District might set up dedicated live-event venues in India
What's the story
Eternal's District is considering investments in dedicated live-event venues. The move is aimed at reducing concert costs and making the out-of-home consumption platform more resilient against potential disruptions from artificial intelligence (AI) agents. Rahul Ganjoo, CEO of District, told Mint that they are in talks with possible partners and governments for long-term projects, including public-private partnerships.
Business strategy
Temporary setups costly for sustainable business
Ganjoo stressed the importance of dedicated live-event venues for building a sustainable business.
He said without these, it is hard to establish a viable model as setting up and dismantling temporary concert sites can be extremely costly.
District's first bet in this direction was Terraform, a 16-acre outdoor entertainment arena in Bengaluru that they took over in September 2025.
Growth plans
Focus on major cities for network expansion
Ganjoo said that building new venues would take time and major network expansions are unlikely within the next year.
He added that they plan to focus on five to 10 major cities where event supply and audience demand can support regular programming.
District is also engaging with stakeholders in 10 to 15 cities to assess commercial viability for this strategy.
Market adaptation
Concerns over AI agent disruption
The venue strategy comes as Eternal warns of potential disruption from AI agents that could allow consumers to discover and book experiences without using the platform.
In its Q2 FY27 shareholder letter, Eternal placed District in the "medium-to-high risk zone" for agent-led commerce.
This is because some of District's offerings, like restaurant reservations and non-exclusive concert tickets, exist independently of the platform and can be accessed through other channels.