Stadium tours: Why 2025 could be biggest year yet

With massive tours from the likes of Coldplay, Oasis, Dua Lipa, AC/DC, Lana Del Rey, Shakira, Ed Sheeran and Guns N’Roses in the pipeline, 2025 promises to be the biggest year yet for stadium concerts.

Following a relatively quieter season in 2024 (in part, due to the Paris Olympics), Live Nation chief Michael Rapino declared that 2025 would be a “monster stadium year” – and it’s not hard to see why. While no single act is likely to come close to the financial might of Taylor Swift’s $2 billion-grossing The Eras Tour, the combined talent sitting at live music’s top table should more than make up for it.

Artists including Linkin Park, Imagine Dragons, Billy Joel, My Chemical Romance, Olivia Rodrigo, Robbie Williams, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Stereophonics, System of a Down, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Stray Kids, Sam Fender and Iron Maiden are all set for next summer’s circuit. But despite the intense competition, demand remains strong.

“We can already see it with the various success stories and there are some more impressive tours to be announced,” AEG Presents SVP of international touring Simon Jones tells IQ. “Our stadium business has grown significantly over the past few years and we have some huge wins on the board for next year, which is very exciting.”

Like AEG, German-headquartered FKP Scorpio worked on the Swift and Sheeran tours. FKP announced additional dates for Sheeran’s 2025 European +–=÷× (Mathematics) Tour after selling more than 600,000 tickets in an hour.

“The live music industry in general is poised for significant growth in 2025”

“With stadium shows of Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, our 2024 was surely something very special, but 2025 is shaping up to be very successful regardless – another set of well over 20 stadium shows with Ed Sheeran in Europe will continue our success in this area,” says FKP CEO Stephan Thanscheidt.

“The live music industry in general is poised for significant growth in 2025, and the stadium business will surely be no exception from this. This expansion is driven by increasing consumer demand for live experiences fuelled by flagship concerts and residencies of global superstars and the proliferation of large-scale events in general.”

Other recent case studies for the industry include Lana Del Rey shifting more than 300,000 tickets for her 2025 stadium tour, Dua Lipa’s first show at the 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium in London selling out in five minutes and Shakira selling out 13 stadiums with nearly 700,000 tickets sold in less than two hours.

Demand for these mega concerts isn’t limited to the usual markets either – A-list artists are being pulled to all corners of the globe. Next year, Coldplay will perform their biggest-ever show at the 100,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium in India, Sheeran will become the first-ever international artist to perform in Bhutan and Guns N’ Roses will play their first-ever shows in Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Lithuania and Luxembourg.

Venues are evidently keen to capitalise on the demand. In the UK, Anfield, home to Liverpool Football Club, has been gradually increasing its live music programming since 2019 following a successful redevelopment.

In previous years the ground has hosted performances from the likes of Bon Jovi, Take That, Elton John and The Eagles but 2024 set a new benchmark for concerts. A three-night stand from Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour and two concerts from P!nk on her Summer Carnival Tour drew over 250,000 visitors to England’s fifth-largest stadium.

“To have the biggest solo artist in the world arriving for three nights at Anfield”

“To have the biggest solo artist in the world arriving for three nights at Anfield was amazing and exactly the type of event we wanted when we started concerts back in 2019,” says Phil Dutton, VP of ticketing and hospitality at Liverpool FC.

“This summer was a perfect opportunity to showcase what Anfield has to offer as a concert venue and we look forward to building on that again in 2025.”

With six concerts confirmed for the summer of 2025 – including Dua Lipa, Lana Del Rey, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel – Anfield is gearing up for its biggest-ever year.

“Concerts are a very important part of the club’s strategy now. Anfield is an iconic stadium and we are keen to see it used throughout the year – not just for football but to host the world’s biggest artists,” Dutton adds.

“It is certainly something that a lot of venues are looking at more aggressively now. Since Covid it is clear that the music industry is on an upward curve so of course stadiums want to be part of that growth.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool’s city rivals Everton FC are currently building a new stadium that promises to provide “the very best visitor experience” for both football matches and concerts.

“Becoming a live music venue is a major component of our commercial strategy”

With the ability to host events between 5,000 capacity and 52,000, the Bramley-Moore Dock ground will be the biggest stadium to come on stream in the UK since Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has hosted acts such as Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and P!nk. Everton FC has similar ambitions for its live music offering.

“We want it to be recognised as a ‘must play’ venue by the world’s best sports stars and the biggest music artists,” Everton’s head of events Suzie​​​​ Parker‑Myers tells IQ. “Becoming a live music venue is a major component of our commercial strategy.

“Everton Stadium will be a unique event campus – no other stadium has a footprint that is so adaptable to such a wide spectrum of events. In addition to in-bowl concerts, The Plaza in front of the stadium is perfect for outdoor music events or civic gatherings and benefits from the amenities located on the ground level concourse.”

Further afield, the Philippines has pledged to build a ‘Taylor Swift-ready’ stadium by 2028, after missing out on the star’s juggernaut tour, while Bulgaria’s top promoter has declared the market is open for stadium shows and Mexico’s biggest promoter Ocesa has opened the world’s first purpose-built music stadium.

In terms of emerging markets for stadium tours, AEG’s Jones has his eye on Asia and the Middle East.

“If the timing is right and an artist has put the work in prior, stadiums are there for the taking in Asia,” he tells IQ. “There are some fabulous stadia on the continent and on top of that, some incredible new facilities are being built. In the Middle East, demand there increasing year on year so another stadium in the area would be very much welcomed. The thirst and appetite are there for people to buy tickets to see shows!”

“Ticket prices have increased in recent years, and people tend to spend more on the big shows”

So what can the growth of stadium concerts be attributed to and more importantly, what does it depend on?

“We’re seeing fans being more selective about what they spend their money on,” suggests Jones. “Ticket prices have increased in recent years, and people tend to spend more on the big shows, with the big presentations and wanting to see them in more comfortable surroundings. Fans love a spectacular stadium show and gradually we are seeing more artists reach stadium-level business, before some may have expected them to. It’s buoyant times and great to see.”

Thanscheidt puts the surge down to several factors. “Artists increasingly rely on live performances as a primary income source, audiences seek immersive experiences, and stadium concerts offer a unique atmosphere,” he says. “Technological advancements also play a role in their success because enhanced sound, visual technologies or stage design have improved the quality and excitement of large-venue performances significantly and offer new means of expression.”

Stadium tours have also become increasingly hot commodities in cities’ efforts to boost tourism and create an economic impact.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Singapore struck an exclusivity deal with Taylor Swift and her promoters to make the island nation her only Eras tour stop in Southeast Asia. Unsurprisingly, Singapore’s investment in Swift paid off, with the government later crediting live music with helping to rejuvenate tourism in Singapore.

In another high-profile case, it emerged that the Western Australian government paid A$8 million to subsidise two Coldplay concerts.

“Everything works in peaks and troughs, but this current stadium boom could well be here to stay as long as the value is there”

“Our concerts over the past five years have helped to boost the local economy by more than £31 million and also provided thousands of jobs for local people,” says Liverpool FC’s Dutton.

AEG’s Jones believes the upward trajectory of stadium shows will rely on the continued evolution of the venues.

“I’ve had the fortune of putting shows on in some of the world’s best stadiums and also others that have proved – shall we say – challenging when it comes to staging shows. The newer venues coming online that are thinking properly about dual usage, true fan and artist experience are where we will see the most success and enable this boom to be maintained.”

Indeed, the capability to host live music has become a top priority for stadiums wanting to play a bigger role in culture and generate new income streams.

Looking ahead, both FKP and AEG expect the global stadium concert market to maintain its growth trajectory into 2026 and 2027.

“Everything works in peaks and troughs, but this current stadium boom could well be here to stay as long as the value is there for people within the price they’re being asked to pay versus the comfortability, presentation quality and overall experience for ticket buyers,” says Jones.

Thanscheidt adds: “This outlook is supported by ongoing consumer demand and the continuous evolution of live event experiences. The advantages for artists speak for themselves, but let’s not forget one big caveat: We are only talking about a slice of the live business that is solely accessible to the biggest names in the industry. That’s why we will make sure to not lose our focus on artist development and other more intimate forms of live entertainment.”

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