Live Nation to Acquire Governors Ball

Published: March 21, 2016

In a move that symbolizes the larger trend of the festival industry, Founders Entertainment, producer of Gov Ball, is in the final stages of closing a deal to sell the majority stake of the festival to mega promoter, Live Nation.

Randall’s Island has recently become the front line in a fierce battle between Live Nation and AEG Live over the New York festival market, with the latter announcing earlier this year that it would launch its own festival on Randall’s Island with Panorama, scheduled July 22-24.

Governors Ball is held annually each June on Randalls Island and enjoyed its biggest year yet in 2015, drawing about 150,000 in aggregate. The majority stake in Founders is a critically important play for Live Nation, both in the Northeastern U.S., and in the overall festival scene in America. The sixth Governors Ball is set for June 3-5, withKanye West, The Killers and The Strokes headlining. Founders partner Jordan Wolowitz could not be reached for comment.

This will not be the first time Founders has worked with Live Nation. The two partnered last year for Farmborough, the city’s first country music festival. Though it drew about 40,000, word came earlier this year that Farmborough would not return in 2016.

Still, Founders has shown it can thrive as an independent, with Wolowitz telling Billboard earlier this year’s that 2016 Governors Ball onsales were the strongest yet. When asked then if, given the current festival gold rush, joining up with a corporate promoter might be forthcoming, Wolowitz told Billboard, “We’ve shown that, right now, we don’t need to [partner] — yet. Who knows what the future may bring.”

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