A city can own a concert venue without having any ability to control what happens on its stage.
That is one of the more striking findings in a new Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator study examining Live Nation’s large outdoor venues in the United States. Of the 64 amphitheaters and stadiums surveyed, 30 are government-owned properties operated by Live Nation. The authors also identify at least $420 million in public support (ie: tax-payer funding) connected to venues from which the company benefits.
That $420 million is the researchers’ estimate from public records and reporting, rather than an independent government audit or a tally of cash handed directly to Live Nation.
The study examines different arrangements, including financing, tax incentives, discounted public land and infrastructure, and spending on publicly owned venues. Its authors say the figure excludes the value they attribute to below-market rent and naming-rights income.
The real question this study has us wondering is: when the public helps create a place for music, what claim does the public have on the way that place is run?
A venue is more than an economic development project
There is a credible case for a city to invest in a concert venue. Shows can bring visitors into hotels and restaurants, create work and give residents a reason to gather. Live Nation itself makes that case when announcing venues, emphasizing tourism, local business, and the prospect of attracting tours that might otherwise bypass a market.
But a venue is also cultural infrastructure. Its calendar shapes which artists audiences can see, which promoters can put on shows and whether a local scene has a path to larger stages. The people who fill the room are part of the value that makes the investment work.
Ticket buyers, workers, nearby businesses, and artists all help turn concrete and steel into a viable music business. That is why public ownership alone does not settle the public-interest question. The relevant details are in the operating agreement:
- Who can book the room?
- Who keeps the naming-rights revenue?
- What does the operator pay in rent, and who covers improvements?
- Are there affordable dates for community use, or measurable opportunities for local artists?
If those terms are weak or invisible, residents may have financed an asset without retaining much say over its impact.
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What can a city ask for?
The Vanderbilt study favors competitive bidding for public venue contracts, with conditions attached to the winner, or operation through a publicly chartered nonprofit. Their proposed conditions include an “open room” available to promoters beyond the operator’s own business, limits on certain fees, and clearer commitments on access and event volume.
Those are the authors’ policy recommendations, not requirements every city has adopted.
Nashville offers a useful example of what a contract can decide.
When the operating agreement for the city-owned Ascend Amphitheater expired, the city held a competition rather than simply extending Live Nation’s deal. Opry Entertainment Group took over in January 2026 under an agreement that, according to the study, includes an open-room commitment, annual rent, a payment tied to each ticket sold, shares of certain profits and a commitment to improvements.
This does not prove that one operating model fits every market. It shows that public access and public return can be negotiated as concrete terms.
For independent promoters and artists, an open room offers a chance to compete for dates at a publicly owned stage. A local booking commitment could connect an emerging act to a larger audience. Transparent fees and rental terms let promoters judge whether a show can work before taking the risk. None of those benefits appears automatically because a venue is called “public.”
There is still room for a large private operator to make a strong proposal. The ethical test is what the community receives in exchange for the land, financing, infrastructure or ownership it contributes — and whether officials can show that return in the contract and in the venue’s actual calendar.
The Vanderbilt study puts a number on public support. Its deeper challenge to cities is to put a definition on public benefit before signing away the keys.
Note: Live Nation has not publicly commented on this story.
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