Live Nation & DF Entertainment in $34m arena deal

Live Nation and subsidiary DF Entertainment have secured a 40-year deal to operate Buenos Aires’ Luna Park in Argentina.

The companies won an auction to manage the 92-year-old, 8,400-capacity arena in the downtown San Nicolás neighbourhood, and will invest US$34 million (€32m) to increase the venue’s capacity to 13,000 – rivalling the city’s 15,000-cap Movistar Arena.

The agreement is for an initial 20 years, with an option to extend it for a further 20 years. According to La Politica, the firms will pay the stadium owners a $1m premium and guarantee a minimum of $1m in annual profit.

Since 2013, Luna Park has been owned by two branches of the catholic church. International acts to perform at the indoor arena in recent times include Placebo, Interpol, and 5 Seconds of Summer.

Live Nation bought a majority stake in DF Entertainment in 2018

Buenos Aires-based DF was founded in August 2015 by leading promoter Diego Finkelstein. Live Nation bought a majority stake in the company in 2018.

DF, which runs Lollapalooza Argentina, inked an exclusive multi-year deal to promote concerts at Buenos Aires’ River Plate Stadium, aka the ‘Monumental’, in 2023.

It also sold out an unprecedented 10 nights at the 65,000-cap stadium with Coldplay in 2022, staged Taylor Swift’s first ever concerts Argentina last year and is collaborating on Oasis’ upcoming reunion gigs at the venue on 15-16 November.

The next edition of Lollapalooza Argentina, meanwhile, is slated for 21-23 March 2025 at San Isidro Racecourse, also in Buenos Aires. Headliners include Justin Timberlake, Alanis Morissette, Shawn Mendes, Tool, Olivia Rodrigo, Rüfüs Du Sol and Tan Bionica.

Read our lowdown on the Argentina market from IQ‘s 2024 Global Arena Guide here.

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