Features
‘Always Sunny Podcast’ Sells Out Arenas In UK & Ireland
Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Glenn Howerton, creators and stars of the iconic show, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” brought the immensely popular “Always Sunny Podcast” to London and Dublin, for their first shows in the UK and Ireland.
In London, “The Always Sunny Podcast LIVE!” visited the Royal Albert Hall, April 16, for a matinee and evening show, co-hosted by Megan Ganz, Sunny writer and long-time fan of the show, selling 8,000 tickets in total.
In Dublin, the show sold out two 3Arenas, selling 18,000 tickets. Full Stop Management’s Andy Mendelsohn told Pollstar that the data showed how popular the podcast was in these markets outside the U.S., especially in Dublin, Ireland.
“I definitely got resistance by some, not from the artist, about 3arena being too big for a first-time play,” he recalled, “but we felt confident we would do the business. Five minutes into the onsale, we knew we could up to a second Dublin [show].”
Live Nation UK & Ireland chairman, and Pollstar Impact International Honoree Denis Desmond led the charge on bringing “The Always Sunny Podcast LIVE!” across the Atlantic, immediately seeing the potential after the first shows in September. MCD promoted the shows in Dublin, Live Nation handled the London date.
Naturally, the success sparked conversations of returning to the UK, and possibly mainland Europe. “We are in discussions now about when we can come back,” said Mendelsohn, explaining that “the tour is the vehicle to set up the whiskey.”
He was referring to the “Four Walls”, a Whisky created by McElhenney, Day, and Howerton. It will be released in the late summer, so touring again would make a lot of sense then.
When asked whether this experience has made Mendelsohn want to tour more podcasts in the future, the A-list manager said, “Not impossible. We love working with creative folks and translating their vision to the live stage.”