Nickelback's 2009 North American Tour Ticket Sales 20 Percent Ahead of 2007 Tour

Nickelback's 2009 North American Tour Ticket Sales 20 Percent Ahead of 2007 Tour

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Live Nation (NYSE:LYV) announced today that Nickelback's 2009 tour is off to an exceptional start with over 210,000 tickets sold to date, representing 70% of available tickets sold, with the first date not until February, 2009. Ticket sales in like markets are tracking 20% ahead of the 2007 tour with a 62% increase in ticket revenue.

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Nickelback became the fourth global superstar to sign a long-term, unified rights deal with Live Nation earlier this year. The tour, the first under that agreement, is expected to drive a broad range of revenue streams, spanning merchandise, VIP packages, fan club, tour sponsorship and secondary ticketing, as well as additional rights including recorded music, clothing, licensing and other retail merchandise, non-tour sponsorship and endorsements, DVD and broadcast rights, website and literary rights.

"Ticket sales for 2009 concerts are continuing to pace ahead of historic trends despite the global economic slowdown," said Jason Garner, CEO of Live Nation Global Music. "Nickelback sales being 20% ahead of their last tour is consistent with what we are seeing from many of the tours currently on sale. While we continue to monitor the effect of the economy on our business, all of our data indicates that we are one of the only consumer businesses resilient to the economic downturn."

Nickelback, one of the most successful rock bands of the decade, kicks off their North American tour February 25th, at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The DARK HORSE tour will continue globally throughout 2009 with the first set of international dates beginning May 22, 2009, in Manchester, England. The band will return to the U.S. for a summer tour performing at amphitheaters throughout the country. Additional Nickelback dates to be announced soon.

Nickelback's previous tours have grossed in excess of $100 million in ticket sales and have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their latest release, DARK HORSE, is currently #4 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

For more information go to www.LiveNation.com or www.NickelbackFanClub.com.

   NICKELBACK NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES 2009      Wed/Feb-25    Nashville, TN                Sommet Center   Fri/Feb-27    Lexington, KY                Rupp Arena   Sat/Feb-28    Detroit, MI                  Joe Louis Arena   Mon/Mar-02    Toronto, ON                  Air Canada Centre   Tue/Mar-03    Hamilton, ON                 Copps Coliseum   Thu/Mar-05    Worcester, MA                DCU Center   Fri/Mar-06    East Rutherford, NJ          IZOD Center   Sun/Mar-08    Uncasville, CT               Mohegan Sun Arena   Mon/Mar-09    Philadelphia, PA             Wachovia Center   Wed/Mar-11    Columbus, OH                 Nationwide Arena   Thu/Mar-12    Rosemont, IL                 Allstate Arena   Sat/Mar-14    Milwaukee, WI                Bradley Center   Sun/Mar-15    Moline, IL                   i Wireless Center   Tue/Mar-17    Omaha, NE                    Qwest Center   Wed/Mar-18    Des Moines, IA               Wells Fargo Arena   Wed/Apr-01    Edmonton, AL                 Rexall Centre   Thu/Apr-02    Calgary, AL                  Pengrowth Saddledome   Sat/Apr-04    Saskatoon, SK                Credit Union Centre   Sun/Apr-05    Winnipeg, MT                 MTS Centre   Tue/Apr-07    Minneapolis, MN              Target Center   Wed/Apr-08    Kansas City, MO              Sprint Center   Fri/Apr-10    Tulsa, OK                    BOK Center   Mon/Apr-13    Bossier City, LA             CenturyTel Center   Tue/Apr-14    San Antonio, TX              AT&T Center   Thu/Apr-16    Houston, TX                  Toyota Center   Fri/Apr-17    New Orleans, LA              New Orleans Arena   Sun/Apr-19    Little Rock, AR              Alltel Arena   Wed/Apr-22    Jacksonville, FL             Veterans Memorial Arena    INTERNATIONAL TOUR DATES 2009     Fri/May-22    Manchester, GB               Manchester Evening News Arena   Sat/May-23    Glasgow, GB                  SECC Hall 4   Mon/May-25    Newcastle, GB                Metro Radio Arena   Tue/May-26    Birmingham, GB               NIA   Thu/May-28    London, GB                   O2 Arena   Fri/May-29    Sheffield, GB                Hallam Arena   Additional dates to be announced soon.    ABOUT LIVE NATION:  

Live Nation's mission is to maximize the live concert experience. Our core business is producing, marketing and selling live concerts for artists via our global concert pipe. Live Nation is the largest producer of live concerts in the world, annually producing over 16,000 concerts for 1,500 artists in 57 countries. The company sells over 45 million concert tickets a year and expects to drive over 60 million unique visitors to LiveNation.com in 2008. Live Nation is transforming the concert business by expanding its concert platform into ticketing and building the industry's first artist-to-fan vertically integrated concert platform. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Live Nation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol "LYV." Additional information about the company can be found at www.livenation.com/investors.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: lizmorentin@livenation.com

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Source: Live Nation

CONTACT: Liz Morentin of Live Nation, +1-310-975-6860,
lizmorentin@livenation.com; or Jennifer Gery-Egan of Brainerd Communicators,
Inc., +1-212-986-6667, gery@braincomm.com, for Live Nation

Web Site: http://www.livenation.com/
http://www.nickelbackfanclub.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment