BIG Concerts, South Africa’s leading promoter and entertainment company, has formed an alliance with Live Nation where it will serve as its exclusive promotion partner for all tours in South Africa. BIG Concerts presently sells more than 400,000 tickets annually.
“This alliance provides us with a world class partner to expand our global concert platform into South Africa as the region emerges as an increasingly important touring destination for artists,” Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation, said in a statement. “This partnership is an example of the progress we are making in identifying growth markets to strategically monetize our tours on a global scale.”
BIG Concerts, founded in 1989 by Attie van Wyk, has sold more than six million tickets and produced concerts by more than 300 international artists in major South African cities such as Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
Van Wyk added, “No other company in the world has both the global platform and touring expertise of Live Nation; we are extremely proud and excited to be joining the team. With the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup around the corner, South Africa is set to benefit from vast numbers of tourists, strong consumer demand and added investment in local infrastructure, all of which we expect to benefit our business as we continue to bring even more global superstars to our country.”
