Vivid Seats chief executive Stan Chia believes that “fans are eager to attend live events” as the online ticketing marketplace posted a record-setting first quarter.
In the first quarter of 2022, Vivid Seats posted $130.8m (£105m/€123m) in revenue, up 442% from $24.1m in the same period the year prior. In the three months leading up to March 31, net income amounted to $3.1m which is an improvement on the $20.3m net loss in Q1 in 2021.
Marketplace GOV represents the total transactional amount including fees, taxes, and net of event cancellations that occurred during this period. In the first quarter, Vivid Seats had a Marketplace GOV of $742m compared to $116.5m in Q1 in 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) amounted to $21m, up 402% from $4.2m in Q1 in 2021.
Vivid Seats says that the financial results for the first quarter of 2022 were still impacted by higher-than-expected cancellations, with reasons including COVID-19 and non-COVID situations.
Cancellations above historical levels from 2019 reduced net income and adjusted EBITDA by roughly $4m in the first quarter.
CEO Chia said: “At Vivid Seats, as a marketplace and technology platform, we sit at the intersection of supply and demand, and it is apparent from our record-setting first quarter Marketplace GOV and revenues that fans are eager to attend live events.
“As our business continues to accelerate, our impressive first-quarter performance is a testament to the strength of our platform, as well as strong consumer demand.
“We will continue to invest in our business as we believe the live event industry is well positioned for long-term secular growth, and we are confident that our differentiated offering, leadership, and scale will allow us to continue to drive meaningful growth and to capitalise on opportunities that create shareholder value.”
Lawrence Fey, chief financial officer for Vivid Seats, added: “Our marketplace flywheel is gaining momentum on the other side of the pandemic with first quarter Marketplace GOV, total marketplace orders and revenues all well above comparable 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
“The strength of our performance in the first quarter, despite the Omicron variant, speaks to robust underlying demand and gives us the confidence to raise our 2022 guidance so early in the year. Our strong cash flow generation and healthy balance sheet allow us to pursue multiple exciting growth levers in our core, as well as TAM additive areas, such as Betcha. We believe secular trends are in our favour and Vivid Seats has the product, technology and scale to win in the long-term.”
Image: Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash