Live Nation's Ticketmaster has entered Uruguay by launching a local site and agreeing to acquire RED UTS, one of the country's leading ticketing platforms. The deal, which went live on Monday (3 August), is the latest in a string of Latin American acquisitions by Live Nation over the past year, as the company builds out arenas, promoters and ticketing operations across the region under chief executive Michael Rapino, who has described the region as "on fire".

The new ticketmaster.uy site lets fans register accounts ahead of upcoming onsales, with Ticketmaster promising fraud-prevention tools and digital ticket delivery via Quentro, run locally by Javier Parra, its market leader for Chile and Uruguay. The move follows a flurry of regional dealmaking, including a planned 21,000-capacity arena in São Paulo, arena acquisitions in Buenos Aires, Milan and Bangkok, and promoter stakes in Peru, Argentina, the Dominican Republic and Colombia, anchored by its majority stake in Mexico's OCESA. It also comes days after Live Nation reported second-quarter revenue of $7.7 billion, up 9% year-on-year, with Ticketmaster revenue up 15% to $852 million and international ticket sales up 12%, driven partly by strong growth in South America.