Boxoffice Insider: Live In Madrid – WiZink Center Opened Their Doors With July Events

WiZink Center
Patricia J. Garcinuno / Redferns – WiZink Center
hosts a limited-capacity July 18 concert with DJ Nano’s “I Love” show.
One of the consistently highest-ranked arenas in Pollstar’s quarterly charts – most recently No. 1 in the June 29 Mid-Year issue – is Madrid’s WiZink Center, which recently added three indoor events staged during July to the Boxoffice tallies.

Earlier this summer, the arena announced that it was planning on reopening for live entertainment with smaller capacities, socially distanced seating and, through a partnership with the venue’s naming rights sponsor WiZink Bank and Madrid-based telecommunications company Telefónica, streams of its live productions to a wider audience.

The first performance reported by the venue this summer was a concert by Spanish rocker Loquillo, who appeared early in the month on July 3. A crowd of 1,300 welcomed the Barcelona-born singer, whose career stretches back to the early 1980s but who also released a new solo album as recently as 2016. His gross for the socially distanced event totaled $40,141 USD or €35,570 from tickets priced at €25 and €30. Although it was also streamed simultaneously, it was the first live show at the venue since the Spanish band Camela headlined a concert there on March 7, just days prior to the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.

Two weeks after the Loquillo performance, Madrid native DJ Nano staged an event on July 18 produced by local promoter Planet Events, acquired by entertainment giant Live Nation in 2019. With tickets sold for 690 attendees, the concert grossed $27,116 USD (€24,150) and also included both live and virtual audiences.

But the largest of the three WiZink Center events came during the weekend of July 25-26, when the arena hosted four live shows by contestants on the 2020 edition of the talent competition television show “Operación Triunfo.” The show’s winner Nía Correia and finalists from the 11th season of the program appeared, performing for an overall crowd numbering 4,690 at all four concerts. The total box office earnings in USD was $246,187, making it the top-grossing event reported to Pollstar since the mid-March industry shutdown. The mark surpassed Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, which previously held that honor with a $170,900 gross from three drive-in concerts at City National Grove of Anaheim, Calif., on July 10-12.

Season 11 of the “Operación Triunfo” TV show began early this year on Jan. 12, yet went on hiatus in mid-March due to COVID-19. However, after two months off-air, the show returned on May 20 with virtual participation, leading up to a season finale that aired on June 10.

Elsewhere in Europe, Düsseldorf, Germany, venue group D.Live continues to report live events from its summertime series of drive-in performances at Gottfried Schultz presents Autokino Düsseldorf. The company’s first reports from the drive-in series came early in June and included the first 16 live shows during April and May. Since then, a total of 32 drive-in concerts have been reported with an overall attendance count logged at 28,846. Sold ticket revenue stretches over $1.2 million USD from the 32 shows combined. The highest-grossing event remains a two-night engagement by the band Brings from Köln that was included in D.Live’s initial report earlier this summer. Playing for 2,133 fans on April 28-29, the group racked up a sales total of $132,005 USD (€120,010) at the two-show stint.