Ticketmaster has appointed Saumil Mehta as the company’s new global president, the ticketing giant announced on Tuesday.
Mehta’s appointment is effective Nov. 1, while current Ticketmaster president Mark Yovich will transition into a new role as chairman of the company, where, per Ticketmaster, he will “focus on the company’s long-term strategy and global growth.” Before coming to Ticketmaster, Mehta spent nearly a decade at Square, where he most recently served as chief product officer and head of business org. He will report to Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino.
“Ticketmaster is an incredible business that serves as the world’s portal to the best live entertainment,” Mehta said in a statement. “The real opportunity lies in how we evolve the experience by building smarter and more intuitive ways for fans to connect with the live experiences that matter so much to them.”
Mehta has served as an advisor on several AI startups, and Ticketmaster itself said that the company’s new president has been tapped to “accelerate an AI transformation” at the company, adding that AI could help with “empowering venues, fortifying the ticketing infrastructure against bad actors, and enhancing the ticket-buying experience for fans.”
“Over the past several years, Ticketmaster has been working to build a strong foundation for the next phase of growth,” Rapino said in a statement. “Saumil brings a fresh perspective and deep product and technology expertise that will help us build on that momentum.”
Mehta’s appointment comes amid a particularly volatile time for Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment, which faces lawsuits from both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.
The DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation in May of 2024 on monopoly allegations, claiming the company has stifled competition in live music and calling for the combined Live Nation and Ticketmaster to be broken up. Live Nation has vehemently denied the allegations.
The FTC added to that mounting pressure last month, filing a second suit that accused Ticketmaster of violating the BOTS Act and coordinating with scalpers by allowing them to skirt ticket limitations and sell them at considerable markups on the secondary market.
Despite those hurdles, Live Nation’s numbers have been strong even in a tougher economy as demand for live music doesn’t appear to have diminished. Live Nation posted $7 billion in revenue for its second quarter back in August, with Ticketmaster itself posting about $742 million in revenue.
