Welcome to the Vivid Seats Q1 2022 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Richard, and I'll be your operator for today's call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, the conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Kate Copouls, Head of Investor Relations. Ms. Copouls, you may begin.

Good morning, and welcome to Vivid Seats First Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. I am Kate Copouls, Head of Investor Relations at Vivid Seats. Joining me today to discuss Vivid Seats' results are Stan Chia, Chief Executive Officer; and Larry Fey, Chief Financial Officer. By now, everyone should have access to the company's first quarter earnings press release filed earlier this morning. We have also provided supplemental earnings slides. The press release and earnings slides are available on the Investor Relations page of Vivid Seats' website at investors.vividseats.com. During the course of this call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are subject to the risks and uncertainties as described in the company's earnings press release and other filings with the SEC. On today's call, we will refer to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin, which are non-GAAP financial measures that we believe provide useful information for our investors. You will find a historical reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin to the corresponding GAAP measure in the earnings press release, supplemental earnings slides and other filings with the SEC. And now I would like to turn the call over to Stan.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm excited to speak with you about our strong record-setting first quarter and the continued momentum we are seeing across our business. In the first quarter of 2022, we achieved our highest ever Q1 Marketplace GOV and Revenues. The results we delivered in the first quarter demonstrate growing consumer demand over the last year and our outpaced performance in that environment. Fans are eager to attend live events, and we are well positioned to capitalize on that demand. As such, we have raised our 2022 guidance. Today, I'll share an update on the progress we made in the first quarter and discuss how we are continuing to position Vivid Seats to win as a differentiated technology marketplace with multiple products and platforms that facilitate engaging and memorable experiences for fans. Then I'll turn it over to Larry to share our financial results in more detail. Heading into this quarter, we were well positioned after finishing 2021 with record revenue in each of the second, third and fourth quarters as live events rapidly return. I'm proud of our team, which continued delivering awesome results in the first quarter of 2022, including $742 million in Marketplace gross order value or GOV, $131 million in revenues and $21 million in adjusted EBITDA. As a technology platform and marketplace, we sit at the intersection of supply and demand. From this vantage point, in Q1, we continue to see the strong and growing consumer demand that we saw in the fourth quarter. And it's been exciting to witness the energy of fans connecting with each other and their favorite artists or sports teams through live event experiences. During March Madness, we saw the most in-demand college basketball single-game ticket that we've ever tracked with Duke…

Thank you, Stan. I am proud to present our financial results for yet another record-breaking quarter as our marketplace flywheel continues to perform. As Stan mentioned, we achieved our highest Q1 Marketplace GOV and Revenue ever in the first quarter of 2022 despite the impact of unexpectedly high cancellations. These results speak to the underlying strength in the demand environment and give us the confidence to raise our 2022 GOV and revenue guidance early in the year. First quarter Marketplace GOV, marketplace orders and revenues were all well above pre COVID levels from Q1 2019, which we view as the most relevant comparison period given the severe impact of COVID during Q1 of 2020 and 2021. Our record Q1 Marketplace GOV was driven by increases in both marketplace orders and average order size. Average order size was $368 for the quarter, which represents a 12% increase to 2019 levels. We have included average order size by quarter from 2019 to Q1 of this year in the appendix of our earnings presentation to provide additional historical context given the heightened average order size volatility experienced in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. We have historically seen average order size grow 3% to 4% annually. Similar to Q1 Marketplace GOV, Q1 revenues of $131 million were up substantially compared to both 2019 and 2021. Our peak rate, which we calculate by dividing our marketplace revenues by our Marketplace GOV, was approximately 15% in Q1. While we reported rate was lower than in Q4, our underlying take rates remain largely consistent with historical levels when considering the impact of our loyalty program, which is accounted for as a contract to revenue, and other adjustments such as cancellation-related charges and chargebacks, which were elevated in Q1. The higher-than-expected cancellations in Q1 were comprised of…

Thanks, Larry. In conclusion, Vivid Seats continued to break records this quarter, and I'm truly excited about the momentum we are seeing in our business. We remain confident in our long-term business outlook. And as we look to the future, we believe that our differentiated offering, superior cost structure, exceptional leadership team and scale will allow us to continue to drive meaningful growth and to capitalize on opportunities that drive value for shareholders. And with that, operator, I will open it up for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question on line comes from Mr. Ralph Schackart from William Blair.

First question, just in terms of brand investment and increased investments in performance marketing, Stan, I think you talked about on the call, can you maybe just give us some perspective how you're seeing those returns in both categories? You talked about ROI profile as a J-curve, but maybe just sort of give us a sense of kind of return on that spend and what you're seeing. And then I have a followup.

Yes, sure. Ralph, yes, I think first and foremost, I think as we continue to invest in brand and product, and as we shared, I think we're seeing our efforts really resonate with consumers, right? Across the board, all of our sources tell us that I think there -- our investments there are yielding in the largest percentage of consumers recommending us. And we're really excited about all those Net Promoter Score increases. As we then look through, I think, where we're seeing some of the impacts of the brand, I think one of the more exciting components as we look at the NBA, NHL season that just ended. I think we've seen upwards of 10% increase in repeat rates, which I think are a combination of our brand and rewards programs working effectively. And then certainly on the performance marketing side, as we continue to invest in all things marketing, we expect that to ripple through those efforts as well.

Great. Maybe just if you could maybe talk to more recent kind of quarter-to-date performance. Obviously, people want to get out again now that restrictions are lifted. But how do you think about that in context of increasing variants. Some sections of the United States, are you seeing cancellations at all? Or how is that maybe impacting the business?

Yes. Obviously, I think I was looking at everything, we look for safety first amongst consumers. But as we see trends, and I point back at current quarter, all commentary around the industry, we continue to see a lot of bullishness in the space, fans wanting to get out there, our AOS, as we talked about, higher than historical growth rates as I think demand continues to outpace supply. And perhaps one other industry they have looked out at travel, I think you also look at how much are people traveling, right, to get to events. And we've seen fans now traveling almost more than 20 miles more than they used to, to get to an event. So I think overall, we continue to see largely that a lot of excitement from consumers and willingness to go to events.

And then, Ralph, I know there was a good amount of mentioned around the cancellations in Q1 and how they were higher than we expected largely on the back of non-COVID related items. I think we can say that, well, we don't want to jinx it, as we sit here about halfway into Q2. We've seen a very meaningful reduction in cancels to date in Q2.

Our next question on the line comes from Maria Ripps from Canaccord Genuity.

First, in terms of like demand here remains pretty strong, and you sort of touched on this a little bit, but could you talk about what's sort of embedded in your guidance from the macro sort of standpoint sort of including elevated gas prices, consumer spending and possibly new COVID variants?

Yes. So as we put together our guidance, I think that was, call it, early in the inflation story. And at the time, I think there was a lot more belief that the transitory element made sense and could hold. So I don't think longitudinally, it had the benefit of the kind of latest developments or it looks like it will be a bit more persistent and drive meaningful interest -- excuse me, increasing interest rates. But I think overall, the landscape as we can see it in our category has remained pretty resilient. We haven't seen it flow through the demand or impacting consumers in a way that we've heard others allude to. So that's certainly not a guarantee that, that won't change, but I think we're seeing the net consistent demand trends as we saw in the period when we put the guidance together.

Got it. That's very helpful. And then secondly, can you maybe just talk about how have attendance and pricing been trending for some of the marquee Q2 sporting events like the NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, Masters, NCAA, et cetera?

Yes. Sure, Maria. I think NCAA, I mean, maybe I'll start there. That was one. When we looked at that, pretty unbelievable across the season, I think a lot of renewed interest. I think some of the marquee things we've talked about there, that final Duke home game, I think we saw prices there rivaling Super Bowl prices, right? So I think it's such a strong group. And certainly, when we look at the actual tournaments under the same lens of how much is demand outpacing supply, we certainly saw that to be the strongest tournament we've ever seen. And what you look at really more recently, perhaps this past weekend, I think with F1 in Miami, we've seen F1 sales and certainly with a lot of renewed interest in the category tripling what that has been historically on the platform and average order size there north of $3,500. So I think we continue to see some of the marquee events, as you mentioned, draw a lot of strong interest from crowds and fans out there.

Our next question on the line comes from Stephen Ju from Credit Suisse.

This is [Francois] on for Stephen Ju. So I know it's still early, but could you please update us on some of the details and planned product integration so far with Betcha? And what have you learned so far? And what kinds of cross-promotion or revenue synergy opportunities do you think you can unlock going into the future?

Sure. Thanks for the question. Look, we remain really excited about the Betcha opportunities. As I think the fan base and both in terms of the product offerings and the increased ability to learn more about customer interest through the platform continue to be really compelling reasons for us to invest and to think about integration is the right way. When you look at what we've done, you can clearly see, if you look into the Betcha product, that we've enabled single sign-on capability, meaning you can actually log into the Betcha app with your Vivid Seats login, which then allows us a lot of insight and the ability to understand interest again across multiple platforms. When you look at what we've been able to test, and I alluded to this in the prepared remarks, we continue to see users who are using both of our products today results in a much more engaged user across the platform, right? Whether they're playing more, whether they're depositing more, we're continuing to see that engaged -- user engagement across that, which continues to fuel bullishness on our side as we move forward with integration across the product and brand.

Got it. And then just one follow-up on I think the revamp of the website and the app has been a key initiative. So can you talk about kind of what kind of directional improvements you may be seeing so far in terms of engagement or retention? I know you mentioned the 10% increase in repeat rates, but was that from the revamp of the website and app? Yes, just general improvements you're seeing as you roll out these changes.

Yes, sure. I think all of these things work together, right, as you look at our investments around brand, product, improved web, improved rewards program, I think the stat I shared earlier is one of all those things working together where we've seen repeat rate in 2 sports categories increased double digits from where they've been historically. I think it's something we're very excited about. The other thing I'd point you to, as we think about all of these investments collectively, is our ability to become somewhat of a discovery channel for users. And as we talked about, we've seen traffic coming to our website around NFL even before a scheduled release, right? So I think to us, I think again that's a fantastic sign of people coming to us and using us as a discovery channel, learning about the brand and subsequently at the right time converting over when there's a transaction. So I think all those things, I think, are a great culmination of all the efforts that we put into investing behind our product and our brand.

And I might add one thing. As part of the new web rollout, there's both the front-end difference but then also some back-end improvements that allow us to iterate more quickly, run more AB tests, et cetera. And while that's an ongoing process and a benefit that will bear fruit over subsequent quarters and years, we've already seen in the first few months after we were live a number of those experiments yield meaningful improvements in click-through rates, as you start tracking through our funnel. And so we're very excited about what that back-end enhancement will enable in terms of new enhancements to the front end.

Our next question the line comes from Shweta Khajuria from Evercore ISI.

This is [Dave Peterson] pinching for Shweta this morning. One quick question following up on the demand question that was asked earlier, how much visibility do you guys have into demand trends for the year? And what are you seeing that you view now as leading indicators of demand?

Yes. I think we can certainly look to a few different elements. As you think about the marketplace, there's an intersection of supply and demand. And so step one is verifying that you have supply and ideally growing supply. And I think we feel quite good that those indicators have been and remain quite strong, and the duration of that strength seems to be extending, not shortening. And generally speaking, that supply particularly in areas where there's variability like concerts, where they don't need to go on tour, will only come online if there's a belief that there's ample demand for it. So while it's certainly difficult to prognosticate on how people are going to feel 6 months from now, I think all of the indicators that you can see with some historical lag continue to remain positive. And then what we're seeing in the performance that we spoke to for the quarter, certainly, demand was robust throughout that period. So the real-time feedback was strong as well. So other than the theoretical concerns around shouldn't higher gas prices have an impact, shouldn't decrease in stock prices have an impact? Other than that quantification, we are not seeing or have anything that we can point to that would suggest a meaningful shift downward.

Great. And just to kind of follow up on that, for the quarter, any particular region or vertical live sports, concerts or theater that you could call out in Q1 that came in stronger than expected?

Yes, I think we had -- it was a pretty nice quarter for concerts. And I think that generally fits with what you're hearing the folks at Live Nation say when they talk about an incredibly robust Q2 and Q3 calendar and also an underweight Q1 calendar. So I think they shifted out events in light of continued COVID concerns and bought themselves more time. But you have all of the backlog we previously talked about from events that were postponed in prior years being pushed into 2022, a lot of concert -- excuse me, artists eager to get out on the road in 2022. And the summer is concert season, so you're seeing that push into Q2 and Q3. And so it follows logically that folks will start buying for those shows in Q1, as they make their plans for the summer. And we did see that strength in concerts during the quarter.

Our next question on line comes from Tom Forte from D.A. Davidson.

Stan, Larry, congrats on the quarter. All right, so first question then a follow-up. So how do you think about when you have excess sales like you did in the quarter and choosing between reinvesting back in the business from a technology standpoint or incremental marketing spend or letting it flow through to the bottom line?

Tom, thanks for the question. I think for us, our long-term strategy has guided us on this, right, which is to make sure that as we continue investing, we see tangible returns over a length -- the right horizon for us, right. As we continue to see, I'd say the leading indicators to our investments across the marketing and product front, they've all been rather strong, right. We've talked about if you start from how have our investments in product resonated with consumers and sellers, I think the data is out there, right. Whether it's our data, whether it's independent sources, I think all of those investments are yielding in higher satisfaction amongst that group. And then the question becomes is that satisfaction translating into monetizable value for us. And as we look at, I think, increased repeat rates, as we look at the ability to continue to outperform on driving customers and GOV into our ecosystem, I think those all look like great long-term investments for us where we continue to have confidence in that. And so I think as we continue to invest, I'd point to all of the signs remain extremely encouraging that we are making investments in the right areas. I think the strength of our core business further allows us the ability to do that, right. As you look at, well, a business that has always been structurally profitable and where, on top of that, we're able to convert over 100% of free cash, I think that allows us a lot of the ability to really invest, I think, in the things that yield long-term results for us and our shareholders.

I would add one thing, Tom. I think a lot of folks out there having to change their stripes in reaction to a palpable shift in the market and its view on profitability. I think we have the fortune of having long been focused on profitability all the way back to when the business was founded but through the private equity ownership. And so there is already built into the DNA a view of every project has to stand on its own from an ROI standpoint. If it's not working, you stop it. If it is working, you put more fuel on it. So no real shift to our posture relative to historical.

Excellent. All right. So then the second question is the more fun one or the funner one. So Stan, I want to talk about your long-term vision and M&A. How should we think about your desire to operate multiple marketplaces, marketplace brands like Etsy has done rolling up the category like Grubhub's done, adding complementary assets, which you did with Betcha Sports or your build versus buy for incremental technology?

Yes, love the question, Tom. As you know -- and by the way, I got to say I always love it when Larry pats himself on the back with the ex-private equity background so we are very disciplined in what I would continue to say and will remain so. And even in the area, I think, Tom, that you're bringing up here, I think the key for us as we look to invest are always around are there complementary areas that we believe we can truly drive synergy through our existing asset base. And I always go back to Betcha. It's such a great example of that. The consumer base, very complementary with us when you think through all of the signals of increased consumer interest that we get within the product, I think that continues to be something we're very excited about. The fact that it's TAM additive, is also another component, I think, that is great. And I think those principles when you look at that synergy, consumer value and engagement, TAM additive, I think that's going to continue to drive a lot of our decisions both on the organic but certainly on the inorganic front. And as we look at inorganic opportunities, again, that are out there, the build versus buy decision, I think we once again sit in a great position of strength, right, with a strong balance sheet, great cost structure and the ability to accelerate those efforts should they become available.

Our last question comes from Andrew Marok from Raymond James.

Stan, you touched on this in your prepared remarks, but I thought the Net Promoter Score data was really interesting. Are there a couple of key issues that you could really point to that's driving that delta especially on the seller side between Vivid and the rest of the competition? And I have an unrelated follow-up after.

Sure. Andrew, thanks for the question there. I think if we look at it, if you start on the sell side, I think it just comes back to product and service, I think Vivid's origins, I think with 2 tremendous founders with lots of experience, I think, in the sell side of the business, I think our product and our service strategy. Again, as truly a marketplace with 2 sides, we've never forgotten that we have customers on each side of the equation. And when you look at what we've done in terms of investing across our SkyBox platform, which continues to be the leading ERP with new features, better data, better integrations to allow sellers to grow and run their businesses independently, I think it's no surprise of the investments we've put there on top of, I would say, think about customer service and customer experience, we've certainly invested across that space as well. When you hear about our investments in our customer service, that certainly extends to the seller side. And so I think you see that difference certainly reflect in the seller sentiment on the NPS side. As you look on to the fan side of the equation, I think all the things we've been investing in for the past 2 to 3 years are truly coming to light and resonating, again, with folks who have actually used the product and are familiar with us and our frequent ticket buyers. Our investment in customer service, Newsweek being the best barometer out there and The Harris Poll independently, all indicating we have some of the best customer service out there. Our rewards program coming through as clearly a differentiated offering and then certainly the discovery elements across our enhanced web and app product. I think all of those things yield an ecosystem across the buy side and the sell side, where the differentiated features are translating into more value for our constituents. And that truly, I think, is reflected in the NPS scores that we see across the category.

Great. And then a quick one on cancellations. It's good to hear that it's trending in the right direction for 2Q. But as we get incremental news about tour cancellations or things like that, that may be unexpected, is there a good rule of thumb that we can have to kind of assess the sizing of such an impact for maybe like an arena style tour?

Yes, I could give you -- yes, I think we had, hopefully, a fairly unique experience going forward with the Foo Fighters, where they were -- they and Celine Dion are both, you call it, top 10 type performers. They and MLD were all pretty similarly sized, and those 3 collectively made up about half of the cancels. So you can sort of back into a meaningful tour size in the $6 million, $7 million of GOV range, obviously subject to the number of shows and how many you canceled and whatnot. But I think that's a reasonable directional assumption for that arena style to it.

As we have no further questions at this time, I would now like to turn the call over to Kate Copouls for closing remarks.

Thanks, everyone, for joining us today to discuss our record first quarter. This concludes our call. Have a great day.

And thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.