Germany-headquartered live events and ticketing company DEAG has reported a “very successful” first half of 2025, with revenue rising 17.1% year-over-year amid a boom in live touring.
The company recorded EUR €155.4 million in revenue for the six months ended June 30, or USD $176.3 million at the average exchange rate for Q2. That compares to €132.7 million in H1 2024.
The company’s EBITDA more than doubled to €6.6 million ($7.5 million).
The company attributed part of the income jump to its “Buy & Build” strategy, which has recently seen it enter the Italian market with the full acquisition of event organizer MC² Live and take a majority stake in Germany’s black mamba Event & Marketing GmbH.
Its live touring division reported revenue of €110.9 million ($125.8 million), up 49% YoY, with EBITDA in the division rising 32.5% YoY to €5.3 million ($6.0 million).
Among its “particularly successful” tours and concerts were Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Till Lindemann, Lenny Kravitz and Bausa, the company said. Other events during the half included performances by Cirque du Soleil and the Harlem Globetrotters, and Monster Jam monster truck rallies.
The company noted a “well-attended summer festival season” and “very strong developments” in its spoken word and literary events segment, which included the lit.COLOGNE festival in Germany and the ‘An Evening with…’ series in the UK, DEAG’s largest market outside Germany.
Upcoming speakers in that series will include Barack Obama and Matthew McConaughey, the company announced.
“Acquisitions will continue to be an important component of the company’s growth in the future. The focus will be on the festival sector, ticketing and expansion into new European markets.”
DEAG
DEAG acquired How To Academy and live entertainment organizer ShowPlanr in 2024, strengthening its spoken word and literary events presence. In its 2024 annual report, DEAG said the segment now accounts for 10% of its revenue.
“Acquisitions will continue to be an important component of the company’s growth in the future,” DEAG said in its half-year report. “The focus will be on the festival sector, ticketing and expansion into new European markets.”
On the ticketing side of the business, DEAG reported 6.9 million ticket sales for 2025 as of the end of June – an increase of 19% YoY compared to the previous year. A majority of these sales came from its owned-and-operated platforms, which include myticket.de, myticket.at, myticket.co.uk, gigantic.com and tickets.ie.
DEAG says it aims to sell 12 million tickets this year, up from around 11 million in 2024.
Its entertainment services division reported revenues of €52.2 million ($59.2 million), a 20.4% YoY decline, though EBITDA in the division improved to €3.7 million ($4.2 million), from €3.0 million in the first half of 2024.
The company reported an after-tax loss of -€6.534 million (-$7.413 million), which is significantly narrower than the -€8.550 million loss it reported a year earlier.
“We are very pleased with our performance in the first half of 2025. DEAG is strongly positioned in the areas of Live Entertainment and Entertainment Services,” DEAG Group CEO Detlef Kornett said.
“The strategic decisions we made last year – particularly in the context of key transformation projects – are now reflected in rising revenues and earnings. Strong financial results, ticket sales at a very high level, and a packed event calendar provide a solid foundation for sustainable growth in the second half of 2025 and beyond.”Music Business Worldwide
