Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

REVENUE RECOGNITION

v3.20.4
REVENUE RECOGNITION
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
REVENUE RECOGNITION REVENUE RECOGNITION
The global COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the recognition of revenue for our Concerts, Ticketing and Sponsorship & Advertising segments. Beginning in mid-March, we ceased all of our tours and closed our venues to support global efforts at social distancing to mitigate the spread of the virus, and to comply with restrictions put in place by various governmental entities.
For our Concerts segment, the impact is partially a delay in the timing of revenue recognition as many events are being rescheduled to dates in 2021. For events that have been cancelled as of December 31, 2020, the deferred revenue has been reclassified to accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheets where not already refunded to the fan. In certain markets, we are offering fans an incentive to receive a voucher for a future ticket purchase to one of our events in lieu of receiving a refund for the cancelled event. Where a fan has elected to receive the incentive voucher, the cash from the original ticket purchase remains in deferred revenue. For certain of our rescheduled events, we are offering a limited refund window for fans to request a refund. Where a fan has elected to receive a refund for a rescheduled event and where we have estimated future refunds, the deferred revenue has been reclassified to accrued expenses if not already refunded. The estimate of future refunds was developed by allocating our event-related deferred revenue based on where we estimated that the affected events were in the refund process as of December 31, 2020, and applying a venue-specific refund take rate. The venue-specific refund take rates were based on the refunds we have issued since we ceased all our tours and closed our venues in mid-March 2020 through the end of the current reporting period.
For our Ticketing segment, the impact is similar to the Concerts segment if the tickets sold for an event are controlled by our concert promoters. For the Ticketing segment’s third-party clients, previously recognized service charges are reversed from revenue when the event is cancelled or a refund is issued for a rescheduled event, including refunds issued after the balance sheet date but prior to the filing of our consolidated financial statements. The revenue reversal is reflected as accrued expenses on our consolidated balance sheets where not already refunded to the fan. The timing of our third-party clients’ event cancellations and rescheduling of postponed events versus new events available for sale can result in refunds of service charges exceeding current quarter sales resulting in negative revenue for that period.
For our Sponsorship & Advertising segment, the impact is partially a delay in the timing of revenue recognition due to our concert events being rescheduled, our venues being closed and the limited number of events currently available for sale on our websites. In response to the impacts we are experiencing from the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have amended or are continuing negotiations with certain of our sponsors to either provide additional benefits when our venues reopen and our concert events resume or extend the term of the agreement with no additional benefits to the sponsor.
Concerts
Concerts revenue, including intersegment revenue, for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:
  
Year Ended December 31,
  2020 2019 2018
  (in thousands)
Total Concert Revenue $ 1,468,433  $ 9,428,094  $ 8,770,031 
Percentage of consolidated revenue 78.9  % 81.6  % 81.3  %
Our Concerts segment generates revenue from the promotion or production of live music events and festivals in our owned or operated venues and in rented third-party venues, artist management commissions and the sale of merchandise for music artists at events. As a promoter and venue operator, we earn revenue primarily from the sale of tickets, concessions, merchandise, parking, ticket rebates or service charges on tickets sold by Ticketmaster or third-party ticketing agreements, and rental of our owned or operated venues. As an artist manager, we earn commissions on the earnings of the artists and other clients we represent, primarily derived from clients’ earnings for concert tours. Over 95% of Concerts’ revenue, whether related to promotion, venue operations, artist management or artist event merchandising, is recognized on the day of the related event. The majority of consideration for our Concerts segment is collected in advance of or on the day of the event. Consideration received in advance of the event is recorded as deferred revenue or in long-term liabilities if the event is more than twelve months from the balance sheet date. Any consideration not collected by the day of the event is typically received within three months after the event date.
Ticketing
Ticketing revenue, including intersegment revenue, for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:
  
Year Ended December 31,
  2020 2019 2018
  (in thousands)
Total Ticketing Revenue $ 188,383  $ 1,545,189  $ 1,529,566 
Percentage of consolidated revenue 10.1  % 13.4  % 14.2  %
Ticket fee revenue is generated from convenience and order processing fees, or service charges, charged at the time a ticket for an event is sold in either the primary or secondary markets. Our Ticketing segment is primarily an agency business that sells tickets for events on behalf of its clients, which include venues, concert promoters, professional sports franchises and leagues, college sports teams, theater producers and museums. Our Ticketing segment records revenue arising from convenience and order processing fees, regardless of whether these fees are related to tickets sold in the primary or secondary market, and regardless of whether these fees are associated with our concert events or third-party clients’ concert events. Our Ticketing segment does not record the face value of the tickets as revenue. Ticket fee revenue is recognized when the ticket is sold for third-party clients and secondary market sales, as we have no further obligation to our client’s customers following the sale of the ticket. For our concert events where our concert promoters control ticketing, ticket fee revenue is recognized when the event occurs because we also have the obligation to deliver the event to the fan. The delivery of the ticket to the fan is not considered a distinct performance obligation for our concert events because the fan cannot receive the benefits of the ticket unless we also fulfill our obligation to deliver the event. The majority of ticket fee revenue is collected within the month of the ticket sale. Revenue received from the sale of tickets in advance of our concert events is recorded as deferred revenue or in other long-term liabilities if the date of the event is more than twelve months from the balance sheet date. Reported revenue is net of any refunds made or committed to and also the impact of any cancellations of events that occurred during the period and up to the time of filing these consolidated financial statements.
Ticketing contract advances, which can be either recoupable or non-recoupable, represent amounts paid in advance to our clients pursuant to ticketing agreements and are reflected in prepaid expenses or in long-term advances if the amount is expected to be recouped or recognized over a period of more than twelve months. Recoupable ticketing contract advances are generally recoupable against future royalties earned by the client, based on the contract terms, over the life of the contract. Royalties are typically earned by the client when tickets are sold. Royalties paid to clients are recorded as a reduction to revenue when the tickets are sold and the corresponding service charge revenue is recognized. Non-recoupable ticketing contract advances, excluding those amounts paid to support clients’ advertising costs, are fixed additional incentives occasionally paid by us to certain clients to secure the contract and are typically amortized over the life of the contract on a straight-line basis as a reduction to revenue. At December 31, 2020 and 2019, we had ticketing contract advances of $63.5 million and $100.9 million, respectively, in prepaid expenses and $87.0 million and $105.7 million, respectively, in long-term advances. We amortized $48.0 million, $80.3 million and $80.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 respectively, related to non-recoupable ticketing contract advances.
Sponsorship & Advertising
Sponsorship & Advertising revenue, including intersegment revenue, for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:
  
Year Ended December 31,
  2020 2019 2018
  (in thousands)
Total Sponsorship & Advertising Revenue $ 203,676  $ 590,274  $ 503,968 
Percentage of consolidated revenue 10.9  % 5.1  % 4.7  %
Our Sponsorship & Advertising segment generates revenue from sponsorship and marketing programs that provide its sponsors with strategic, international, national and local opportunities to reach customers through our venue, concert and ticketing assets, including advertising on our websites. These programs can also include custom events or programs for the sponsors’ specific brands, which are typically experienced exclusively by the sponsors’ customers. Sponsorship agreements may contain multiple elements, which provide several distinct benefits to the sponsor over the term of the agreement, and can be for a single or multi-year term. We also earn revenue from exclusive access rights provided to sponsors in various categories such as ticket pre-sales, beverage pouring rights, venue naming rights, media campaigns, signage within our venues, and advertising on our websites. Revenue from sponsorship agreements is allocated to the multiple elements based on the relative stand-alone selling price of each separate element, which are determined using vendor-specific evidence, third-party evidence or our best estimate of the fair value. Revenue is recognized over the term of the agreement or operating season as the benefits are provided to the sponsor unless the revenue is associated with a specific event, in which case it is recognized when the event occurs. Revenue is collected in installment payments during the year, typically in advance of providing the benefit or the event. Revenue received in advance of the event or the sponsor receiving the benefit is recorded as deferred revenue or in other long-term liabilities if the date of the event is more than twelve months from the balance sheet date.
At December 31, 2020, we had contracted sponsorship agreements with terms greater than one year that had approximately $1.0 billion of revenue related to future benefits to be provided by us. We expect to recognize, based on current projections, approximately 33%, 26%, 15% and 26% of this revenue in 2021, 2022, 2023 and thereafter, respectively.
Deferred Revenue
The majority of our deferred revenue is typically classified as current and is shown as a separate line item on the consolidated balance sheets. Deferred revenue that is not expected to be recognized within the next twelve months is classified as long-term and reflected in other long-term liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. At December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, we had current deferred revenue of $1.8 billion, $1.4 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively.
The table below summarizes the amount of prior year current deferred revenue recognized during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
December 31,
2020 2019
(in thousands)
Concerts $ 273,734  $ 1,121,945 
Ticketing 26,471  62,088 
Sponsorship & Advertising 18,010  20,220 
Other & Corporate 3,402  3,069 
$ 321,617  $ 1,207,322 
As of December 31, 2020, approximately 40.6% of the current deferred revenue balance from December 31, 2019 is expected to be recognized in 2021 and thus such amounts remain in current deferred revenue. In addition, as of December 31, 2020, approximately 32.7% of the current deferred revenue balance from December 31, 2019 has been or is expected to be refunded to fans as the corresponding events have cancelled or refunds were or are expected to be requested for rescheduled events, and thus such amounts have been reclassified to accrued expenses if not already refunded. As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to further delay our ability to resume our concert events and reopen our venues, our long-term deferred revenue balance has increased. We had long-term deferred revenue of $88.6 million, $34.4 million and $27.5 million at December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively, which is reflected in other long-term liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.