During early July Pollstar’s state-of-the-art UNIBLAB computer was spewing smoke, grinding gears and chewing up punch cards to determine the state of the world, concert-wise. January through June 2013 resulted in the Top 50 Worldwide Tours selling nearly $1.85 billion in tickets, a 23 percent rise from the same period one year ago.
Total tickets sold during the first six months also jumped when compared to last year. In 2013 the figure rose 10.5 percent to 21 million even though the average ticket price increased by $9.09, up 11.5 percent to $88.03. Bon Jovi was the clear winner on the Worldwide Tours chart, grossing $142.1 million. Another New Jersey act captured second place. With an average ticket price of $107.19, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band’s total tickets sold was 969,504 for 31 shows in 21 cities, half of what Bon Jovi played. The Rolling Stones came in third, playing half as many times as Springsteen but with an average ticket price of a whopping $350.00, three times as much as the other two.
So where does Cirque du Soleil sit on the world-wide charts? 4th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 49th and 58th! Here’s how it breaks down…
o) Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL grossed $79.6 million for 4th
place. With an average ticket price of $116.53, the
production played 88 shows in 20 cities, sold a total of
683,196 tickets and achieved an average gross of $3,980,577
per show.
o) OVO grossed $45.3 million for 14th place. With an average
ticket price of $132.24, the production played 166 shows in 3
cities, sold a total of 342,315 tickets and achieved an
average gross of $272,706 per show.
o) Corteo grossed $44.2 million for 15th place. With an average
ticket price of $107.87, the production played 238 shows in 1
city, sold a total of 415,233 tickets and achieved an average
gross of $188,193 per show.
o) Kooza grossed $33.3 million for 18th place. With an average
ticket price of $97.19, the production played 163 shows in 3
cities, sold a total of 342,678 tickets and achieved an
average gross of $204,324 per show.
o) Varekai grossed $31.1 million for 19th place. With an average
ticket price of $65.84, the production played 195 shows in 3
cities, sold a total of 473,099 tickets and achieved an
average gross of $159,733 per show.
o) Dralion grossed $28.0 million for 26th place. With an average
ticket price of $87.71, the production played 92 shows in 6
cities, sold a total of 319,701 tickets and achieved an
average gross of $304,784 per show.
o) Totem grossed $27.7 million for 27th place. With an average
ticket price of $91.33, the production played 152 shows in 3
cities, sold a total 303,487 tickets and achieved an average
gross of $182,351 per show.
o) Amaluna grossed $26.0 million for 28th place. With an average
ticket price of $88.48, the production played 136 shows in 4
cities, sold a total of 294,230 tickets and achieved an
average gross of $191,432 per show.
o) Quidam grossed $15.2 million for 49th place. With an average
ticket price of $59.01, the production played 134 shows in 22
cities, sold a total of 267,748 tickets and achieved an
average gross of $718,124 per show.
o) Alegria grossed $14.3 million for 58th place. WIth an average
ticket price of $82.83, the production played 66 shows in 9
cities, sold a total of 172,556 tickets and achieved an
average gross of $216,552 per show.
A summary article can be found here:
http://goo.gl/tvo5FV
The Worldwide Top 100 midyear chart is here:
http://goo.gl/cfWw9c
And the North American Top 100 midyear chart is here:
http://goo.gl/aQQX4G
If you strip out MJ Immortal’s nearly 80 million dollars in tickets grosses (since Cirque must share revenue with the Michael Jackson estate), the total gross of Cirque’s other nine units on the chart total $266.3 million, almost double that of first-place finisher Bon Jovi. But Bon Jovi is just one act, they would have to clone themselves several times to come close to Cirque’s total.
The chart also shows, once again, that Cirque obtains its standing through the sheer hard work of repetition. Attendance figures range from 1,997 to 3,475 seats sold per show (Immortal, with its full-arena configuration, totals an average of 34,160 seats sold). Cirque plays to the least amount of people per show of all acts on the Top 100 chart except “Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance”.
Ticket costs for the Cirque shows in the chart range from the mid $80’s to low $90’s. However, there are two outliers; Corteo at $108 and Ovo at a way-out-of-norm $132! This is a reflection of their touring locations – OVO was in Australia for the first six months of the year, while CORTEO was in Hamburg Germany for a month, then in Sao Paulo from April-July.
The average gross revenue figures per unit are also much lower than other acts, with Cirque having the lowest per show gross per unit of any act in the Top 50.
Since the number of seats sold is below the norm, along with the ticket price, why do the shows continue to place highly? The clue is in number of shows – Cirque averages 150 per unit, something no one else in the Top 100 even comes close to.
Michael Jackson Immortal placed at #4 also due to determination. It played for 88 shows in 20 cities, an amount you’d have to go all the way to OVO at #14 to approach. In fact, it is second in quantity of performances only to the average of the other Cirque shows, “Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance” and “Walking with Dinosaurs.” It also has the advantage of using a full-arena configuration which allows it to play to much larger houses. Its 34,000 average attendance is matched only by #2 Bruce Springsteen, #7 Depeche Mode, #16 Paul McCartney, #35 Robbie Williams, and #40 Vasco Rossi, all veteran “legacy” rock acts. That it sold so well during the first half of the year is due to its being in Europe, where it plays in larger halls than in North America and where Michael Jackson is more popular.
The charts again show that Cirque makes its money through multiple units touring simultaneously with a high number of performances per unit. Otherwise known as – sheer hard work.
