June 10 (Reuters) - Live Nation Entertainment ( LYV )

said on Tuesday it will invest $1 billion to build 18 new live

music venues across the U.S. as the concert promoter sees strong

demand for musical performances from fan-favorite artists.

This investment comes amid Live Nation's grown optimism in

the live entertainment industry, driven by long-overdue

ticketing reforms and growing fan demand.

Live Nation expects two-thirds of the concert fan growth to

be in the second half of the year, Chief Financial Officer Joe

Berchtold said in May.

The Ticketmaster parent said it will open doors or break

ground on the new venues, ranging from intimate clubs to large

outdoor amphitheaters, over the next 18 months in a bid to bring

more big shows to smaller cities.

The company, which said it is gearing up for its biggest

year of live music ever, already boasts a portfolio of 150

venues across the U.S., representing roughly 4% of all music

venues nationwide.

"To support this historic run, Live Nation venues have hired

37,000 U.S. workers to help deliver unforgettable experiences,"

it added.

The Department of Justice and dozens of state attorneys

general sued Live Nation and its ticket-selling unit,

Ticketmaster, last year for allegedly monopolizing markets

across the live concert industry in ways that hurt artists and

fans.

The department is also conducting a criminal antitrust probe

of Live Nation and AEG's response to concert cancellations at

the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Live Nation confirmed

while denying any collusion in May.

President Donald Trump in March signed an executive order

aimed at protecting fans from "exploitative ticket scalping" and

reforming the U.S. live entertainment ticketing industry.