Stadium shows up 200% in UK this year

2016 has been a record year for music in Britain’s stadia, with the number of stadium shows up threefold on 2015, according to new data from Ticketmaster.

The ticketing giant also reports a 50% increase in stadium tours in the UK compared to last year.

“It’s great to see the live event industry in fantastic health, with a record year for stadium shows and popularity for outdoor events,” comments Ticketmaster UK’s managing director, Andrew Parsons. “This year has seen an unprecedented number of world-class acts taking their huge productions on the road and fans enjoying these gigs in stadiums and fields far and wide.”

Ticketmaster also today released the results of its Ticket of the Year survey, which polled its database of 85 million customers to discover their favourite live events of 2016.

“This year has seen an unprecedented number of world-class acts taking their huge productions on the road”

After surveying fans in Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the US, the company has crowned Coldplay – specifically their shows at Wembley Stadium in June – as ‘ticket of the year’, both globally and in the UK.

“We’re honoured to receive the Ticketmaster Ticket of the Year award,” says Coldplay’s Chris Martin. “Thank you to everyone who voted for us. The shows that we’ve played this year have been very special to us, so it’s wonderful to know that they’ve been special to the fans as well.

Despite a slight decline in attendance, the Netherlands’ Rock Werchter festival remains as popular as ever, placing second, with Justin Bieber in Arnhem, the UK’s Download festival and Beyoncé in London (again, at Wembley) rounding out the top five.

And looking ahead to next year, Robbie Williams’s Heavy Entertainment Show tour, which kicks off next June, is the most-anticipated trek of 2017.

The full survey results are below:

UK Ticket of the Year 2016
1. Coldplay (Wembley Stadium, London)
2. Download (Donnington Park, Derby)
3. Beyoncé (Wembley Stadium, London)
4. The Stone Roses (Etihad Stadium, Manchester)
5. Coldplay (Etihad Stadium, Manchester)
6. Creamfields (Daresbury, Cheshire)
7. Coldplay (Hampden Park, Glasgow)
8. NFL International Series (Wembley Stadium and Twickenham Stadium, London)
9. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (Wembley Stadium, London)
10. Biffy Clyro/Glasgow Summer Series (Bellahouston Park, Glasgow)

UK most anticipated event 2017
1. Robbie Williams
2. Coldplay
3. Take That
4. Drake
5. Guns N’ Roses
6. Bruno Mars
7. Download
8. Kings of Leon
9. The Weeknd
10. Radiohead

Global Ticket of the Year 2016
1. Coldplay (London, UK)
2. Rock Werchter (Belgium)
3. Justin Bieber (Arnhem, Netherlands)
4. Download (Donington Park, UK)
5. Beyoncé (London, UK)
6. Lollapalooza (Berlin, Germany)
7. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (The Hague, Netherlands)
8. The Stone Roses (Manchester, UK)
9. Coldplay (Manchester, UK)

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