Live Nation Entertainment has entered into an agreement with Wal-Mart which will see the US supermarket giant start selling tickets to music and sport events over the counter.

This is more news because it is the first big deal to be confirmed by Irving Azoff in his shiny new role as Executive Chairman of the combined Live Nation Ticketmaster enterprise. Because, of course, that headline would have read "Ticketmaster announce alliance with Wal-Mart" until US regulators gave the two companies' merger the go ahead last month. Azoff was speaking in his new capacity as a Live Nation chief at a conference in Dallas this weekend.

Ticketmaster previously sold tickets over the counter at Tower Records shops until that retail chain collapsed in 2006. The Live Nation side of the company already as a retail partnership with the Blockbuster chain in the US.