Digiday+ Research: Publishers look to cash in on growing events revenue

This is according to Digiday+ Research surveys conducted annually among publisher professionals.

Digiday’s surveys found that publishers are reporting a notable spike in events revenue this year. Seventy percent of publisher pros said in Q1 2025 that they get at least a very small portion of their revenue from events, compared with 47% in Q1 2024.

Not only is that a significant jump in the percentage of publishers making money from events, but that percentage had been trending downward before this year. In Q1 2022, 63% of publisher pros told Digiday they made at least a little bit of money from events. That percentage fell to 57% in Q1 2023 before hitting 47% in Q1 2024.

Put another way, the percentage of publishers who don’t tap into events as a revenue stream is down significantly this year. Fewer than a third of publisher pros (30%) said in Q1 2025 that they don’t get any revenue from events. In Q1 2024, more than half (53%) said events was not a revenue stream for them.

And events is emerging as a sizeable revenue stream for many publishers. The percentage of publishers making a lot of money from events is also up significantly this year. Nearly a quarter of publisher pros (23%) said in Q1 2025 that they get a large or very large portion of their revenue from events. Just 8% said the same in Q1 2024.

As events emerges as a more valuable revenue stream for publishers, Digiday’s survey found that publishers are increasing their focus on building that part of their business even further. More than three-quarters of publisher pros told Digiday in Q1 2025 that they would focus at least a little on growing their events business in the coming months — a big jump following years of a downward trend.

In Q1 2022, 71% of publishers said they would put at least a very small focus on building their events business in the next six months. In Q1 2023, that percentage fell to 67% and then fell again to 52% in Q1 2024. This year, however, 77% of publisher pros told Digiday they would put at least a very small focus on growing events in the next six months.

In other words, nearly half of publishers (48%) said last year that they would not focus at all on building their events business. This year, fewer than a quarter (23%) said the same.

And the percentage of publishers putting a large focus on growing their events business is up as well, also following a downward trend. Twenty-nine percent of publisher pros told Digiday in Q1 2025 that they will put a large or very large focus on building their events business in the next six months. In Q1 2024, 21% of publishers said the same, down from 25% in Q1 2023 and 29% in Q1 2022.

See a full breakdown of Digiday’s survey data on publishers’ events revenue and their focus on building that revenue stream below: