Vivid Seats stock tumbled as much as 39% on Tuesday morning after the company released earnings that showed decreased interest in live events, such as sports and concerts. The company attributed that in part to economic uncertainty and slower consumer spending.
Revenue for the first quarter was $164 million, down 14% from the same quarter last year, while total marketplace orders (2.3 million) and total marketplace order sales ($820.4 million) were both down 20% year-over-year. The average order size was flat. On the earnings call, executives said they expect some of the downward trends to continue in the near term, and that the company is suspending all guidance for the rest of 2025.
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The numbers highlight a potential shift in how American consumers are approaching live events with the economy in constant flux and the government’s tariff plan leading many economists to predict higher inflation or even a potential recession. Sportico has written previously about how Vivid Seats (Nasdaq: SEAT) is an notable harbinger for much of the economics that underlie the American sports industry. While that’s not perfectly true—the company also cited unexpected changes in performance marketing as a reason for its underwhelming numbers—executives did issue a broader industry warning.
“As we’ve all witnessed, economic and political volatility has impacted consumer sentiment,” CEO Stan Chia said Tuesday on the company’s analyst call. “This uncertainty can also impact how and when artists and rights-holders come to market.”
“Given the broader economic environment, we felt like it made sense to deflate expectations,” CFO Larry Fey said later on the call. “Even though we are continuing to see some level of choppiness month-to-month.”
Vivid Seats’ revenue breakdown in 2024 was 43% concerts and 31% sports. Asked on the call about music versus sports moving forward, Fey said that while concerts were particularly volatile (tour schedules are far less set than major sporting events), their overall volume was flat or up slightly year-to-date. He said that sports were “down a bit” and that he expected that sector’s volume to lag through 2025, partially because of hard comparisons relative to last year. He added that Vivid’s specific performance in sports and concerts was in line with the rest of the industry.
Vivid Seats went public via a Todd Boehly-backed special purpose acquisition company in 2021 at $10 a share. After peaking at $14.35 in late 2021, it has lost nearly 86% of that value. The stock was trading around $1.91 Tuesday morning.
