CTS Eventim Expands Into Russia With TCI Acquisition, ‘More To Come’

– CTS Eventim
CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg

Russian promoter Talent Concert International (TCI) is next to join the live entertainment giants promoter portfolio, CTS Eventim CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg revealed at ILMC in London.

CTS Eventim currently holds majority stakes in 26 promoters based throughout Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the four Nordic countries.

TCI – Eduard Ratnikov
President of TCI

Eduard Ratnikov’s TCI is number 27, and the first in Russia. “I’d like to welcome you Ed, thank you for coming,” Schulenberg said, addressing his new business partner among the ILMC audience, and added half-jokingly: “I think this is a situation where we can promote on a serious level with correct settlements in Russia in the future. Don’t disappoint me.”

Schulenberg emphasized that he was just getting started: “It’s absolutely our aim to be able to promote shows, concerts in all relevant markets in Europe. Therefore there will be more to come.”

Eduard Ratnikov, president of TCI told Pollstar: “Russia always used to be the last stop for most artists, many of whom only came because the money was doubled. What is more, the crazy competition with few other players made most of the projects non-viable for promoters.

“It’s no secret that we are looking forward to trying to change this, and to get [the business] onto a more healthy track for our audience and the industry itself. Eventim Live is a global player and we will try to improve the Russian market together, to turn it from ‘the exception’ to ‘business as usual’.”

The main topic of Schulenberg’s ILMC keynote was the launch of Eventim Live, the new umbrella unit comprising all of the company’s subsidiary promoters.

Schulenberg said the promoters under the Eventim Live banner stood for “liability, financial strength and, which is very important, for local know-how. We are supporting the entrepreneurial freedom of the promoters and their individuality.

“Nevertheless, sometimes we have to appear with joint forces as a group, and therefore we decided to brand our promoting group and combine the power of Eventim and the power of our live entertainment segment as Eventim Live.”

He emphasized that “all promoters will continue to enjoy their individual entrepreneurial freedom and their own brand.”

Schulenberg summarized the benefits for partners working with Eventim Live: “We are pursuing a one-stop shop strategy, that means the agent can contact their preferred promoter in each country, and upon request we will organize a harmonized pitch for all relevant markets in Europe.

“On top of this, of course, you will have access to our superior technology and unparalleled data and reach.”

Schulenberg took the recent Rammstein on sale as an example, where CTS Eventim processed some 800,000 personalized (named) tickets in under an hour.

As Schulenberg emphasized at ILMC, CTS Eventim, which recently reported revenues of one and a quarter billion Euros in 2018, transacts more than 250 million tickets per year, making it the European market leader.

“It’s our aim to not only be the market leader in ticketing, but in technology as well,” Schulenberg said, adding “and we are.”