They already run close to 100 venues across the world, including Wembley Arena (not to be confused with Wembley Stadium), New York City's famous Roseland Ballroom, and the Torino Palasporto Olimpico complex in Italy; now Live Nation wants control of London's Olympic Stadium once the 2012 Olympic Games finish mid-August.
The 80,000-seater is the third-largest stadium in the UK behind Wembley Stadium and the Rugby Football Union HQ, Twickenham Stadium. Talking to Bloomberg, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino stated his reasons for the pursual: “It's a prestigious stadium. We will make a competitive offer. If we can secure it, we will.”
They will potentially be up against AEG - operators of London's O2 Arena - who've begun discussions about a possible bid.
If Live Nation gains control of the stadium it is likely that the many artists they've entered into agreement with through their event promotion arm, such as Madonna, Jay-Z, Nickelback, and Shakira, will perform there.
