Metro's Ascend Amphitheater contract is up in the air

By the numbers: The amphitheater's capacity is 6,800, slotting in between the Ryman Auditorium and Bridgestone Arena.

State of play: Live Nation, the current operator, wants to continue managing the space. But AEG and Ryman Hospitality are also apparent finalists.

• The contract bidding process was supposed to conclude late last year, but the city submitted additional questions to the competing firms after the original deadline passed.

Flashback: Live Nation won the initial contract and has earned high marks from fans for the venue's performance over the last nine years. More than 1.25 million fans have attended events at Ascend since it opened in 2015.

• Since taking over Ascend, Live Nation significantly expanded its Nashville concert footprint.
• The company also operates Brooklyn Bowl in Germantown and has booking partnerships at the Basement East, Marathon Music Works and FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin. It also owns a controlling interest in Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

Between the lines: Live Nation is bidding for the contract at a time when it and its sister company Ticketmaster are under federal scrutiny.

• The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit last year, accusing the firm of monopolizing markets across the live music industry. Live Nation maintains that it has complied with federal laws.
• The company did not respond to a question about concerns over the DOJ investigation potentially hampering its ability to run the amphitheater.

What they're saying: Live Nation Nashville music and business strategy president Sally Williams touted the firm's successes in a statement to Axios, saying that in 2024, "Ascend Amphitheater welcomed 154,000 fans generating millions in local economic impact."

• Williams' statement also noted Live Nation employs "300-plus full-time team members and hundreds more seasonal and part-time workers who call the city home."

Behind the scenes: Independent music venue advocates want the city-owned venue to be run like an "open room," giving all promoters the opportunity to bring concerts there.

• In addition to operating amphitheaters, Live Nation also has a concert promotion division. The vast majority of concerts in the last nine years at Ascend were promoted by Live Nation.
• The company tells Axios it does use an open room strategy. "In recent years, we've partnered with 10+ local and national promoters to bring a wide range of artists, including Alabama Shakes, Amos Lee, Ben Rector, The Head and the Heart, Hillsong United, The Lumineers, Old Dominion, Ray Lamontagne, and Twenty One Pilots," a spokesperson says.

Zoom out: Ryman Hospitality operates the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry like open rooms, giving all promoters, including Live Nation and AEG, the chance to bring shows to those venues. But the company doesn't have any experience running an amphitheater.

• AEG is the second-largest concert company in the country. It already brings plenty of shows to town, and the company's local presence is ramping up with its new downtown venue The Pinnacle.
• In a letter to the city, the Music Venue Alliance Nashville endorsed any bid that would financially contribute to the newly created live music fund to benefit independent venues, promoters and artists. Ryman is the only known bid to do so.

The bottom line: No matter who gets the contract, music industry stakeholders believe the amphitheater could expand its impact.

• "Nashville must pick a partner both rooted in our community and committed to investing in the community," Lauren Morales, owner of nearby Acme Feed and Seed, said.
• "The next 10 years of the amphitheater present an incredible opportunity to redefine our riverfront district, but only with a partner aligned in activating the space for more community events and diverse local programming."