Madonna Tops Resale

Madonna was the top-selling tour of 2008. But not only did she make a lot of money, according to Pollstar, she also was the top resale ticket of 2008, according to Ticketmaster Entertainment.

The company formerly known as Ticketmaster also runs the TicketsNow secondary ticketing portal. According to Ticketmaster Entertainment’s data, the highest priced resale ticket was Madonna, going for a whopping $378 on average.

Following Maddy is Elton John at $306. Rounding out the Top 10 concert prices are Eagles ($279), AC/DC ($263), Tina Turner (also $263), Celine Dion ($240), Bruce Springsteen ($235), Coldplay ($217), Neil Diamond ($217) and The Police ($216).

Kenny Chesney’s tickets resold for $199. Britney Spears didn’t go on tour in 2008 but she’s heading out in 2009 in a big way, to the point where her tickets made the TM charts, coming in at $189 a ticket.

A couple of other interesting facts from Ticketmaster Entertainment: World Wrestling Entertainment tickets resold for $153, more than Red Sox, Yankees or Cubs baseball tickets. The Broadway play “Wicked” was the No. 1 reselling event of 2008, selling more than 70,000 tickets – 25,000 more than its nearest competitor, the New York Yankees.

Premium seats for Billy Joel’s “The Last Play at Shea” sold for an average $876, nine times the going rate.

Also, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was the most requested family event of 2008, topping Disney On Ice, Sesame Street Live, The Wiggles and Disney’s High School Musical Ice Show, among others.