Sneak A Peek At 2005's Year-End Numbers

It started off slow, but thanks to a strong final two quarters, 2005 proved to be another record year for gross ticket sales revenues in the concert business.

Pollstar estimates that revenues for all major North American concerts increased to $3.1 billion from 2004’s $2.8 billion.

Total tickets sold, however, continued on a downward trend while average ticket prices continued to rise.

The Top 100 touring artists sold a combined 36.1 million tickets as compared to $37.6 million in 2004. The average ticket price for the Top 100 tours increased to a record $57.00, up sharply over last year’s $52.39.

The artists topping the list – The Rolling Stones and U2 – ended up with the two biggest tours of all time.

These and other details will be published in Pollstar‘s 2005 Year End Issue, which will be dated January 16th and mailed January 6th.

Until, then, here’s a sneak peek at the Top 20 tours.

	Artist	TTL Gross	Avg Gross	TTL Tix	Avg Sold	Avg Price	Cities/ Shows
1	The Rolling Stones	$162.0	$4,264,283	1,209,429	31,827	$133.98	38/42
2	U2	$138.9	$3,229,744	1,432,890	33,323	$96.92	43/78
3	Celine Dion	$81.3	$524,516	597,632	3,856	$136.04	1/155
4	Paul McCartney	$77.3	$2,971,350	570,309	21,935	$135.46	26/37
5	Eagles	$76.8	$1,921,200	737,279	18,432	$104.17	40/63
6	Elton John	$65.8	$2,056,356	642,253	20,070	$102.46	32/75
7	Kenny Chesney	$61.8	$981,062	1,131,326	17,958	$54.63	63/71
8	Dave Matthews Band	$57.0	$1,140,882	1,211,430	24,229	$47.09	50/65
9	Neil Diamond	$47.3	$1,074,513	750,210	17,050	$63.02	44/57
10	Jimmy Buffett	$41.0	$1,864,943	536,391	24,381	$76.49	22/26
11	Motley Crue	$39.9	$383,860	858,815	8,258	$46.48	104/106
12	Green Day	$34.8	$518,663	912,843	13,625	$38.07	67/68
13	Toby Keith	$31.6	$595,884	684,968	12,924	$46.11	53/55
14	Rascal Flatts	$28.2	$371,217	807,899	10,630	$34.92	76/80
15	Bruce Springsteen	$26.3	$535,798	324,116	6,615	$81.00	49/55
16	Gwen Stefani	$24.2	$605,981	444,368	11,109	$54.46	40/41
17	Coldplay	$24.1	$689,478	591,535	16,901	$40.80	35/37
18	Tom Petty & Heartbreakers	$23.6	$638,627	621,065	16,786	$38.05	37/40
19	Barry Manilow	$22.7	$224,569	147,346	1,459	$153.93	2/101
20	Anger Management Tour	$21.6	$1,028,040	337,171	16,056	$64.03	21/22

Total Gross is in millions of U.S. dollars for all dates worked in North America and is based on extensive research by Pollstar.

Daily Pulse