overall , concerts attendance grew by 6.5 million to nearly 93 million fans , a record for the company , and an increase of 8 % over the prior year . we continued to expand our global festival portfolio in 2018 , adding brands , including isle of wight , to our strong roster and growing total festival attendance . our amphitheater shows were strong in 2018 as well , with the dave matthews band , jason aldean and kendrick lamar all playing to sold out audiences over the summer . the growth of our amphitheater onsite business continued in 2018 , with a focus on expanding our food and beverage point of sale systems , optimizing beverage sizing and pricing , and developing new premium programs for parking and vip areas . these programs helped grow our ancillary revenue per fan at our amphitheaters by approximately $ 3 in 2018. another of our ongoing priorities is to grow our ticket revenue by optimizing ticket pricing based on demand . we saw success in this area globally this year , by increasing the price for our best available seats in our amphitheaters and arenas by double-digits . our concerts operating results for the year improved over the prior year largely due to the impact of these business improvements and strategic initiatives . we will continue to look for expansion opportunities , both domestically and internationally , as well as ways to market our events more effectively , in order to continue to expand our fan base and geographic reach and thereby sell more tickets and onsite products . our sponsorship & advertising segment revenue for the year was up $ 58.8 million , or 13 % , on a reported basis as compared to last year , or $ 56.7 million , also 13 % , without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates . in 2018 , we 28 increased our strategic sponsors globally , and grew revenue for these partners by double-digits . in our north america market , we continue to secure deals with innovative , market-leading brands . our investment in new venue and festival products has grown our onsite sponsorship revenue while we develop new streaming opportunities and other content to support our online business . in europe , we capitalized on our strong network of festivals , growing our sponsorship revenue on existing shows while adding revenue streams for newly-acquired events . we believe that our extensive onsite and online reach , global venue distribution network , artist relationships , ticketing operations and live entertainment content are the keys to securing long-term sponsorship agreements with major brands , and we plan to expand and enhance these assets while extending further into new markets internationally . our ticketing segment revenue for 2018 increased by $ 183.1 million , or 14 % , on a reported basis as compared to last year , or $ 181.1 million , a 13 % increase , without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates . this increase was largely due to a 6 % growth in fee-bearing ticket sales globally to over 217 million tickets in 2018 , largely driven by increased sales for concert events . our digital ticketing initiative continues to accelerate : we have installed our presence system in over 200 venues in north america through the end of 2018 , with approximately 40 million fans entering venues via the platform . app installations increased by over 40 % during the year , creating additional marketing opportunities for our company and driving conversion from search and discovery to purchase . on the mobile front , over 40 % of our total tickets were sold via mobile and tablet devices in 2018 , and our total mobile ticket sales increased by 35 % year-over-year . operating results for ticketing were up this year due to improved business performance as well as the impact of the legal settlement accrued in 2017. we will continue to implement new features to drive further expansion of mobile ticket transactions and invest in initiatives aimed at improving the ticket search , purchase and transfer process . as a result , we expect to continue to attract more ticket buyers and enhance the overall fan and venue/artist client experience . segment overview our reportable segments are concerts , sponsorship & advertising and ticketing . concerts our concerts segment principally involves the global promotion of live music events in our owned or operated venues and in rented third-party venues , the operation and management of music venues , the production of music festivals across the world , the creation of associated content and the provision of management and other services to artists . while our concerts segment operates year-round , we experience higher revenue during the second and third quarters due to the seasonal nature of shows at our outdoor amphitheaters and festivals , which primarily occur from may through october . revenue and related costs for events are generally deferred and recognized when the event occurs . all advertising costs incurred during the year for shows in future years are expensed at the end of the year . concerts direct operating expenses include artist fees , event production costs , show-related marketing and advertising expenses , along with other costs . to judge the health of our concerts segment , we primarily monitor the number of confirmed events and fan attendance in our network of owned or operated and third-party venues , talent fees , average paid attendance , market ticket pricing , advance ticket sales and the number of major artist clients under management . in addition , at our owned or operated venues and festivals , we monitor ancillary revenue per fan and premium ticket sales . for business that is conducted in foreign markets , we also compare the operating results from our foreign operations to prior periods without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates . story_separator_special_tag we generally do not repatriate these funds , but if we did , we would need to accrue and pay united states state income taxes as well as any applicable foreign withholding or transaction taxes on future repatriations . we may from time to time enter into borrowings under our revolving credit facility . if the original maturity of these borrowings is 90 days or less , we present the borrowings and subsequent repayments on a net basis in the statement of cash flows to better represent our financing activities . our balance sheet reflects total net debt of $ 2.8 billion and $ 2.3 billion at december 31 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . our weighted-average cost of debt , excluding the unamortized debt discounts and debt issuance costs on our term loans and notes , was 4.2 % at december 31 , 2018 . our cash and cash equivalents are held in accounts managed by third-party financial institutions and consist of cash in our operating accounts and invested cash . cash held in interest-bearing operating accounts in many cases exceeds the federal deposit insurance corporation insurance limits . the invested cash is in interest-bearing funds consisting primarily of bank deposits and money market funds . while we monitor cash and cash equivalents balances in our operating accounts on a regular basis and adjust the balances as appropriate , these balances could be impacted if the underlying financial institutions fail . to date , we have experienced no loss or lack of access to our cash and cash equivalents ; however , we can provide no assurances that access to our cash and cash equivalents will not be impacted by adverse conditions in the financial markets . for our concerts segment , we generally receive cash related to ticket revenue at our owned or operated venues and festivals in advance of the event , which is recorded in deferred revenue until the event occurs . with the exception of some upfront costs and artist deposits , which are recorded in prepaid expenses until the event occurs , we pay the majority of event-related expenses at or after the event . we view our available cash as cash and cash equivalents , less ticketing-related client cash , less event-related deferred revenue , less accrued expenses due to artists and cash collected on behalf of others , plus event-related prepaid expenses . this is essentially our cash available to , among other things , repay debt balances , make acquisitions and finance capital expenditures . our intra-year cash fluctuations are impacted by the seasonality of our various businesses . examples of seasonal effects include our concerts segment , which reports the majority of its revenue in the second and third quarters . cash inflows and outflows depend on the timing of event-related payments but the majority of the inflows generally occur prior to the event . see “ —seasonality ” below . we believe that we have sufficient financial flexibility to fund these fluctuations and to access the global capital markets on satisfactory terms and in adequate amounts , although there can be no assurance that this will be the case , and capital could be less accessible and or more costly depending on economic conditions at the time . we expect cash flows from operations and borrowings under our senior secured credit facility , along with other financing alternatives , to satisfy working capital requirements , capital expenditures and debt service requirements for at least the succeeding year . 38 we may need to incur additional debt or issue equity to make other strategic acquisitions or investments . there can be no assurance that such financing will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all . we may make significant acquisitions in the near term , subject to limitations imposed by our financing agreements and market conditions . the lenders under our revolving loans consist of banks and other third-party financial institutions . while we currently have no indications or expectations that such lenders will be unable to fund their commitments as required , we can provide no assurances that future funding availability will not be impacted by adverse conditions in the financial markets . should an individual lender default on its obligations , the remaining lenders would not be required to fund the shortfall , resulting in a reduction in the total amount available to us for future borrowings , but would remain obligated to fund their own commitments . sources of cash senior secured credit facility in march 2018 , we amended our term loan b under the senior secured credit facility to reduce the applicable interest rate . at december 31 , 2018 , our senior secured credit facility consists of ( i ) a $ 190 million term loan a , ( ii ) a $ 970 million term loan b and ( iii ) a $ 365 million revolving credit facility . subject to certain conditions , we have the right to increase the facility by an amount equal to the sum of $ 625 million and the aggregate principal amount of voluntary prepayments of the term b loans and permanent reductions of the revolving credit facility commitments , in each case , other than from proceeds of long-term indebtedness , and additional amounts so long as the senior secured leverage ratio calculated on a pro-forma basis ( as defined in the credit agreement ) is no greater than 3.25 x. the revolving credit facility provides for borrowings up to the amount of the facility with sublimits of up to ( i ) $ 150 million for the issuance of letters of credit , ( ii ) $ 50 million for swingline loans , ( iii ) $ 200 million for borrowings in euros or british pounds and ( iv ) $ 50 million for borrowings in one or more other approved currencies . the senior secured credit facility is secured by

loss on extinguishment of debt we recorded a loss on extinguishment of debt of $ 14.0 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 in connection with the refinancing of the term loans under our senior secured credit facility and the redemption of our 7.0 % senior notes in october 2016. these obligations were paid with proceeds from the amended senior secured credit facility and the issuance of 4.875 % senior notes due 2024. there were no significant losses on extinguishment of debt recorded in 2018 or 2017. equity in losses ( earnings ) of nonconsolidated affiliates equity in losses ( earnings ) of nonconsolidated affiliates for the year ended december 31 , 2016 includes impairment charges of $ 16.5 million primarily related to investments in a digital content company and an online merchandise company both located in the united states . there were no significant impairments of nonconsolidated affiliates recorded in 2018 or 2017. other expense ( income ) , net other expense ( income ) , net was expense of $ 12.2 million and $ 10.8 million for the years ended december 31 , 2018 and 2016 , respectively , and includes net foreign exchange rate losses of $ 11.6 million and $ 8.8 million , respectively , and was income of $ 0.1 million for the year ended december 31 , 2017 and includes net foreign exchange rate gains of $ 3.1 million . the net foreign exchange rate gains and losses result primarily from revaluation of certain foreign currency denominated net assets held internationally . income taxes for the year ended december 31 , 2018 , we had a net tax expense of $ 40.8 million on income before income taxes of $ 131.1 million compared to a net tax benefit of $ 17.2 million on a loss before income taxes of $ 9.4 million for 2017 .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```loss on extinguishment of debt we recorded a loss on extinguishment of debt of $ 14.0 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 in connection with the refinancing of the term loans under our senior secured credit facility and the redemption of our 7.0 % senior notes in october 2016. these obligations were paid with proceeds from the amended senior secured credit facility and the issuance of 4.875 % senior notes due 2024. there were no significant losses on extinguishment of debt recorded in 2018 or 2017. equity in losses ( earnings ) of nonconsolidated affiliates equity in losses ( earnings ) of nonconsolidated affiliates for the year ended december 31 , 2016 includes impairment charges of $ 16.5 million primarily related to investments in a digital content company and an online merchandise company both located in the united states . there were no significant impairments of nonconsolidated affiliates recorded in 2018 or 2017. other expense ( income ) , net other expense ( income ) , net was expense of $ 12.2 million and $ 10.8 million for the years ended december 31 , 2018 and 2016 , respectively , and includes net foreign exchange rate losses of $ 11.6 million and $ 8.8 million , respectively , and was income of $ 0.1 million for the year ended december 31 , 2017 and includes net foreign exchange rate gains of $ 3.1 million . the net foreign exchange rate gains and losses result primarily from revaluation of certain foreign currency denominated net assets held internationally . income taxes for the year ended december 31 , 2018 , we had a net tax expense of $ 40.8 million on income before income taxes of $ 131.1 million compared to a net tax benefit of $ 17.2 million on a loss before income taxes of $ 9.4 million for 2017 .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : overall , concerts attendance grew by 6.5 million to nearly 93 million fans , a record for the company , and an increase of 8 % over the prior year . we continued to expand our global festival portfolio in 2018 , adding brands , including isle of wight , to our strong roster and growing total festival attendance . our amphitheater shows were strong in 2018 as well , with the dave matthews band , jason aldean and kendrick lamar all playing to sold out audiences over the summer . the growth of our amphitheater onsite business continued in 2018 , with a focus on expanding our food and beverage point of sale systems , optimizing beverage sizing and pricing , and developing new premium programs for parking and vip areas . these programs helped grow our ancillary revenue per fan at our amphitheaters by approximately $ 3 in 2018. another of our ongoing priorities is to grow our ticket revenue by optimizing ticket pricing based on demand . we saw success in this area globally this year , by increasing the price for our best available seats in our amphitheaters and arenas by double-digits . our concerts operating results for the year improved over the prior year largely due to the impact of these business improvements and strategic initiatives . we will continue to look for expansion opportunities , both domestically and internationally , as well as ways to market our events more effectively , in order to continue to expand our fan base and geographic reach and thereby sell more tickets and onsite products . our sponsorship & advertising segment revenue for the year was up $ 58.8 million , or 13 % , on a reported basis as compared to last year , or $ 56.7 million , also 13 % , without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates . in 2018 , we 28 increased our strategic sponsors globally , and grew revenue for these partners by double-digits . in our north america market , we continue to secure deals with innovative , market-leading brands . our investment in new venue and festival products has grown our onsite sponsorship revenue while we develop new streaming opportunities and other content to support our online business . in europe , we capitalized on our strong network of festivals , growing our sponsorship revenue on existing shows while adding revenue streams for newly-acquired events . we believe that our extensive onsite and online reach , global venue distribution network , artist relationships , ticketing operations and live entertainment content are the keys to securing long-term sponsorship agreements with major brands , and we plan to expand and enhance these assets while extending further into new markets internationally . our ticketing segment revenue for 2018 increased by $ 183.1 million , or 14 % , on a reported basis as compared to last year , or $ 181.1 million , a 13 % increase , without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates . this increase was largely due to a 6 % growth in fee-bearing ticket sales globally to over 217 million tickets in 2018 , largely driven by increased sales for concert events . our digital ticketing initiative continues to accelerate : we have installed our presence system in over 200 venues in north america through the end of 2018 , with approximately 40 million fans entering venues via the platform . app installations increased by over 40 % during the year , creating additional marketing opportunities for our company and driving conversion from search and discovery to purchase . on the mobile front , over 40 % of our total tickets were sold via mobile and tablet devices in 2018 , and our total mobile ticket sales increased by 35 % year-over-year . operating results for ticketing were up this year due to improved business performance as well as the impact of the legal settlement accrued in 2017. we will continue to implement new features to drive further expansion of mobile ticket transactions and invest in initiatives aimed at improving the ticket search , purchase and transfer process . as a result , we expect to continue to attract more ticket buyers and enhance the overall fan and venue/artist client experience . segment overview our reportable segments are concerts , sponsorship & advertising and ticketing . concerts our concerts segment principally involves the global promotion of live music events in our owned or operated venues and in rented third-party venues , the operation and management of music venues , the production of music festivals across the world , the creation of associated content and the provision of management and other services to artists . while our concerts segment operates year-round , we experience higher revenue during the second and third quarters due to the seasonal nature of shows at our outdoor amphitheaters and festivals , which primarily occur from may through october . revenue and related costs for events are generally deferred and recognized when the event occurs . all advertising costs incurred during the year for shows in future years are expensed at the end of the year . concerts direct operating expenses include artist fees , event production costs , show-related marketing and advertising expenses , along with other costs . to judge the health of our concerts segment , we primarily monitor the number of confirmed events and fan attendance in our network of owned or operated and third-party venues , talent fees , average paid attendance , market ticket pricing , advance ticket sales and the number of major artist clients under management . in addition , at our owned or operated venues and festivals , we monitor ancillary revenue per fan and premium ticket sales . for business that is conducted in foreign markets , we also compare the operating results from our foreign operations to prior periods without the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates . story_separator_special_tag we generally do not repatriate these funds , but if we did , we would need to accrue and pay united states state income taxes as well as any applicable foreign withholding or transaction taxes on future repatriations . we may from time to time enter into borrowings under our revolving credit facility . if the original maturity of these borrowings is 90 days or less , we present the borrowings and subsequent repayments on a net basis in the statement of cash flows to better represent our financing activities . our balance sheet reflects total net debt of $ 2.8 billion and $ 2.3 billion at december 31 , 2018 and 2017 , respectively . our weighted-average cost of debt , excluding the unamortized debt discounts and debt issuance costs on our term loans and notes , was 4.2 % at december 31 , 2018 . our cash and cash equivalents are held in accounts managed by third-party financial institutions and consist of cash in our operating accounts and invested cash . cash held in interest-bearing operating accounts in many cases exceeds the federal deposit insurance corporation insurance limits . the invested cash is in interest-bearing funds consisting primarily of bank deposits and money market funds . while we monitor cash and cash equivalents balances in our operating accounts on a regular basis and adjust the balances as appropriate , these balances could be impacted if the underlying financial institutions fail . to date , we have experienced no loss or lack of access to our cash and cash equivalents ; however , we can provide no assurances that access to our cash and cash equivalents will not be impacted by adverse conditions in the financial markets . for our concerts segment , we generally receive cash related to ticket revenue at our owned or operated venues and festivals in advance of the event , which is recorded in deferred revenue until the event occurs . with the exception of some upfront costs and artist deposits , which are recorded in prepaid expenses until the event occurs , we pay the majority of event-related expenses at or after the event . we view our available cash as cash and cash equivalents , less ticketing-related client cash , less event-related deferred revenue , less accrued expenses due to artists and cash collected on behalf of others , plus event-related prepaid expenses . this is essentially our cash available to , among other things , repay debt balances , make acquisitions and finance capital expenditures . our intra-year cash fluctuations are impacted by the seasonality of our various businesses . examples of seasonal effects include our concerts segment , which reports the majority of its revenue in the second and third quarters . cash inflows and outflows depend on the timing of event-related payments but the majority of the inflows generally occur prior to the event . see “ —seasonality ” below . we believe that we have sufficient financial flexibility to fund these fluctuations and to access the global capital markets on satisfactory terms and in adequate amounts , although there can be no assurance that this will be the case , and capital could be less accessible and or more costly depending on economic conditions at the time . we expect cash flows from operations and borrowings under our senior secured credit facility , along with other financing alternatives , to satisfy working capital requirements , capital expenditures and debt service requirements for at least the succeeding year . 38 we may need to incur additional debt or issue equity to make other strategic acquisitions or investments . there can be no assurance that such financing will be available to us on acceptable terms or at all . we may make significant acquisitions in the near term , subject to limitations imposed by our financing agreements and market conditions . the lenders under our revolving loans consist of banks and other third-party financial institutions . while we currently have no indications or expectations that such lenders will be unable to fund their commitments as required , we can provide no assurances that future funding availability will not be impacted by adverse conditions in the financial markets . should an individual lender default on its obligations , the remaining lenders would not be required to fund the shortfall , resulting in a reduction in the total amount available to us for future borrowings , but would remain obligated to fund their own commitments . sources of cash senior secured credit facility in march 2018 , we amended our term loan b under the senior secured credit facility to reduce the applicable interest rate . at december 31 , 2018 , our senior secured credit facility consists of ( i ) a $ 190 million term loan a , ( ii ) a $ 970 million term loan b and ( iii ) a $ 365 million revolving credit facility . subject to certain conditions , we have the right to increase the facility by an amount equal to the sum of $ 625 million and the aggregate principal amount of voluntary prepayments of the term b loans and permanent reductions of the revolving credit facility commitments , in each case , other than from proceeds of long-term indebtedness , and additional amounts so long as the senior secured leverage ratio calculated on a pro-forma basis ( as defined in the credit agreement ) is no greater than 3.25 x. the revolving credit facility provides for borrowings up to the amount of the facility with sublimits of up to ( i ) $ 150 million for the issuance of letters of credit , ( ii ) $ 50 million for swingline loans , ( iii ) $ 200 million for borrowings in euros or british pounds and ( iv ) $ 50 million for borrowings in one or more other approved currencies . the senior secured credit facility is secured by

