Arena Market: Chile

The Movistar Arena in the Chilean capital of Santiago is the busiest in South America and among the very busiest in the world, hosting 155 live entertainment events and selling nearly 1.6m tickets in 2023 – with 121,993 of them notched up in one particularly busy fortnight in August and September.

When Luis Miguel wanted to open his epic ongoing North and South American (and Spanish) tour with a 20-date opening salvo last August and September, in two key South American markets, he chose the Movistar Arena for ten of them – and Buenos Aires’ identically named arena for the other ten.

Given its ongoing success, it’s surprising that the Movistar building, which reopened in its current guise in 2006, actually dates from 1956 and lacked a roof until 2000. “From being an abandoned space to becoming the country’s most important venue… it plays a role in delivering culture to everyone,” said Daniel Hiller, CEO of owner BeLive Entertainment Group earlier this year.

The Movistar occupies an exalted position in Chile, representing a possibly exaggerated barometer of the market’s general health.

“The Movistar Arena, which is the only real venue here in Santiago that is not a stadium or a small theatre, is busy all year round”

“The Movistar Arena, which is the only real venue here in Santiago that is not a stadium or a small theatre, is busy all year round,” Jorge Merino, booking manager and project director at prominent local promoter Lotus Producciones recently told IQ.

At the same time, slow economic growth, higher-than- usual inflation, and currency volatility against the dollar have cast a cloud over Chile in 2024, as they have much of the rest of South America. But still, the acts keep trucking through the Movistar Arena, from international, regional, and local sources. In April, Chilean band Los Tres became the first local act to play four shows at the venue, which has a capacity of 16,522 spectators at its maximum capacity but scales down depending on the show.

Otherwise, its calendar is a compendium of all the major Latin American tours, with André Rieu, Camila, Ana Gabriel, Babasónicos, and Disney On Ice among the attractions – which also include another local star, comedian Edoe Caroe, whose two shows in August sold out in minutes earlier this year.