Is Live Nation The Ultimate Reopening And NFT Play?

Among the trends investors are looking for in 2021 are reopening stocks and non-fungible tokens. One company stands out as a reopening play and could quickly become a NFT play.

Reopening Play: Revenue for the main business lines of Live Nation Entertainment LYV suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company had revenue of $1.9 billion in fiscal 2020 compared to $11.5 billion in fiscal 2019. Revenue for the company’s businesses of concerts, tickets, and sponsorships/advertising were down 84%, 88% and 65%, respectively.

As the largest concert and ticketing company in the world, Live Nation could be a reopening play if vaccine rollouts continue and fans are able to attend physical concerts later in 2021 and 2022.

“We believe we will return to live even stronger,” the company said.

Live Nation sells over 500 million tickets per year, hosts over 40,000 concerts and brings over 100 festivals to life around the world.

In its fourth-quarter earnings release, Live Nation said 83% of fans are continuing to hold onto their tickets for future events.

“Given the massive social and economic toll that the lockdown has had on the public, we believe there will be strong momentum to reopen society swiftly as soon as vaccines are readily available. And we believe outdoor activities will be the first to happen,” the company said.

Related Link: Live Nation’s Plan For Resuming Live Events: What Investors Should Know

NFT Play: Along with being a reopening stock, Live Nation may be among the companies that are considered potential NFT plays.

LiveXLive Media Inc LIVX, which offers streaming concerts to fans, recently announced plans to turn festival posters for its events into NFTs.

Given Live Nation’s ownership of over 200 venues, a large offering of ticketing options and control of many of the top festivals in the world, the company could further monetize its assets with NFT offerings. This could include NFTs of concert/festival posters or a form of NFT tickets for fans.

The company is continuing to build its concert streaming business with the acquisitions of Veeps, a streaming platform. This could lead to more virtual concerts from the company, which could be monetized with offering NFTs along with the virtual concert ticket.

Given its massive scale and reach, a move into NFTs from Live Nation could be well received by the market with potential revenue upside to offset the poor 2020 performance during the pandemic.

LYV Price Action: Shares of Live Nation Entertainment were down 3% to $81.75 on Monday.