BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND OTHER INFORMATION |
6 Months Ended |
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Jun. 30, 2021 | |
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND OTHER INFORMATION | BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND OTHER INFORMATION Preparation of Interim Financial Statements
The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with GAAP for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X issued by the SEC. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, they include all normal and recurring accruals and adjustments necessary to present fairly the results of the interim periods shown. The financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2021.
Seasonality
Our Concerts and Sponsorship & Advertising segments typically experience higher revenue and operating income in the second and third quarters as our outdoor venues and festivals are primarily used in or occur from May through October. In addition, the timing of when tickets are sold and the tours of top-grossing acts can impact comparability of quarterly results year over year, although annual results may not be impacted. Our Ticketing segment revenue is impacted by fluctuations in the availability of events for sale to the public, which vary depending upon scheduling by our clients.
Cash flows from our Concerts segment typically have a slightly different seasonality as payments are often made for artist performance fees and production costs for tours in advance of the date the related event tickets go on sale. These artist fees and production costs are expensed when the event occurs. Once tickets for an event go on sale, we generally begin to receive payments from ticket sales at our owned or operated venues and festivals in advance of when the event occurs. We record these ticket sales as revenue when the event occurs. Our seasonality also results in higher balances in cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, prepaid expenses, accrued expenses and deferred revenue at different times in the year.
Due to the unprecedented global stoppage of our concert and other events beginning in mid-March 2020 resulting from the global COVID-19 pandemic, we did not experience our typical seasonality trends in 2020 and do not expect 2021 will follow our typical seasonality trends.
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash
Cash and cash equivalents include all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less. Our cash and cash equivalents include domestic and foreign bank accounts as well as interest-bearing accounts consisting primarily of bank deposits and money market accounts managed by third-party financial institutions. These balances are stated at cost, which approximates fair value.
Included in the June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 cash and cash equivalents balance is $1.1 billion and $673.5 million, respectively, of cash received that includes the face value of tickets sold on behalf of ticketing clients and their share of service charges (“client cash”), which amounts are to be remitted to these clients. We generally do not utilize client cash for our own financing or investing activities as the amounts are payable to our clients on a regular basis. These amounts are included in accounts payable, client accounts.
Restricted cash primarily consists of cash held in escrow accounts to fund capital improvements of certain leased or operated venues. The cash is held in these accounts pursuant to the related lease or operating agreement.
Nonconsolidated Affiliates
In general, nonconsolidated investments in which we own more than 20% of the common stock or otherwise exercise significant influence over an affiliate are accounted for under the equity method. We review the value of equity method investments and record impairment charges in the statements of operations for any decline in value that is determined to be other-than-temporary. If we obtain control of a nonconsolidated affiliate through the purchase of additional ownership interest or changes in the governing agreements, we remeasure our investment to fair value first and then apply the accounting guidance for business combinations. Any gain or loss resulting from the remeasurement to fair value is recorded as a component of other expense (income), net in the statements of operations. At June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had investments in nonconsolidated affiliates of $208.1 million and $170.5 million, respectively, included in other long-term assets on our consolidated balance sheets.
Income Taxes
Each reporting period, we evaluate the realizability of our deferred tax assets in each tax jurisdiction. As of June 30, 2021, we continued to maintain a full valuation allowance against our net deferred tax assets in certain jurisdictions due to cumulative pre-tax losses. As a result of the valuation allowances, no tax benefits have been recognized for losses incurred, if any, in those tax jurisdictions for the first six months of 2021 and 2020.
Accounting Pronouncements - Not Yet Adopted
In August 2020, the FASB issued guidance that simplifies the accounting for convertible instruments and its application of the derivatives scope exception for contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new guidance reduces the number of accounting models that require separating embedded conversion features from convertible instruments. As a result, only conversion features accounted for under the substantial premium model and those that require bifurcation will be accounted for separately. For contracts in an entity’s own equity, the new guidance eliminates some of the current requirements for equity classification. The guidance also addresses how convertible instruments are accounted for in the diluted earnings per share calculation and requires enhanced disclosures about the terms of convertible instruments and contracts in an entity’s own equity. The guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2021 and interim periods within that year. Early adoption is permitted for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020 and interim periods within that year. The guidance should be applied using either a modified retrospective method or a full retrospective method. We will adopt this guidance on January 1, 2022, and are currently assessing which implementation method we will apply and the impact that adoption will have on our financial position and results of operations.
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