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UK stadium gig rush reignites ticket price debate

Valentine’s Day marked one of the biggest mornings of UK onsales in living memory, as fans rushed to snag tickets for stadium outings for the likes of Beyoncé, Black Sabbath and Kendrick Lamar & SZA.

The shows have added to an already jam-packed summer schedule of outdoor shows in 2025, with superstars such as Coldplay, Oasis, Dua Lipa, AC/DC, Lana Del Rey, Imagine Dragons, Guns N’ Roses and Sam Fender also lining up to perform at the biggest venues.

The latest scramble has reignited fan and media chatter about the price of entry for major concerts, with some ticket types for Beyoncé’s upcoming Cowboy Carter Tour seeing hikes of up to 50% from her last outing two years ago.

The superstar returns to London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (cap. 62,850) this June for a six-show run in support of the Award-winning album, with ticket prices ranging from £71-£950. Beyoncé sold out five shows at the same venue two years ago during her Renaissance World Tour (RWT), the second highest-grossing tour of 2023 after Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

The run grossed $579.8 million and sold 2.8 million tickets across 56 shows in North America and Europe, according to Billboard Boxscore. That venture took the Grammy Award-winner to 39 cities across 10 countries, while the upcoming trek will only visit eight cities in three countries, seeing Beyoncé play 29 total shows.

While the touring route has tightened up, ticket prices have predictably risen from her outing two years ago. Prices for seated tickets have risen by at least 20%, with the cheapest option available for these dates starting over £71.

Standing tickets took a greater hike, rising by up to 50% from 2023 prices. Fans looking to stand at the Cowboy Carter Tour can expect to pay a minimum of £220, and almost £500 to stand nearer the stage in the ‘club’ option. General standing tickets for RWT ranged from £106.80-£177.50.

“This expansion is driven by increasing consumer demand for live experiences”

Ticket prices are on the rise across all levels of touring, with Pollstar reporting average ticket prices rose 3.91% in 2024 to $135.92 (£107.80), and momentum is showing no signs of slowing.

“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,” said FKP Scorpio CEO Stephan Thanscheidt in a recent interview with IQ.

Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) boss David Martin credits past research by former Spotify economist Will Page for signalling the direction of travel.

“Even back in 2022, it was evident that much of the ‘boom’ that was being witnessed in live music was due to high value, major, large-scale shows,” Martin tells IQ. “Add inflation which impacts both artists’ costs and fans’ wallets, along with the lasting audience impacts of the pandemic and the trend for the biggest artists to host their own events and residencies and it’s easy to see the drivers of increased prices.

“While it is positive to see demand at that level, I’m concerned about the impact on mid-level and grassroots artists. If fans are spending huge sums on one-off events, it appears that there is a real danger that they’ll attend fewer shows elsewhere.”

Some artists are seeking ways to keep costs down for fans. Coldplay have offered a limited number of Infinity Tickets, priced at £20/$20/€20 each plus taxes and fees, across their record-shattering Music of the Spheres World Tour. For their return to Wembley Stadium for a historic 10-night stand in autumn, the band’s second London stint on the same tour, fans could score standing tickets for £112.75.

The rise in general ticket prices for top stadium shows has also been more than matched across premium offerings — Beyoncé’s VIP pit sections in front of the stage come at the price of £850, while Black Sabbath fans seeking a side-stage premium experience could fork out just under £3,000.

“Clearly there’s some quite fascinating trends in our culture right now”

The cheapest tickets available for the “greatest heavy metal show ever” start at £197.50, while general admission standing starts at £262.50. The July reunion will see Black Sabbath’s original lineup – Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – top the bill, marking Osbourne’s final performance and the first time the quartet have played together in 20 years. More than 150,000 fans reportedly joined the queue for tickets when they went on general sale at 10am today.

Meanwhile, those looking to see Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s UK/EU outing this summer can expect to spend £75-£750 for tickets, with GA standing starting at just under £160. Other tours set to descend on stadiums across the UK this summer include Linkin Park, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and Robbie Williams, to name a select few.

“Clearly there’s some quite fascinating trends in our culture right now,” observes Martin. “On one level, there’s an inexhaustible supply of new music, film, video, podcasts, books, substacks, and a whole mass of interesting niches and genres. It’s a complete cultural sprawl. On the other hand, there’s also that kind of ‘Barbenheimer’ effect, where audiences want to participate en masse for events by the likes of Coldplay, Oasis, Taylor Swift or Beyoncé. And they’re prepared to pay a premium for those experiences, even if it’s at the cost of others.”

 


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Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour wraps at $579m

Beyoncé’s record-breaking Renaissance World Tour has officially wrapped after earning more than $579 million (€554m) worldwide at the box office.

The 56-date 2023 tour, produced by Parkwood Entertainment and promoted by Live Nation, saw the singer perform for over 2.7 million fans worldwide and closed at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday (1 October).

The tour has set numerous records, overtaking Madonna’s 2008/09 Sticky & Sweet trek to become the highest-grossing tour by a female artist ever. The 42-year-old also smashed her own record for the highest-grossing month of any touring artist since Billboard Boxscore records began in 1985.

Production included a 300-plus member touring crew, including musicians, dancers and production teams, while fans could access exclusive concert viewing experiences including Pure/Honey On Stage Risers – an opportunity to see the show on the stage – along with BeyHive VIP and Club Renaissance areas surrounding the stage.

The haul dwarfs the $256.1m grossed by the Texan’s previous 2016 Formation run, and also surpasses it by half a million in terms of ticket sales.

Renaissance kicked off with shows in Europe throughout May and June, including five sold out nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which grossed $42.2m in a record-breaking residency for a US artist.

Beyoncé has announced the concert film Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, which will be screened in movie theatres this December

Revenue also exceeded $10 million for two nights at each of the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden; Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and in Warsaw. She also achieved the feat in just one date at the Stade de France in Paris. Her previous world tour, 2016’s Formation, sold 300,000 tickets in the UK alone.

Beyoncé sold more than one million tickets for the European leg overall, grossing $154.4 million (€141.6m) from 1.05m ticket sales over 21 dates, before the outing headed to North America in July.

In conjunction with the final show, the American star has announced the concert film Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, which will be screened in movie theatres this December. According to a statement, the film “chronicles her intention, hard work as creative and producer, and her process in mastering her craft to execute the 56-performance, 39-city, record-breaking and phenomenally successful global outing”.

 


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Beyoncé smashes Madonna box office record

Beyoncé has overtaken Madonna to achieve the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in Billboard Boxscore history, according to new figures.

Billboard reports that the 42-year-old’s Live Nation-promoted Renaissance World Tour has now generated $461.3 million (€435m), surpassing the $408m grossed by Madonna’s 2008/09 Sticky & Sweet Tour (although Madonna still comes out on top once the takings are adjusted for inflation).

In addition, Beyoncé has smashed her own record for the highest-grossing month of any touring artist since Boxscore records began in 1985.

Renaissance‘s North American tour leg netted $179.3m (€169m) from 697,000 ticket sales across 14 concerts in August. The haul bettered the previous best of $127.6m in July for 11 shows – set by Beyoncé just one month earlier – by more than 40%.

The Texan has now scored the highest-grossing tour in three months of 2023

Highlights included her three-night stand at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium from 11-12 & 14 August, which sold 156,000 tickets for a total gross of $39.8m.

The Texan has now scored the highest-grossing tour in three months of 2023 – May, July and August – and sits alongside Bad Bunny and Harry Styles as the only acts whose tours have achieved $100m+ months this year.

Beyoncé sold more than one million tickets for the tour’s opening European leg, which ran from May to June, grossing $154.4 million (€141.6m) from 1.05m ticket sales over 21 dates.

Billboard forecasts the CAA-booked world tour to have passed the $500m mark at the box office by the time it wraps up in Kansas City at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on 1 October.

 


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Beyoncé tops box office for highest-grossing month

Beyoncé has posted the highest-grossing month of any touring artist since the Billboard Boxscore launched in the mid-1980s.

The star grossed $127.6 million in July for 11 shows on the North American leg of her Renaissance World Tour, with more than half a million tickets sold.

With the new Boxscore figures, Beyoncé knocks Bad Bunny and his 123.6m gross in September 2022 off the top spot.

Highlights from the past month on the Renaissance World Tour include two nights at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium ($33.1m), a night at Chicago’s Soldier Field ($30.1m) and two shows at Toronto’s Roger’s Centre ($18.3m).

Up until 1 August, The Renaissance World Tour has grossed $295.8m and has been crowned as the singer’s highest-grossing tour to date long before its conclusion.

This isn’t the first time Beyoncé has set a Boxscore record with the Renaissance World Tour; her five-show run at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium grossed $42.2m was the highest-grossing engagement ever by a woman, a Black artist, or any American artist.

With two months of shows yet to be reported, Billboard expects the total to soar past the half-billion mark

With two months of Renaissance World Tour shows yet to be reported, Billboard expects the total to soar past the half-billion mark.

The 41-year-old conquered Europe with a $150-million run but has made almost as much ($141.4 million) in North America with far fewer shows.

Her 12 North American dates have averaged $11.8 million, which is more than double the business that Beyoncé was doing in the territory on 2016’s The Formation World Tour and 2018’s On the Run II Tour with Jay-Z.

The CAA-booked tour is due to wrap up in Kansas City at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on 1 October.

Fans of the singer were recently given the chance to buy “listening only” tickets for select US tour dates. The US$157 passes offered admission for seats behind the stage, with no view of the show.

The “limited view” tickets – which are usually sold to visually impaired people at a reduced price – were first made available for the 41-year-old’s 29-30 July concerts at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

 


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Renaissance becomes highest-grossing Beyoncé tour

Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour has officially been crowned as the singer’s highest-grossing tour to date after generating US$295.8 million (€268.9m) at the box office.

The haul, reported by Billboard Boxscore, surpasses the $256.1m grossed by 2016’s Formation run, and could yet go on to generate over $500m, with more than 20 tour dates still to go.

While the 56-date Renaissance (1.6 million) currently trails the 49-date Formation in terms of ticket sales (2.2m) it is projected to move another one million tickets to settle on around 2.6m by the tour’s end. Her 2018’s On the Run II Tour alongside Jay-Z brought in $253.5m from ticket sales of 2.17m.

Beyoncé sold more than one million tickets for Renaissance’s recent European leg, which became the 41-year-old’s biggest non-US tour leg. The Live Nation-promoted 21-date run finished at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy Stadium in Poland at the end of June, having grossed $154.4m from 1.05m ticket sales.

The tour is due to wrap up in Kansas City at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on 1 Octobe

The CAA-booked tour is due to wrap up in Kansas City at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on 1 October.

Fans of the singer were recently given the chance to buy “listening only” tickets for select US tour dates. The US$157 passes offered admission for seats behind the stage, with no view of the show.

The “limited view” tickets – which are usually sold to visually impaired people at a reduced price – were first made available for the 41-year-old’s 29-30 July concerts at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

 


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‘Listening only’ tickets sold for Beyoncé tour

Beyoncé fans have reportedly been given the chance to buy “listening only” tickets for the star’s Renaissance US tour.

The US$157 (€144) passes offer admission for seats behind the stage, with no view of the singer.

According to Yahoo! Finance via Fortune, the “limited view” tickets – which are usually sold to visually impaired people at a reduced price – were first made available for the 41-year-old’s 29-30 July concerts at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

General tickets for Beyoncé’s next tour stop – a 5 August date at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, are currently on sale from $221. The singer was due to perform tonight at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium, only for the show to be cancelled last month as a result of “production, logistics and scheduling issues”.

Beyoncé sold more than one million tickets for the tour’s recent European leg

The North American leg of the Renaissance World Tour launched in Canada at Toronto’s Rogers Centre on 8 July and is due to conclude in Kansas City at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on 1 October.

Beyoncé sold more than one million tickets for the tour’s recent European leg. The Live Nation-promoted 21-date run, which finished at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy Stadium in Poland at the end of June, grossed $154.4 million (€141.6m) from 1.05m ticket sales, according to Billboard Boxscore.

The haul marks the first time the singer has generated a seven-figure total from a single tour leg. She also set 12 local records in the 14 markets she visited in Europe.

 


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Ticket sales top 1 million for Beyoncé’s Euro run

Beyoncé sold more than one million tickets for the recent European leg of her Renaissance World Tour.

The Live Nation-promoted 21-date run, which concluded last week at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy Stadium in Poland, grossed $154.4 million (€141.6m) from 1.05m ticket sales, according to Billboard Boxscore.

The haul marks the first time the singer has generated a seven-figure total from a single tour leg. She also set 12 local records in the 14 markets she visited in Europe.

The Renaissance World Tour resumes in North America this weekend

The 41-year-old attracted 238,000 fans to her five sold-out nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from 29 May to 4 June, which earned $42.2m in a record-breaking residency for a US artist.

Revenue also exceeded $10 million for two nights at each of the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden; Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and in Warsaw. She also achieved the feat in just one date at the Stade de France in Paris. Her previous world tour, 2016’s Formation, sold 300,000 tickets in the UK alone.

The Renaissance World Tour resumes in North America this weekend with the first of two concerts at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada on 8 July.

 


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Beyoncé blamed for inflation rise in Sweden

Beyoncé has been blamed for Sweden’s inflation rise after the start of her Renaissance tour in the country last month.

The 41-date world tour – her first in seven years – kicked off on 10 May at Stockholm’s Friends Arena, reportedly prompting a surge in restaurant and hotel pricing in the area as tens of thousands of fans arrived in the city.

Michael Grahn, the chief economist at Danske Bank, the biggest bank in neighbouring Denmark, told CNN the extra demand from Beyoncé’s fans was behind two-thirds of the price rises seen in the hospitality sector in May. As a result, Sweden reported higher-than-expected inflation of 9.7% during the month.

“Stars come here all the time, [but] we seldom see effects like this”

“[That’s] definitely not normal,” Grahn told CNN. “Stars come here all the time, [but] we seldom see effects like this.”

Grahn said many fans had travelled to Sweden for the two sold-out concerts in the country as tickets were relatively cheaper than elsewhere and a “very weak” Swedish currency boosted their spending power.

He noted that “there are a limited number of hotels and accommodation in the Stockholm area,” adding that hotels as far away as 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the capital put up their prices as a result.

He expects the “Beyoncé effect” to be short-lived, with hotel prices dropping over the next month.

Last month, Forbes reported that the pop icon’s ongoing Renaissance tour, promoted by Live Nation, could ​​gross nearly $2.1billion (£1.7billion).

The superstar will work her way through stadiums in Europe and the UK over the course of this spring and summer.

 


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Beyoncé announces 2023 Renaissance world tour

Beyoncé has announced her first tour in seven years: the Renaissance World Tour 2023.

The hugely anticipated outing will kick off on 10 May at Stockholm’s Friends Arena before working its way through stadiums in Europe and the UK over the course of this spring and summer.

The tour’s North American leg starts on 7 July in Toronto and continues through to the autumn before concluding on 27 September at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome.

 

 

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A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce)

The 41-date tour also includes an extensive run of UK dates, including London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 29 and 30 May and Cardiff, Edinburgh and Sunderland set for 17 May, 20 May and 23 May respectively.

The new outing, in support of Beyoncé’s latest album ‘Rennaisance’, is produced by her management, production, entertainment company and record label, Parkwood Entertainment, and promoted by Live Nation.

The 41-year-old’s last tour was 2016’s Formation world tour. That show, in support of her sixth album ‘Lemonade’, saw her perform in Sunderland, Cardiff, London, Manchester and Glasgow, totalling over 300,000 tickets in the UK alone.

Renaissance World Tour dates:

EUROPE

May 10, 2023 – Stockholm, SE – Friends Arena

May 14, 2023 – Brussels, BE – King Baudouin Stadium

May 17, 2023 – Cardiff, UK – Cardiff Principality Stadium

May 20, 2023 – Edinburgh, UK – BT Murrayfield Stadium

May 23, 2023 – Sunderland, UK – Stadium of Light

May 26, 2023 – Paris, FR – Stade de France

May 29, 2023 – London, UK – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

May 30, 2023 – London, UK – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

June 08, 2023 – Barcelona, ES – Olympic Stadium

June 11, 2023 – Marseille, FR – Orange Velodrome

June 15, 2023 – Cologne, DE – Rhein Energie Stadion
June 17, 2023 – Amsterdam, NL – Johan Cruijff Arena

June 21, 2023 – Hamburg, DE – Volksparkstadion

June 24, 2023 – Frankfurt, DE – Deutsche Bank Park

June 27, 2023 – Warsaw, PL – PGE Narodowy

NORTH AMERICA

July 8, 2023 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre

July 12, 2023 – Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field

July 15, 2023 – Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium

July 17, 2023 – Louisville, KY – L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium

July 20, 2023 – Minneapolis, MN – Huntington Bank Stadium

July 22, 2023 – Chicago, IL – Soldier Field Stadium

July 26, 2023 – Detroit, MI – Ford Field

July 29, 2023 – East Rutherford, NJ – MetLife Stadium

Aug. 01, 2023 – Boston, MA – Gillette Stadium

Aug. 03, 2023 – Pittsburgh, PA – Acrisure Stadium

Aug. 05, 2023 – Washington, DC – FedEx Field

Aug. 09, 2023 – Charlotte, NC – Bank of America Stadium

Aug. 11, 2023 – Atlanta, GA – Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Aug. 16, 2023 – Tampa, FL – Raymond James Stadium

Aug. 18, 2023 – Miami, FL – Hard Rock Stadium

Aug. 21, 2023 – St. Louis, MO – Dome at America’s Center

Aug. 24, 2023 – Phoenix, AZ – State Farm Stadium

Aug. 26, 2023 – Las Vegas, NV – Allegiant Stadium

Aug. 30, 2023 – San Francisco, CA – Levi’s Stadium

Sept. 02, 2023 – Inglewood, CA – SoFi Stadium

Sept. 11, 2023 – Vancouver, BC – BC Place

Sept. 13, 2023 – Seattle, WA – Lumen Field

Sept. 18, 2023 – Kansas City, MO – GEHA Field At Arrowhead Stadium

Sept. 21, 2023 – Dallas, TX – AT&T Stadium

Sept. 23, 2023 – Houston, TX – NRG Stadium

Sept. 27, 2023 – New Orleans, LA – Caesars Superdome

 


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