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The sweet sound of 'cha-ching'By Associated Press © St. Petersburg Times published July 11, 2003
NEW YORK - After two years of decline, concert attendance jumped by 24 percent in the first half of the year as acts including the Dixie Chicks, Cher and the Rolling Stones helped reverse a two-year slide in ticket sales. Fans bought 13.1-million tickets to the top 50 concert tours from January to June, compared with 10.6-million sold during the same period last year, according to Pollstar, the industry trade magazine. Gross receipts were up 26 percent, to $678-million, up from $538-million in 2001. (Seven of the top 10 acts visited Tampa this year; Billy Joel and Elton John were at the St. Pete Times Forum during the 2002 leg of their tour.) "We're back up to kind of where we were in 2000," said Gary Bongiovanni, Pollstar's editor in chief. "We had progressively been selling fewer tickets as the prices escalated." But trouble may be looming for summer tours because of cold and rain that delayed the traditional kickoff in late May and early June. "It's really hard to sell a ticket to an outdoor concert if it's raining all the time," Bongiovanni said. Concert attendance had been declining steadily since 2000, when 12.9-million tickets were sold. The average ticket price for the first six months this year was approximately $52, up $1 from the previous year, according to Pollstar. Last year, ticket prices cost an average of $51, up from $47 the previous year. Yet for the biggest acts, prices continue to rise. Tickets for the top-grossing tour, John and Joel, cost an average of $113. The Rolling Stones' average ticket cost $158, up from $119 when the group toured last year. "The really expensive tickets are largely being bought by the aging baby boomers," Bongiovanni said. Baby boomer acts such as the Stones, Fleetwood Mac and Cher represented half of the top 10 concerts for the first six months. But country acts the Dixie Chicks, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw also performed strongly. "The Dixie Chicks were one of the few acts that seemed to do great business just about everywhere they went," Bongiovanni said of the female trio, which wasn't hurt by the controversy that engulfed it after lead singer Natalie Maines criticized President Bush. Though Chesney was the 10th-highest-grossing tour, he was the top draw according to tickets sold. His tour sold 682,000 tickets at an average price of $36, grossing $24.4-million. In comparison, John and Joel sold about 465,000 tickets at an average price of $113, grossing $52.7-million. One act placed in the top 10 without going on tour. Celine Dion's Las Vegas stage show has grossed $33.2-million since it opened in March. "That was something of an experiment, and that did very well," Bongiovanni said. The top 10 concert tours from January to June, and their grosses:1. Elton John-Billy Joel, $52.7-million 2. The Rolling Stones, $37.4-million 3. The Dixie Chicks*, $35.1-million 4. Celine Dion, $33.2-million 5. Cher*, $31.7-million 6. Tim McGraw*, $30.6-million 7. Fleetwood Mac*, $28.3-million 8. Eagles*, $27.2-million 9. Bon Jovi*, $26.9-million 10. Kenny Chesney*, $24.4-million * Denotes acts that appeared in Tampa in 2003.  © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the wire |
