Market Report: USA
After another challenging year for the sector, despite blockbuster tours and strong sales, the US ticketing industry remains a bit chaotic.
With tremendous demand, fan frustrations, sky-high resale prices, bot interference, and limited federal regulation, the situation is complicated. Solutions are certainly not as straightforward as many consumers (and legislators) think.
Primary ticketing
The spotlight continues to shine on the American ticketing industry continues, with discourse ramping up around Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Live Nation, accusing LN-Ticketmaster of monopolisation. Live Nation fired back immediately:
“We just don’t believe that there’s really any good faith argument to be made here that there could be a breakup,” said Dan Wall, EVP of corporate and regulatory affairs. “However, we all know that that’s what the most effective way to get the big headlines was, and I think that that’s why we’re seeing that.”
Now, Ticketmaster says they’re prioritising public perception: “A priority remains on bridging the gap between the public’s understanding of ticketing and the nuances of how ticketing really works,” says Marla Ostroff, managing director of Ticketmaster North America. “Our goal is to set clients up for success while minimising fan friction, and we can help achieve that goal by demystifying ticketing and building innovative, reliable products.”
“It’s a red herring, and the DOJ’s lawsuit will not fix the larger problems that are part of the perceived ills of the industry”
For Maureen Andersen, president and CEO of the US-based International Ticket Association (INTIX), the issues that plague the sector go beyond a single company. “It’s a red herring, and the DOJ’s lawsuit will not fix the larger problems that are part of the perceived ills of the industry. Of more interest and worth of attention are new federal laws in the US for oversight and fairness, as well as concentrating on data and cybersecurity,” she says.
Nonetheless, the US ticketing business looks strong – Live Nation posted $6.02bn in revenue in a record Q2 2024, and year-to-date ticket sales are up to 118m, 1m more than this time last year. AEG-operated AXS reported the industry looks “stable and steady,” though noted inflation has impacted the cost of tickets – “It seems almost impossible to continue at the post-pandemic pace of 2022 and 2023, so we’re anticipating some slowdown in 2024,” says Blaine Legere, president, international for AXS.
CTS Eventim, which launched here in 2021, partnered with AXS to secure the ticketing rights for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
A popular partnership this year is with TikTok, a frontrunner in music discovery.
A market boasting endless competition, other primary ticketing firms here include Eventim-owned See Tickets and Universe. “We recently launched See Tickets Timed Ticketing and LiveBuzz solutions, enhancing our service offerings for exhibitions and trade events,” says See Tickets US MD, Joe Salem.
A popular partnership this year is with TikTok, a frontrunner in music discovery. AXS, Ticketmaster, and Eventbrite all have integrations with the mobile platform. “[It] provides a safe and secure environment for consumers to discover and purchase through official channels where they are discovering content,” Legere says.
Eventbrite commercial marketing lead Brad McIntyre says people can buy tickets “without leaving the app at all.” Eventbrite is also expanding its AI offerings to help independent artists and promoters “fast-track event promotion and free up time to focus on what matters,” McIntyre says.
Last year, the event marketplace supported more than 250,000 music events with more than 24m attendees across the US.
“Our teams are always on the lookout for ways to improve customer experiences”
Independent firm DICE launched its Discovery function in 2023, now offering fans personalised event recommendations with Spotify and Apple Music integrations, resulting in 40% of in-app sales coming from the function, says COO Katie Soo.
Primary and secondary seller SeatGeek is also deploying new technology, integrating new 3D and multilevel views of the purchaser’s seat/s at select venues, “allowing buyers to zoom all the way in on the venue map to not just the section or row – all from the palm of their hand,” says Russ D’Souza, the company’s co-founder and president of supply.
Distribution of sales
Digital is the new norm worldwide, and issues of bot activity, scalping, speculative sales, and unfair competition have been well-publicised. But INTIX’s Andersen says there is no clear-cut solution to the problems at hand.
“It’s a bit like playing Whac-A-Mole in the sense that all ticketing is reactive to the newest bot deployments while the safeguards were reactive to the bots of the last on sale,” she says. “At the core of it, to avoid a bot, there would need to be a closed-loop environment for the sales and the security/access in a controlled way. Blockchain seems to be the one solution that can take care of this.”
Being a technology-forward company is key in today’s ticketing landscape. For SeatGeek, nearly half of the company’s personnel are focused on engineering, product, and data science. “Our teams are always on the lookout for ways to improve customer experiences,” D’Souza says.
Value of market
It’s difficult to gauge the pure value of the market, but it’s clear that the US reigns as the largest music market in the world. Firms report activity is decreasing slightly, on par with other markets, as the post-pandemic rush starts to slow.
“Ticket resale is an inevitable and necessary part of the ecosystem to find a market-clearing price”
Secondary ticketing
In late July, news broke about another lawsuit. The District of Columbia (DC) attorney general filed a lawsuit against Viagogo-owned StubHub, accusing the platform of “deceptive” pricing and hidden fees: “StubHub intentionally hides the true price to boost profits at its customers’ expense,” said attorney general Brian L. Schwalb at the time.
It’s no secret that resale prices can soar in the unregulated US market. SeatGeek reported a 73% increase in the average resale ticket price compared to 2019.
“Ticket resale is an inevitable and necessary part of the ecosystem to find a market-clearing price,” D’Souza says. “To drive down prices, we need to rid the system of nefarious actors, and SeatGeek is working hard to keep bots out of ticketing and protect the fan experience.”
SeatGeek operates in both primary and secondary spaces, expanding its sports operations with 90 new NCAA university integrations into its platform. Ticketmaster also operates in both spheres and notes that its Face Value Exchange product has gained popularity recently, “helping to deter scalping while providing a place for fans to buy and sell tickets at the prices set by the artist or team,” Ostroff says.
TickPick, Vivid Seats, Lyte, TicketSwap, and Gametime also operate in the US secondary market.
International/domestic splits & genres
Latin, country, K-pop, electronic, jazz – what isn’t trending in the US? Eventbrite points out hip-hop and rap shows were its most attended genre last year, and DICE shares gothic, Afrobeats, heavy metal, and progressive house were its most in-demand. Eventim is seeing additional growth opportunities in exhibitions, state/county fairs, and other large-scale events.
“Laws, legislation, policies, and regulations only work so far and only if there is enough oversight, culpability, and ramification for the activity”
“By targeting these diverse sectors, we can expand our market presence and leverage our expertise to drive sustained growth across a broad range of event types,” says Chad Phillips, CCO of Eventim USA.
Cultural analysis
Though a public outcry following unprecedented demand for Taylor Swift tickets on Ticketmaster’s platform in November 2022 was swift (excuse the pun), tangible results have been slow to follow. Though some federal regulations exist, albeit a bit outdated, new legislation is stagnating at the congressional level, with the upcoming presidential election potentially hindering any immediate action.
The TICKET Act, which includes requirements for all-in pricing, banning speculative tickets, guaranteeing refunds for cancelled events, and prohibiting deceptive practices in online sales, passed the US House of Representatives in May and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.
The other major federal piece is the Senate-introduced Fans First Act, which was backed by 250 artists, including Billie Eilish, Lorde, and Green Day, though it’s still stuck in Committee. In addition to increasing price transparency, the bill would also bolster the 2016 Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, which prohibits scalpers from using software to buy high volumes of tickets.
With multiple lawsuits and federal bills on the table, things could begin to shift for the US market.
“Ultimately, the enforcement of the law would be the most problematic as the mechanisms for enforcement are weak, especially if you look at the history of enforcement for existing law like the BOTS Act,” Andersen says.
Both pieces of legislation are championed by the National Independent Venue Association-backed Fix The Tix coalition. Together, industry professionals and event industry organisations – including DICE, Eventbrite, and See Tickets – are advocating for a more transparent and fair ticketing system for the US.
With multiple lawsuits and federal bills on the table, things could begin to shift for the US market. But a change in consumer behaviour may be the real solution, Andersen says.
“Ticket resales are driven by the customer, so there is no inherent solution as the customer will either find a way or pay the price to get a ticket; or sell it themselves,” she says. “Laws, legislation, policies, and regulations only work so far and only if there is enough oversight, culpability, and ramification for the activity.”
Taxes & charges
Taxes are determined on a state-by-state basis.
Country Profile: USA
Despite being a hotbed of activity for the first three post- pandemic years, the US marketplace may have hit is peak, with international, national, and local promoters taking note of market cool-off.
National
US-based powerhouse Live Nation has seen highs and lows this year. In May, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the firm, which could result in LN and Ticketmaster parting ways. Forty co-plaintiffs have since joined the suit, including the attorney generals from ten states.
Even so, Live Nation is having a blockbuster year, despite an overall cooldown across the global business, posting over $6bn in revenue for Q2 2024.
“There’s certainly a very high volume of activity, and the top end of the business has hit a level that I don’t think any of us could have really imagined,” says Arthur Fogel, Live Nation CEO of global touring. “It’s a testament to how our world has embraced music, live shows, and the ease of which that can be accessed around the world.”
“There’s certainly a very high volume of activity, and the top end of the business has hit a level that I don’t think any of us could have really imagined”
Fogel says that stadium and arena tours are projected to continue expanding next year, with the arena business set for “another banner year” alongside a resurgence of stadium tours.
AEG Presents is also focused on expansion, announcing a partnership with Latin music pioneers Cárdenas Marketing Network (CMN) to create “the world leader in live Latin music” in March.
“We have been looking to expand our presence in Latin music and concerts for quite some time, and it was important that we took the time to find the right partner; we found it in Henry [Cárdenas] and CMN,” said AEG Presents chair and CEO Jay Marciano at the time.
“Together, we look forward to making an even greater impact on the explosive growth in the Latin market,” added Cárdenas, CMN founder and CEO.
AEG Presents is one cog in the bigger Anschutz Entertainment Group wheel, which also includes ticketing firm AXS, LA-based Concerts West, East Coast-rooted The Bowery Presents, global firm Marshall Arts, Taylor Swift’s exclusive promoter Messina Touring Group, and Coachella and Stagecoach organiser Goldenvoice.
“Together, we look forward to making an even greater impact on the explosive growth in the Latin market”
On top of its renowned festivals, Goldenvoice also organises over 2,000 events across California. This past year saw the launch of the one-day, four-stage No Values, “the largest punk festival ever in the US,” says Melissa Ormond, COO of Goldenvoice and COO of festivals at AEG Presents.
“In the festival market, we’re seeing great success with highly curated brands like No Values, Portola, Cruel World, and Just Like Heaven, in addition to our long-established ones,” she says.
Despite a trend in late-stage ticket sales, Goldenvoice celebrated advance sell-outs of festivals including Tyler, the Creator-curated Camp Flog Gnaw, electronic event Portola Music Festival, and Stagecoach. The country music festival has diversified its offerings in recent years, with Lana Del Rey, Creed, and Backstreet Boys joining headliners Zach Bryan, Jelly Roll, and Luke Combs at next year’s event.
Other national players working across the US include Live Nation-backed Latin music behemoth OCESA; NYC-rooted Madison Square Garden Entertainment and its sister company Sphere Entertainment; family entertainment frontrunner Feld Entertainment; indie firm Nederlander Concerts; and Miami- based Loud And Live – among a plethora of others.
Regional
The US live music landscape is massive – both in physical distance and steep competition. While national players are undoubtedly important, the nation’s size means regional and local players also play an important role in the live music ecosystem.
“The trend of national touring right now is there’s not as much attention given to the local offices and communities, it’s much more a global vision,” says Allen Scott, president of concerts and festivals at Another Planet Entertainment (APE).
“The trend of national touring right now is there’s not as much attention given to the local offices and communities, it’s much more a global vision”
In addition to organising the largest independently owned US music festival, Outside Lands, San Francisco-based APE also launched a historic concert series this year. The first standalone show in Golden Gate Park’s Polo Fields, which featured System of a Down and Deftones, sold out all 50,000 tickets in the presale.
The indie promoter will also offer a handful of free shows in SF’s civic centres to boost post-pandemic cultural and economic recovery. Another highlight for the team was Fred again..’s outdoor performance in front of SF’s city hall, which was announced a week out and sold 25,000 tickets instantly.
In Sacramento, APE is set to open a 2,150-capacity venue next year, its first new-build. The firm has also poured $22m into refurbishing SF’s The Castro Theatre (1,400) while operating the famous Greek Theatre in Berkley, electronic music hub Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, and more.
“We can provide steps for growth all the way from 300-capacity venues up to arenas and stadiums,” says Bryan Duquette, founder of Another Planet Management.
Remaining community-oriented is also important to The Black Promoters Collective (BPC), a coalition of six leading promoters and producers from around the country. And despite being a national force, BPC’s SVP Sulaiman Mausi says staying in touch with the local communities is key.
“With inflation picking up, things have gotten a bit tighter, and we as concert promoters need to be cognisant of that and make sure we’re not blind to the fact that the economy is changing.”
“For us from a BPC level, and personally, it’s making sure we’re still out there and have representatives in the community, making sure we’re in the barber shops and the beauty salons,” he says. “We still have to not forget where we came from and engage in the community and stay in touch with our consumers, because without that, we’d be out of business.”
This year, the BPC promoted the 24-city Love Hard Tour with Keyshia Cole and Trey Songz, which made stops at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, and Las Vegas’s MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Vegas is an entire ecosystem within itself: “We bring in shows that you can’t see anywhere else,” says Bobby Reynolds, SVP of AEG Presents Las Vegas. With cutting-edge venues and reimagined residencies, Vegas has reemerged from the pandemic as America’s most competitive marketplace.
“We came out of the pandemic, and people were spending anything just to see live music, and ticket prices skyrocketed,” says Chris Hammond, VP of talent at AEG Presents Las Vegas. “With inflation picking up, things have gotten a bit tighter, and we as concert promoters need to be cognisant of that and make sure we’re not blind to the fact that the economy is changing.”
Challenges
On a more localised level, the grassroots scene is struggling to compete with the top end of touring. Market saturation and high ticket prices remain sticking points for consumers, while low bar spending and late ticket purchases continue to impact grassroots promoters and venues.
Nashville has long been a live music hotspot, partly due to country music’s international surge in popularity. For Chris Cobb, owner of Nashville-based Bona Fide Live, an uptick in activity doesn’t necessarily trickle down the ladder.
“The bands are there, and the fans are there, but the costs are all up, and a critical revenue stream is down on the operator side,” he says. “The downturn in concessions revenue will continue to be an extremely difficult component to grapple with for the multitude of businesses who have relied on that revenue stream for the past 40 years.”
“The bands are there, and the fans are there, but the costs are all up, and a critical revenue stream is down on the operator side.”
And up in Minneapolis, Hennepin Arts booking manager Shayna Melgaard says promoting without a venue connection can cause new difficulties.
“As an indie promoter without a bricks-and-mortar space, you can be nimble and do as many or as few shows as you like,” she says. “But on the other hand, it can be hard to compete with promoters who own their own venues.
“We’re not getting any ancillary revenue, so we’re working on much slimmer margins to turn a profit. Being able to succeed with this model relies heavily on a promoter’s history with specific artists, being very mindful of our target audiences, and curating shows that we know keep people coming back.”
Rising financial burdens may start to affect the ability of global talent to tour the US. In April, US visa petition fees increased by as much as 260% for international musicians. And in August, rising British pop star Rachel Chinouriri cancelled her US stint supporting Remi Wolf as “the financial strain on touring has become too much.”
“This is the tough reality of the music industry, whether you’re signed or independent,” Chinouriri said at the time.
Genres
Despite ongoing challenges, the market has never been more diverse.
Latin, K-pop, and country music continue to grow in popularity. Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny sold over 700,000 tickets across 45 US dates during his Most Wanted Tour.
Eduardo Basagaña, CEO of pan-Latin America promoter EB Producciones – which has an office in Miami – says he’s noticed a steep rise in regional Mexican artists in the US. Peso Pluma has become a breakout artist, becoming the first Mexican artist to perform at the VMA’s during the 2023 event.
“House music is skewing younger, with the likes of Fisher, Disclosure, and Fred again.., it seems as robust as ever, and very global, and becoming more mainstream.”
Basagaña, who operates across North and South America, says he supports the initiative to take Latin sounds global. He’s recently started working in Spain and has his sights on Japan for future expansion.
While Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ventured overseas this year, female-led pop music continues to see a resurgence in the US. Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, and Gracie Abrams all have sell-out tours this year, and rising star Chappell Roan saw massive crowds for her festival slots all summer.
Electronic music is also on the rise, APE’s Duquette says: “House music is skewing younger, with the likes of Fisher, Disclosure, and Fred again.., it seems as robust as ever, and very global, and becoming more mainstream.”
Arena Market: USA
The United States has long branded itself as a melting pot of cultures, and the arena scene reflects just that. Latin fever is burning like wildfire through the landmass; K-Pop is reaching new heights, with expansive headline tours and festival features; and country music is erupting from America and taking the world by storm.
“There is a growing appetite for diverse music genres and performers from around the world,” says Beth Paul, general manager of South Carolina’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena. “This trend underscores the rich cultural diversity of our society and is facilitated by the widespread accessibility of global music through key social media platforms.”
Down in Texas, Moody Center’s VP of programming, Michael Owens, echoes the same sentiment.
“Social media is an incredible tool for fans to discover new artists, fueling their growth and the fans’ craving for the live experience,” he says. “The length of time between many new artists first being discovered to embarking on headlining arena tours is shorter than it has ever been in history.”
As the pandemic recedes in the rearview, the hunger for live entertainment only seems to grow. Ticket sales are up across the board, with Ticketmaster selling 620m tickets in 2023, up 13% from the year before. Albeit challenged by a shifting consumer base and ongoing issues in ticketing, the US arena scene looks stronger than ever.
“Social media is an incredible tool for fans to discover new artists, fueling their growth and the fans’ craving for the live experience”
The West
Las Vegas reclaimed its entertainment capital crown with the opening of the highly lauded Sphere last September. The 21,500-capacity immersive destination has steamrolled its competition to become the venue to visit in 2024.
U2 sold over 700,000 tickets across 40 sold-out dates, grossing $244.5m for their groundbreaking residency. Phish followed with a four-night stint in April, and Dead & Company are set to take the helm with 24 concerts through July. Sphere Entertainment reported venue revenues of $170.4m for the fiscal 2024 third quarter, with concerts bringing in $34.3m.
A new $1.5bn, 33,000-seat baseball stadium is also on the horizon for the gambling capital, and last June, Oak View Group unveiled plans to build a $1bn state-of-the-art, 20,000- seat arena within a greater $10bn entertainment district.
T-Mobile Arena (20,000), located next door in Paradise, Nevada, is celebrating its tenth birthday this year with performances from Zach Bryan, blink-182, and Peso Pluma. Venues like Park MGM’s Dolby Live amphitheatre (6,400) and The Colosseum at Caesars Palace (4,100) are utilised for multi-year residencies, like Usher’s $100m blockbuster and Adele’s 100-date showstopper. Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, and many more have also set up shop in the Nevada hub.
Roughly 250 miles away, Los Angeles is the definitive West Coast epicentre for music. Intuit Dome (18,000) will arrive in August, located a five-minute drive away from the Kia Forum (18,000) with which it shares owners. To open with two nights from Bruno Mars, the venue will become the new home for the Clippers NBA team, which is moving from Crypto.com Arena (20,000).
“We are thrilled to be ushering in the newest venue that delivers an experience unlike any other,” says Becky Colwell, Intuit Dome’s VP booking / Kia Forum’s general manager. “When you build an arena for the ultimate basketball experience, turns out you also build an amazing music experience.”
“When you build an arena for the ultimate basketball experience, turns out you also build an amazing music experience.”
Like in Vegas, Colwell says the team has noticed “an increased interest in the desire to create a residency type of booking.” The Eagles took over for five nights in January, and Olivia Rodrigo, Niall Horan, Hozier, and Billie Eilish will lead multi-day stints in autumn.
Twenty minutes north, AEG-owned Crypto.com Arena completed its second of a three-year-long renovation project last October, adding two new tiers of luxury suites, four of which are privately accessible via the players’ tunnel. A new sound system and additional grab-and-go dining options were also installed.
In Coachella Valley, 120 miles east of LA, one of Oak View Group’s newest projects is in its second year. The 11,000-cap Acrisure Arena, the first of its size in the desert market, welcomed 850,000 fans across 117 events in 2023, with more than 22% selling out.
“Approximately 52% of the 850,000 event attendees originated outside the Coachella Valley – with 11% coming for the day and 41% staying overnight,” says SVP John Page. “[We] market to an audience that is somewhat transient in nature.
The Coachella Valley is an amazing leisure destination market, as well as very diverse, and affords us the opportunity to pursue many genres of music to cater to those eclectic tastes.”
Relaxation is key for Acrisure, which offers a premium outdoor experience known as The Compound. Formerly dedicated to road crew and performers, this VIP offering includes nine-hole mini golf, bocce ball, a scenic dining experience, and a dedicated bar. The Palm Springs venue is also piloting OVG’s sober offerings, which include elevated mocktails and a dedicated club space.
“No one should feel excluded, and this includes the ability to order a non-alcoholic beverage from the same bar as others,” Page says.
“Having more dates available enables us to be a bit more competitive, it allows us to be open to having more shows and be more aggressive and reach out and offer more to the acts than we had been in the past.”
Elevating fan experiences is a focal point for Desert Diamond Arena (18,000), located in Glendale, Arizona, not to be confused with the Glendale suburb of LA. The ASM Global- backed venue celebrated 20 years in 2023 and is embarking on a $40m, ten-month renovation slated to begin in June – all without shuttering service.
Improvement plans include creating quicker grab-and-go service points and two cocktail-oriented bars, refreshing their 87 premium suites, and expanding VIP offerings for different financial tiers. Smaller, club-like suites designed around socialising are to be built and will be available at a more affordable price point, says general manager Dale Adams.
The venue refresh comes after the resident hockey team moved out in 2022 – a “blessing,” says Adams. He adds that 450,000 guests visited last year, its highest annual attendance since opening its doors in 2003, and hosted multiple sold-out shows by Zach Bryan, Drake, Carrie Underwood, and The Cure.
“Having more dates available enables us to be a bit more competitive,” Adams says. “It allows us to be open to having more shows and be more aggressive and reach out and offer more to the acts than we had been in the past.”
There’s no shortage of stand-out venues in the western region. Among them are Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena (18,000), Portland’s Moda Center (21,000), San Francisco’s Chase Center (19,500), and Phoenix’s Footprint Center (19,500).
The Midwest & South
Through the middle of the States, many sizable arenas exist across the expansive landmass. From west to midwest, Denver’s Ball Arena (20,000), Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center (18,972), Minneapolis’s Target Center (19,500), Chicago’s United Center (23,500), and Columbus’s Nationwide Arena (20,500) are all suitable stops in routing the “flyover states.”
More massive venues are dotted across the south, like Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (20,000), Atlanta’s State Farm Arena (17,700), Miami’s Kaseya Center (20,000), New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center (17,805), Dallas’s American Airlines Center (20,000), and Austin’s Moody Center (15,000).
“I can’t overstate the demand from live music fans locally in Austin, and there truly is an audience for every genre of artist we’ve hosted here”
In February, Pollstar named Moody Center its ‘arena of the year,’ a feat for a venue just celebrating its second birthday. Since opening in April 2022, the OVG-operated space has hosted over 200 concerts and a handful of multi-night stints, specifically for Latin and Mexican artists like Bad Bunny, Luis Miguel, and Rauw Alejandro.
“I can’t overstate the demand from live music fans locally in Austin, and there truly is an audience for every genre of artist we’ve hosted here,” says Michael Owens, VP of programming. “We’ve honestly been surprised at the number of artists that are able to do doubles and triples in this market, much like they do in LA and New York.”
But competition in the Texas market is stiff, making organising shows at the LEED-certified venue around established events, like ACL Festival, SXSW, Formula 1, and University of Texas football matches, difficult, Owens says.
On the eastern coast, South Carolina’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena (15,000) has experienced a 20% increase in ticket sales year-on-year. Challenged by a growing post- graduate population in Greenville, the venue is looking to expand its premium offerings for younger populations by “keeping certain areas affordable to incentivise young fans to support live entertainment,” says general manager Beth Paul.
The Northeast
New York City is undeniably one of the world’s most famous music markets, boasting a handful of world-renowned arenas in a 20-mile radius. In Manhattan, MSG Entertainment operates the 20,789-capacity Madison Square Garden and the 6,013-capacity Radio City Music Hall, both experiencing year-on-year growth.
“Our booking business has continued to grow and remains set to achieve a low double-digit percentage increase in events for fiscal [year] 2024,” CEO James Dolan told investors in early May. “This includes contract growth across all of our venues, with the Garden and Radio City both headed towards setting new records for a number of concerts in the year.”
“Our booking business has continued to grow and remains set to achieve a low double-digit percentage increase in events for fiscal [year] 2024”
Over in Brooklyn, ASM Global operates the Barclays Center (19,000), while outside the metropolitan area, Oak View Group have planted their stake by opening the UBS Arena in 2021.
Over state lines lies New Jersey’s Prudential Center (20,000) in Newark, up the coast sits Boston’s TD Garden (19,600), whilst Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center (19,500) is under a two-hour drive from NYC.
Down the coast, is Maryland’s recently refurbished CFG Bank Arena (14,000), which recently completed its first year post-renovation. Boasting a $250m refurbishment, courtesy of OVG, the remodelled venue features 38 new suites and improved lighting, rigging, and sound systems. Located in downtown Baltimore, the venue welcomed over 828,000 guests – a nearly 48% increase in visitors from pre-renovation – over 124 events last year, 38 of those being sellouts.
“Baltimore is an A-market with an A facility, and we are a must-play destination for the biggest acts in entertainment,” general manager Frank Remesch said in a press release. “What we’ve experienced since April 2023 has been a true testament to the fact that Baltimore can support acts of all genres.”
Over the past year, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Janet Jackson, Chris Stapleton, SZA, and Stevie Nicks all stopped by, and Megan Thee Stallion, Chris Brown, Pearl Jam, and Iron Maiden will swing in later this year.
With a surplus of touring artists and hungry fanbases, the touring circuit shows no signs of slowing in the US. “I don’t think the post-pandemic boom in live entertainment consumption was a flash in the pan but rather a sea-change in consumer behaviour,” opines Owens. “We’re seeing people continue to prioritise the live experience, even during times of global turmoil and challenging economic conditions, because they’ve lived through a period of lockdowns and isolation and know what it means to have those experiences taken away from them.”