events these past three years,” Marciano says. “Every sector of our business has felt it: from global touring to clubs and theaters to festivals.” The coming year will bring more Swift dates, as well as The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds tour, promoted by subsidiary Concerts West, and perhaps shed more light on the ramifications of AEG’s $2.3 billion sale of facility management company ASM Global to Legends Hospitality in November.