A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

and

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

and similar events, such as music

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

s, gigs,

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

performances and

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

events, and

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

Description

Business model

Promoters are typically engaged as

independent contractor Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...

s or representative companies by entertainment venues, earning a pre-arranged fee, or a share of revenues (colloquially known as a "cut" and "share of the house"), or both. A share of revenues is often a simple percentage of admission fees (called "the door") and/or food and drink sales, with many variations possible, such as minimums or maximums, allowances for various expenses, or limitations (such as only alcohol sales after midnight). Other promoters operate independently, renting venues for a fixed fee, or under a

revenue sharing Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sales, sale of goods and services among the stakeholder (corporate), stakeholders or Benefactor (law), contributors. It should not be confused with profit ...

arrangement with the venue holder, thus keeping larger profits from successful events. One common arrangement for small venues is for the promoter to earn all of the admissions fees, while the venue retains all food and drink revenue. Some venues have exclusive arrangements with a single promotion company, others work with multiple promoters on a rotating schedule (one night per week, for example), or on an event-by-event basis. Promoters often work together — either as equal partners, or as

subcontractor A subcontractor is a person or business which undertakes to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract, and a subcontract is a contract which assigns part of an existing contract to a subcontractor. A general contractor, prime ...

s to each other's events. Several promoters may work together for a special event, such as a large

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

party in a hotel ballroom. They may also engage freelance hosts for their social influence; these amateur promoters market the events to their circle of friends and/or

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

followers, in exchange for special treatment and/or free admission to the event and at times, and may form or be included in street teams that promote events at other live venues. Minimally, an event promoter manages

publicity In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The sub ...

and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

. Depending on the arrangement, they may also handle security, ticket sales, event admission (door policies), decorations, and booking of other entertainers. Many promoters are DJs or

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

s themselves, and may perform at their own events. Some bloggers and individuals with a large following on social media may consider themselves as promoters and charge fees promotional service via their social media platform(s), or through their efforts. Many musicians and artists act as de facto promoters for their own concerts, either directly or through their manager or booking company. Historically, promotion has been a

cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work, like a tailor. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the p ...

, with companies operated by one or several well-connected charismatic individuals, often working part-time. However, with the rise of corporate ownership of live entertainment assets, several large companies have emerged in the field.

Contracts and disputes

There are often disputes over money in the promotions industry because it is largely cash business with a history of corruption and uneven

recordkeeping Records management, also known as records and information management, is an organizational function devoted to the management of information in an organization throughout its life cycle, from the time of creation or receipt to its eventual dispos ...

. In addition there are many

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

complexities to manage, particularly for large events: revenue, expenses, and oversight of parking, coat checks, concession vendor sales (e.g., CDs and t-shirts),

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

so-called " convenience fees", in kind trades, promotional give-away items used to lure guests (e.g., free drinks), costs for

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

cleaning Cleaning is the process of removing unwanted substances, such as dirt, infectious agents, and other impurities, from an object or environment. Cleaning is often performed for beauty, aesthetic, hygiene, hygienic, Function (engineering), function ...

staff, and so on. One area of frequent contention are quid pro quo cross-promotions, where the promoter or some other party connected with the venue will obtain a favor (for example, a price discount) in exchange for giving a future favor to the vendor. If the existence of the scheme, or the relationship between the parties, is undisclosed this may become a form of

bribery Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...

. Another opportunity for misunderstanding are the various "lists" of guests who will be admitted for free or with VIP treatment, and the "door policy" used by bouncers to decide who will be admitted and at what price. To deal with these complexities event contracts can become quite long and detailed. Whether written or not, these arrangements tend to favor the party with the greater sophistication or the more control over the production of the event. Even the most detailed, professionally written and negotiated contracts can become the subject of lawsuits over interpretation. Because nightclubs are often associated with drug and alcohol consumption, rowdiness, and other late-night behavior, promoters may become entangled in various criminal disputes as well.

Methods

Promoters bring crowds through a variety of methods. The most direct are

guerrilla marketing Guerrilla marketing is an Advertising, advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a Product (business), product or Service (business), service. It is a type of publicity. The ...

techniques such as plastering posters on outdoor walls,

flyposting Flyposting (also known as bill posting) is a guerrilla marketing tactic where advertising posters (also known as flyers) are put up. In the United States, these posters are also commonly referred to as wheatpaste posters because wheatpaste i ...

, and distributing handbills on windows of cars parked in entertainment districts. Promoters also keep mailing lists, usually email lists, of their preferred guests and their wider list of potential customers. Many promoters have taken advantage of online technology such as

social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...

s and event listing sites to handle publicity, invitations, mailing lists, and so on. Clubs and promoters are among leaders in SMS text message advertising to their own lists as well as sponsored snippets on third-party lists for daily content to subscribers. Many fans promote events and products through their social media on their own free will. Promoters often build a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

out of their own personalities and the parties they host, marketing the events under a consistent name, style, type of program, and social experience that downplays the branding of the venue or artist. They may develop a loyal clientele that will follow them between locations.

Image promotion and VIP hosting

In cosmopolitan cities with large affluent populations, there are upscale venues that employ the services of a special kind of promoter called an image promoter. The role of the image promoter is to bring celebrities or fashion models to high end venues and host them at a VIP table. In order to entice models and celebrities to come to the venue, the image promoter is provided with a VIP table and complementary alcohol. High end venues use the presence of models and celebrities to market their venue to an affluent clientele which may often only obtain admittance to the venue through agreeing to spend a certain amount of money on alcohol at the establishment.

Notable promoters

Music and other events

* Michael Alig, co-founder of Club Kids * Johnny Edgecombe, London

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

promoter * Shelly Finkel, concert promoter ( LiveStyle) * Bill Graham, concert promoter ( Bill Graham Presents) * Al Haymon, A. H. Enterprises (now a subsidiary of

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational Entertainment industry, entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Live Nation (events promoter), Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It ...

) * Chet Helms, concert promoter, ( Big Brother and the Holding Company, Family Dog Productions) * Dick Klotzman, concert promoter * Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo International African Music Promoter. * Kirk Norcross, nightclub promoter (Sugar Hut) * Philip Sallon, known for the Mud Club, Blitz Club. * James St. James, co-founder of Club Kids * Brandon Ward, event promoter (AYA Entertainment)

Sports

Basketball

* Gary Davidson, ABA co-founder * Ned Irish, president,

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

, 1946 to 1974 * Dennis Murphy, ABA co-founder * Abe Saperstein, founder,

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

Boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA)

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

promoter ( Main Bout, Inc. – New York) * Bob Arum, boxing promoter ( Top Rank; Main Bout, Inc.) * Izzy Asif, boxing promoter GBM Sports * Jarvis Astaire, boxing promoter (First Artist Corp, Sport Division — London, UK) * Frankie Carbo,

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

member and boxing promoter ("The Combination" — New York City) * Bill Cayton, boxing promoter and film producer (Big Fights, Inc. – New York) * Jack Curley, 19th century boxing promoter turned wrestling promoter * Oscar De La Hoya, boxing and MMA promoter (

Golden Boy Promotions Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion (in six divisions) Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy." Hist ...

) * Dan Duva, boxing promoter (Main Events – New Jersey) * Dino Duva, boxing promoter (Main Events – New Jersey) * Lou Duva, boxing promoter (Main Events – New Jersey) * Kathy Duva, boxing promoter (Main Events – New Jersey) * Shelly Finkel, boxing promoter (Empire Sports and Entertainment, Inc., Shelly Finkel Management, Inc. – New York) * Al Haymon, boxing promoter and adviser ( Premier Boxing Champions) * Scott Coker, MMA promoter (

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

; Strikeforce) * Barry Hearn, boxing promoter ( Matchroom Sport) * Eddie Hearn, boxing promoter ( Matchroom Sport) * Dave Higgins, boxing promoter (Duco Events) * Jack "Doc" Kearns, boxing manager and promoter * Don King, boxing promoter (Don King Productions) * Kellie Maloney, boxing promoter (Frank Maloney Promotions & Management Limited) * Tony Lococo, MMA and

Kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

promoter (

ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

) * Chatri Sityodtong, MMA and Kickboxing promoter (

) * Sammie Marshall, boxing promoter, embezzler (MAPS) *

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (né Sinclair; born February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He list of undefeated boxing world champions, retired with an undefeated record a ...

, boxing promoter ( Mayweather Promotions) * Manny Pacquiao, boxing promoter ( MP Promotions) * Harold J. Smith, boxing promoter, embezzler (MAPS) * Mike Tyson, boxing promoter ( Acquinity Sports) * Frank Warren, boxing promoter (Queensberry Promotions Limited – London, UK) * Dana White, MMA and boxing promoter (

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

) * Khabib Nurmagomedov, MMA promoter ( Eagle Fighting Championship) * Shamil Zavurov, MMA promoter ( Eagle Fighting Championship) * Mario Yagobi, boxing promoter (Boxing360 - New York City) * Felix "Tuto" Zabala, boxing promoter (Miami) * Chael Sonnen, grappling promoter
Submission Underground (sug)
* Chael Sonnen, wrestling promoter ( Chael Sonnen's Wrestling Underground) * Mark O. Madsen, MMA promoter (Dominance FC)

Football

* Gary Davidson,

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

founder

Hockey

* Gary Davidson, WHA co-founder * Dennis Murphy, WHA co-founder * Conn Smythe, namesake of the

Conn Smythe Trophy The Conn Smythe Trophy () is awarded annually to the most valuable player (MVP) of his team during the National Hockey League's (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs. It is named after Conn Smythe, the longtime owner, general manager, and head coach of the ...

Swimming

* Melvin Stewart, swimming promoter

Tennis

* Leonard Bloom, World Team Tennis co-founder * Nancy Jeffett, women's

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

promoter *

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former World number 1 ranked female tennis players, world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in w ...

, Women's Tennis Association founder, World Team Tennis co-founder *

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

, World Team Tennis co-founder * Dennis Murphy, World Team Tennis co-founder

Professional Wrestling

* Antonio Inoki,

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

* Antonio Peña,

Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Promociones Antonio Peña, S.A. de C.V. doing business as, d/b/a Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (commonly referred to as simply AAA, pronounced "Triple A" – an abbreviation of its original name Asistencia, Asesoría y Administración de Espectáculos ...

* Atsushi Onita,

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fir ...

* Billy Sandow, Gold Dust Trio * Billy Wolfe, women's wrestling promoter and manager *

Dixie Carter Dixie Virginia Carter (May 25, 1939 – April 10, 2010) was an American actress. She starred as Julia Sugarbaker on the sitcom ''Designing Women'' (1986–1993) and as Randi King on the drama series ''Family Law (American TV series), Family La ...

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

* Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Gold Dust Trio * Eric Bischoff,

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

* Fred Kohler (wrestling promoter), Fred Kohler Enterprises; '' Wrestling From Marigold'', 1949 to 1955; president,

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

, 1961 to 1962. * Jack Curley, sports promoter who helped popularize professional wrestling * Jack Pfefer, entertainment wrestling pioneer * Jim Cornette, Smoky Mountain Wrestling * Leroy McGuirk,

* Max Crabtree, Joint Promotions * Mike Quackenbush, CHIKARA * Mildred Burke, World Wide Women's Wrestling Association founder; wrestler * Paul Bowser, early wrestling promoter; world middleweight champion * Paul Heyman,

Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian sport wrestling, amateur and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling Booker (professional wrestling), booker, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and ...

, Stampede Wrestling * Tony Khan,

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

* Joseph "Toots" Mondt, Gold Dust Trio * Verne Gagne, American Wrestling Association *

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

, World Wrestling Entertainment

Miscellaneous

* Wilt Chamberlain,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, Roller Hockey International co-founder * Dennis Murphy, Roller Hockey International co-founder * Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, former bodybuilding promoter ( IFBB, Mr. Olympia)

Notes

References

*Myler, Patrick (1997). ''A Century of Boxing Greats: Inside the Ring with the Hundred Best Boxers''. Robson Books (UK) / Parkwest Publications (US). . {{Authority control Business terms Event management Music industry Entertainment occupations * Boxing terminology Kickboxing terminology