LEASES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Leases [Abstract]

Lessee, Operating Leases

LEASES

The significant components of operating lease expense are as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2021		2020
	(in thousands)
Operating lease cost	$	241,012	$	241,819
Variable and short-term lease cost	92,863		35,202
Sublease income	(6,014)		(13,270)
Net lease cost	$	327,861	$	263,751

Many of our leases contain contingent rent obligations based on revenue, tickets sold or other variables, while others include periodic adjustments to rent obligations based on the prevailing inflationary index or market rental rates. Contingent rent obligations are not included in the initial measurement of the lease asset or liability and are recorded as rent expense in the period that the contingency is resolved. Our variable and short-term lease cost has increased during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the previous year due to the resumption of concert events and festivals in the second half of 2021.

Supplemental cash flow information for our operating leases is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2021		2020
	(in thousands)
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities	$	189,205	$	203,419
Lease assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations, net of terminations	$	251,401	$	129,174

Future maturities of our operating lease liabilities at December 31, 2021 are as follows:

	(in thousands)
2022	$	219,965
2023	237,184
2024	219,726
2025	204,392
2026	193,157
Thereafter	1,498,876
Total lease payments	2,573,300
Less: Interest	843,521
Present value of lease liabilities	$	1,729,779

The weighted average remaining lease term and weighted average discount rate for our operating leases are as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2021		2020
Weighted average remaining lease term (in years)	13.2		13.9
Weighted average discount rate	6.10	%	6.31	%

As of December 31, 2021, we have additional operating leases that have not yet commenced with total lease payments of $181.9 million. These operating leases, which are not included on our consolidated balance sheets, have commencement dates ranging from January 2022 to June 2030 with lease terms ranging from 2 to 20 years.

In response to the impacts we experienced from the global COVID-19 pandemic, we amended certain of our lease agreements for deferral or abatement of fixed rent payments in 2020. These lease concessions did not substantially increase our obligations under the respective lease agreements. Therefore, we elected to account for these lease concessions as though enforceable rights and obligations for those concessions existed in our lease agreements as clarified by the FASB rather than applying the lease modification guidance.