LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Billboard is reporting that Live Nation is buying out Superfly Entertainment’s stake in the Bonnaroo Festival.
According to Billboard, Live Nation is exercising a buyout clause that was included in their 2015 acquisition of a stake in the iconic music and arts festival.
The acquisition effectively brings to an end festival producer Superfly’s role in the event, which they helped to found in collaboration with AC Entertainment’s Ashley Capps in 2002. Starting in 2020, Bonnaroo will be produced by festival co-founder AC Entertainment and Lollapalooza producer C3 Entertainment, which Live Nation acquired in 2014.
Since it launched in 2002, Bonnaroo grew quickly grew to become one of the best-recognized festival brands in North America.
However, amid an increasingly crowded festival calendar, Bonnaroo has faced declining ticket sales, with the nadir coming in 2016 when attendance dropped to approximately 46,000 fans.
Fortunately, the festival appears to have rebounded, helped in part by an investment from Live Nation which helped to improve the festival site and this year, Bonnaroo posted its first sellout since 2013.
