Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest Grosses More Than $11 Million

Kevin Winter / Getty Images – Cardi B
Cardi B performers on the third and final night of Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena. Along with Bruno Mars, the performer set the record for the highest-grossing concert at the venue.

The first Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest, held at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena over the three nights prior to Super Bowl LIII earlier this year, grossed $11.38 million, according to Pollstar box office data.

More than half of that gross came from the event’s record-breaking final night, which featured headlining performances from Bruno Mars and Cardi B. The Feb. 2 concert sold 14,152 tickets and grossed $6.47 million, making it the highest-grossing concert in State Farm Arena’s 20-year history.

State Farm Arena reopened last fall after an extensive renovation, and has staged successful shows since then. But that only makes Bruno and Cardi’s accomplishment more impressive. Justin Timberlake grossed $2.21 million in January; over two nights late last year, Elton John grossed $3.31 million. Drake grossed $5.75 million at the venue in November – but took three nights to do it.

Though not record-breaking, the prior two nights were also lucrative. On Jan. 31, a bill topped by Ludacris that also included Atlantan natives such as Migos, Lil Yachty and Metro Boomin sold 11,149 tickets and grossed $1.29 million. On Feb. 1, Aerosmith and Post Malone sold 12,894 tickets and grossed $3.62 million.

“We were thrilled by the success of the first-ever Super Bowl Music Fest at State Farm Arena,” Trey Feazell, the venue’s executive vice president of programming, said in a statement. “The entire city of Atlanta did a tremendous job hosting the Super Bowl and we are proud that our venue was able to showcase some of the greatest entertainers in music over three consecutive nights.”

John Collins, the CEO of On Location Experiences, which presented Bud Light Super Bowl Music Festival along with the NFL, Anheuser-Busch and State Farm Arena, explained how the event came to be to Pollstar in January. “The idea of being a unifying force at the most unifying of American holidays is really what brought AB, State Farm, the NFL and On Location together,” he said.

Joe Killian, a seasoned producer with brand partnerships expertise, told Pollstar at the time that “brands always want to surround the event itself, because there’s a limited number of tickets to the Super Bowl.” Added Killian: “The brand essence of Bud Light is that it’s a great American beer. If they can communicate that to the globe by doing a couple concerts, the dollar amount – whether it’s eight or $10 or $20 million – is a drop in the bucket. It’s a smart investment.”

Even before the event was staged, Collins said that promoters “definitely plan on this being a part of the Super Bowl landscape for a long, long time,” noting that discussions with the Miami Super Bowl host committee have already begun ahead of the 2020 game.