Oakview Owns Pollstar

Oak View Group has acquired Pollstar, the long-running Fresno, CA-based publication that covers the concert and ticketing industries. Oak View Group is global advisory, development and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries helmed by Tim Leiweke, former CEO of AEG, and backed by Irving Azoff‘s Azoff MSG Entertainment. Gary Bongiovanni, Pollstar’s longtime President and Editor-in-Chief, and CEO Gary Smith will continue their positions within the company and play key roles in its day-to-day operations.

As Variety reports, the announcement was made yesterday during the inaugural VenuesNow conference in Los Angeles. “Pollstar has represented the voice of record for the live music and ticketing industries for over three decades and bringing them into the OVG family is a true honor for all of us,” said Leiweke. “Working hand-in-hand with Pollstar’s leadership team, we’ll look to greatly optimize the reach of the its print, digital and conference assets.” Azoff added, “Pollstar has served our industry as a trusted and invaluable resource during an era where music and ticketing have evolved dramatically.”

Through the acquisition, Oak View has taken ownership and operational control of Pollstar’s weekly print publication as well as Pollstar.com, Pollstar Pro and the Pollstar Live conference. Oak View already owns Pollstar’s main competitor in the live-entertainment field, Venues Today.