Citi Joins Live Nation

Citi has become the "official credit card partner" to Live Nation, the companies announced February 13th.

Under the terms of the deal, Live Nation and Citi will join forces to deliver presale and preferred tickets, premium seats and VIP packages to Citi customers through the pre-existing Citi Private Pass Program and livenation.com.

"This partnership with Live Nation further enriches our Private Pass Program and allows our customers across the U.S. unrivaled access to concerts and live events they want to see most," Citi Chairman and CEO Vik Atal said. "Simply put, we believe it will provide Citi customers access to exclusive perks not found anywhere else."

The deal is expected to drive incremental sales for Live Nation, which will now have access to Citi’s existing customer base of 150 million. Citi will also be granted opportunities to participate in future venue naming rights deals, co-branded marketing and direct mail campaigns with Live Nation.

A day earlier, Live Nation stock rose more than 5 percent after receiving an upgrade from Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Wienkes, who cited the company’s move into ticketing as one factor that could raise share prices.

"With longer, deeper artist and fan relationships and an integrated commercial platform, we believe significant upside exists to margins, returns and the stock price," Wienkes wrote in a report.