Smith has been variously reported to be transitioning out of the post at the end of the year or leaving on a yet-to-be-determined date. He has been with Ticketmaster for 17 years.
A spokeswoman confirmed Smith’s resignation but offered no comment from the company, which is based in Hollywood and owned by Live Nation Entertainment Inc.
Smith’s resignation comes less than two months after a Ticketmaster management restructuring that promoted him from president to global chairman overseeing Ticketmaster’s business across 31 international markets, including North America.
In that restructuring, Chief Operating Officer and President Amy Howe became global chief operating officer and Mark Yovich was elevated from international president to president of Ticketmaster’s global business. Yovich will remain global president, and Howe will continue as chief operating officer.
“The company deserves to have the person who’s going to be here long term making the hard decisions right now of what it should look like,” Smith said in an interview with the website Sportico.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster were reportedly hit with another round of layoffs and furloughs in early September.
In mid-August Live Nation announced revenue had plummeted 98% in the second quarter due to concert cancellations that began in mid-March.
According to Billboard, Live Nation staged only 24 concerts in North America during 2020’s second quarter, compared to 7,213 concerts in last year’s second quarter. The company’s revenue was $74 million for the quarter, down from $3.2 billion for the same period in 2019, and its net loss reached $568 million.
