Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo Credit: Dione Film
Another day, another international acquisition for Live Nation, which has taken a majority interest in Argentina’s Dale Play Live and deemed Buenos Aires “a priority” amid a broader expansion across Latin America.
Live Nation unveiled its newest Dale Play “strategic partnership” today, four months after scoring a multifaceted deal centering on the Mâs Monumental Stadium. In part, that agreement will see the promoter handle “the exclusive presentation of live shows” at the 85,000-seat Buenos Aires stadium. And upon announcing the deal, Live Nation confirmed tapping Dale Play to handle “promotion for Latin artists.”
Now, Live Nation has again bet on Argentina’s events market. With the just-disclosed transaction, founder and CEO Federico Lauria will remain at the helm of Dale Play as it operates under the Ticketmaster parent. Additionally, the sold business will seemingly continue focusing on regional talent.
“Dale Play was founded with the vision of supporting artists and building a platform that empowers them to grow locally and globally,” added Lauria, who operates a Dale Play label in partnership with Sony Music. “Being partners with Live Nation represents a tremendous opportunity to continue expanding artists from Argentina and Latin America to the world.”
Meanwhile, DF Entertainment, in which Live Nation’s had a majority stake for the better part of a decade, “will continue playing a central role in the growth and expansion of international live music events in the country,” according to the Bizarro Peru owner.
In a statement, Live Nation head Michael Rapino emphasized the aforementioned concert-sector significance of Buenos Aires, where The Strokes, Stray Kids, BTS, and others are expected to perform later in 2026.
“Buenos Aires is the second largest music market in South America and a priority for Live Nation,” said Rapino. “The addition of Dale Play complements our existing partnership with DF Entertainment and strengthens our commitment to Argentina and the growth of Spanish-language music in the region and throughout the world.”
As for the play’s bigger-picture importance, it’s hardly a secret that Live Nation is grappling with far-reaching regulatory and legal woes in the States. Against this backdrop, the company’s been on an aggressive global-investment tear, including the March purchase of interests in Romania’s Emagic and Slovakia’s Vivien.
On the venue side, Live Nation also owns Italy’s ForumNet (including but not limited to Milan’s Unipol Forum) and France’s Paris La Défense Arena. Earlier today, Celine Dion tacked on 10 more dates, for May 2027, for her scheduled comeback performance series at the 45,000-capacity latter arena.
