AEG and American Express Expand Global Partnership, Growing More Than 20-Year Alliance Across Music, Sports, Ticketing and Live Entertainment

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 7, 2025--

AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company, and American Express (Amex) have expanded their long-standing global partnership of more than two decades. The deal strategically expands the partnership across five key verticals to reach fans at a wide range of premier AEG properties and events around the world – venues, festivals, touring, ticketing, and sports. American Express will be AEG’s official payment partner across more than 40 marquee assets and four continents, making this AEG’s largest annual partnership and a cornerstone of Amex’s global music and entertainment platform.

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Music and sports are core pillars of the partnership – bringing American Express Card Members even closer to the artists, teams, tours, and live moments they love. AEG Presents will give Card Members access to some of the most in-demand artists and events across the U.S., U.K., Japan, Australia and Canada. At the same time, Amex is continuing to invest across select venues of The Bowery Presents in New York and Boston and a curated mix of AEG Presents’ and Goldenvoice’s top-tier festivals, such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Stagecoach: California’s Country Music Festival, American Express Presents BST Hyde Park, All Points East, and more. Card Members can look forward to festival perks that include exclusive merchandise, offers, and onsite experiences that bring Amex to life in bold, memorable ways.

As part of the renewal, the American Express Venue Collection™ will continue to deliver consistent Card Member benefits across some of AEG’s most iconic venues, including Crypto.com Arena, Dignity Health Sports Park and The O2.

Amex will also continue to be a partner of two of AEG’s sports teams, the LA Galaxy (Major League Soccer) and the LA Kings (National Hockey League), and the renewal unlocks new capabilities within AXS, AEG’s global ticketing platform, which continues to play a central role in how Card Members engage with live events.

“AEG has been one of our most trusted and strategic partners,” said Elizabeth Rutledge, Chief Marketing Officer, American Express. “Together, we’ve built something rare – bringing music, sports, and entertainment to life in ways that feel personal, memorable, and deeply meaningful. We’re not just expanding what fans can access – we’re reimagining how they connect with the moments that matter. This is a partnership that delivers special access to some of the most unforgettable moments in live entertainment. We’re proud of what we’ve created together thus far, and even more excited about how our collaboration will continue to unfold in the years ahead.”

What began in 2005 as a regionally anchored partnership centered on venue access and ticket presales has evolved into an expansive and strategically integrated relationship in global live entertainment that redefines how fans can engage with live events—and enhances the value of membership for Amex Card Members. Card Members can look forward to festival perks that include exclusive merchandise, offers, and onsite experiences that bring Amex to life in bold, memorable ways. And through the American Express Venue Collection program, Card Members receive benefits that include ticket access, dedicated entrances, and an exclusive concession offer for enrolled eligible Card Members.

In addition to the American Express Venue Collection, certain venues include signature branded lounges like the American Express Lounge at The O2, The Centurion Suite at Crypto.com Arena and the American Express Stadium Club at Dignity Health Sports Park. At The O2, Card Members also enjoy a suite of standout perks including a complimentary Card Member bag drop and Amex Advantage, a premium ticketing experience that includes an exclusive food and beverage package and some of the best reserved seats in the house. All of which reinforces Amex’s commitment to rewarding fans at the intersection of music, sports, and live entertainment.

“This is a defining partnership for AEG—one that continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible across live entertainment and fan engagement,” said Todd Goldstein, Chief Revenue Officer, AEG. “Across every stage, field, screen and venue where we partner with Amex, Amex has helped us build a connected, fan-first ecosystem that delivers meaningful value in new and differentiated ways. This renewal speaks to the strength, creativity, and shared vision that have defined our partnership since day one—and together, we’re delivering for Amex Card Members and fans in more measurable and impactful ways than ever before.”

Amex will continue as a Founding Partner – a premium and category exclusive designation – at four of AEG’s most prominent properties including Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., The O2 in London, and Uber Arena in Berlin. Amex also remains the Presenting Partner of AEG Presents’ leading European festival, American Express Presents BST Hyde Park, which recently took place in London from June 27–July 13, 2025, where Amex offered perks to help Amex Card Members and music fans make meaningful memories that last long after the music stops. Whether unlocking tickets to global tours or curating unforgettable experiences on the ground, the partnership continues to raise the bar for how fans engage with live music and sports.

“Amex is more than a partner—they’re a co-architect in how we design the future of live entertainment,” said Russell Silvers, President and COO, AEG Global Partnerships. “From backstage moments to presale innovation, we’re building cultural value at every touchpoint—anchored in our shared mission to deliver unforgettable experiences for fans, artists, and communities around the world.”

With this renewal, AEG and Amex continue to set the standard for what’s next in live entertainment. Together, the companies are unlocking new dimensions of fandom – advancing the kind of access, technology, and cultural relevance that will continue to shape the future of the industry.

ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS

American Express (NYSE: AXP) is a global payments and premium lifestyle brand powered by technology. Our colleagues around the world back our customers with differentiated products, services and experiences that enrich lives and build business success.

Founded in 1850 and headquartered in New York, American Express’ brand is built on trust, security, and service, and a rich history of delivering innovation and Membership value for our customers. With over a hundred million merchant locations across our global network, we seek to provide the world’s best customer experience every day to a broad range of consumers, small and medium-sized businesses, and large corporations.

For more information about American Express, visit americanexpress.com, americanexpress.com/en-us/newsroom/, and ir.americanexpress.com.

ABOUT AEG

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, AEG is the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company. The company operates in the following business segments:

Through its worldwide network of venues, portfolio of powerful sports and music brands and its integrated entertainment districts, AEG entertains more than 90 million guests annually. More information about AEG can be found at www.aegworldwide.com.

ABOUT AEG PRESENTS

Combining the power of the live event with a focus on true artist development, AEG Presents is a world leader in the music and entertainment industries. Operating across five continents, the company has an unparalleled commitment to artistry, creativity, and community. Its tentpole festivals and multi-day music events — which include the iconic Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and the legendary New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival alongside British Summer Time at Hyde Park, Stagecoach, Hangout Festival, Electric Forest, Buckeye Country Superfest, Rock En Seine and All Points East — continue to set the bar for the live music experience. AEG Presents promotes global tours for artists such as Justin Bieber, Zach Bryan, Sabrina Carpenter, Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Celine Dion, Elton John, Carin León, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and Tyler, The Creator, in addition to — through its network of clubs, theatres, arenas, stadiums and renowned partner brands such as The Bowery Presents, Cárdenas Marketing Network, Concerts West, Frontier Touring, Goldenvoice, Marshall Arts, MCT Agentur, Messina Touring Group, PromoWest Productions, and Zero Mile Presents — creating and developing an unmatched infrastructure for artist development and audience reach. More information can be found at www.aegpresents.com.

American Express activation at the 2025 BST Hyde Park festival in London

CHERNIHIV, Ukraine (AP) — Young athletes in northern Ukraine spend their days cross-country skiing through a scorched forest, focused on their form — until a siren inevitably shatters the silence.

They respond swiftly but without panic, ditching their skis and following coaches to an underground bomb shelter.

It’s an ordinary training session at the complex that produced Ukraine’s first Olympic medalist.

Sleeping children no longer dream of Olympic glory in the facility's bombed-out dormitories, and unexploded ordnance has rendered nearby land off limits. But about 350 kids and teens — some of the nation's best young cross-country skiers and biathletes — still practice in fenced-off areas amid the sporadic buzz of drones passing overhead then explosions as they're shot down.

“We have adapted so well — even the children — that sometimes we don’t even react,” Mykola Vorchak, a 67-year-old coach, told The Associated Press in an interview on Oct. 31. “Although it goes against safety rules, the children have been hardened by the war. Adapting to this has changed them psychologically.”

War has taken a heavy toll on Ukrainian sport. Athletes were displaced or called up to fight. Soccer matches are often interrupted by air raid sirens so attendance is capped by bomb shelter capacity. Elite skaters, skiers and biathletes usually train abroad, with attacks and frequent blackouts shuttering local facilities.

But the government-run Sports Ski Base of the Olympic Reserve is open for cross-country skiing and biathlon, the event which combines skiing with shooting. The sprawling complex is on the outskirts of Chernihiv, a city two hours north of Kyiv along the path of destruction Russia's army left in its 2022 attempt to capture the capital. Chernihiv remains a regular target for air attacks aimed at the power grid and civilian infrastructure.

Several temporary structures at the sports center serve as changing rooms, toilets and coaches’ offices. Athletes train on snowy trails during the winter and, throughout the rest of the year, use roller skis on an asphalt track pocked by blast marks.

Biathletes aim laser rifles at electronic targets and, between shooting drills, sling skis over their shoulders and jog back to the start of the course, cheeks flushed from the cold.

Valentyna Tserbe-Nesina spent her adolescence at the Chernihiv center performing these same drills, and won bronze at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer. It was Ukraine’s first Olympic medal as an independent country.

“The conditions weren’t great, but we had nothing better. And for us, it was like a family — our own little home,” she said inside her apartment, its shelves and walls lined with medals, trophies and souvenirs from competitions around the world.

Tserbe-Nesina, 56, was shocked when she visited the complex in 2022. Shelling had torn through buildings, fire had consumed others. Shattered glass littered the floors of rooms where she and friends once excitedly checked taped-up results sheets.

“I went inside, up to my old room on the second floor. It was gone — no windows, nothing,” she said. “I recorded a video and found the trophies we had left at the base. They were completely burned.”

Tserbe-Nesina has been volunteering to organize funerals for fallen Ukrainian soldiers in her hometown while her husband, a retired military officer, returned to the front. They see each other about once a year, whenever his unit allows him brief leave.

One adult who in 2022 completed a tour in a territorial defense unit of Ukraine’s army sometimes trains today alongside the center's youngsters. Khrystyna Dmytrenko, 26, will represent her country at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that start Feb. 6.

“Sports can show that Ukraine is strong,” Dmytrenko said in an interview next to the shooting range. “We represent Ukraine on the international stage, letting other countries, athletes and nations see our unity, strength and determination.”

The International Olympic Committee imposed bans and restrictions on Russian athletes after the invasion of Ukraine, effectively extending earlier sanctions tied to state‑sponsored doping. But a small group of them will participate in the upcoming Winter Games.

After vetting to ensure no military affiliation, they must compete without displaying any national symbols — and only in non-team events. That means Russian and Ukrainian athletes could face one another in some skating and skiing events. Moscow’s appeal at the federation level to allow its biathletes to compete is pending.

That's why many Ukrainians view training for these events as an act of defiance. Former Olympic biathlete Nina Lemesh, 52, noted that some young Ukrainians who first picked up rifles and skis at the Chernihiv ski base during wartime have become international champions in their age groups.

“Fortunately, Ukrainians remain here. They always will,” she said, standing beside the destroyed dormitories. “This is the next generation of Olympians.”

AP writer Derek Gatopoulos in Kyiv contributed to this report.

A young biathlete trains outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Biathlete Khrystyna Dmytrenko poses for photos outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A young biathlete trains outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Biathletes Mykola Dorofeiev, 16, and Nazar Kravchenko, 12, left, train at the ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Biathlete Khrystyna Dmytrenko poses for photos inside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

A young biathlete trains outside the destroyed ski base in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)