El Año De La Residencia: Residencies Level Up Mexico’s Estadio GNP Seguros And Coliseo De Puerto Rico

Latin acts continued to dominate charts this year, with Bad Bunny being named Spotify’s No. 1 streamed artist and Shakira’s massively successful global stadium run finishing No. 5 in this year’s Pollstar Year End Top Tours list. But they weren’t the only ones to represent Latin America on the charts.

Venues from Mexico and South America dominated the global box office, an indication that the Latin American markets are realizing their potential in the live entertainment industry, drawing music’s biggest acts and investing not only in the live experience but also in their infrastructure.

Five Latin American venues — Movistar Arena in Santiago, Palacio de los Deportes and Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Coliseo de Puerto Rico in Hato Rey and Arena Monterrey — cracked this year’s Top 200 Worldwide Arenas by Tickets Sold, an impressive feat considering that only three made it to the top 25 in 2024.

The juggernaut that is Estadio GNP Seguros, a stadium in Mexico City dedicated to live music, led all buildings with an astounding gross of $297,841,490 off 3,199,703 tickets sold (both totals are more than double from the previous year, but the stadium was closed for several months due to renovations).

There is no doubt that the globalization of music (especially genres like K-pop and EDM) as a result of streaming and social media is a major factor, but another trend emerged in several markets that vaulted venues to unprecedented heights.

This year was one of residencies for a number of venues, especially Estadio GNP Seguros, which had 12 sold-out shows from Shakira (which grossed more than $76 million), six from Mexican rock band Zoé and eight upcoming sold-out shows with Bad

Bunny. These massively successful stands show what’s possible in Mexico City and establish the nation’s capital as an influential force in the industry and culture.

“2025 has been a historic year for Estadio GNP Seguros,” said Jorge Cambronero, executive promoter at Latin promoter OCESA. “The series of shows by artists such as Shakira, with 12 shows, Bad Bunny with eight, and Zoé with six, not only redefined what it means to hold a stadium run but also reaffirmed Mexico City’s position as one of the global capitals of live entertainment. More than 1 million people experienced these extraordinary events, which boosted the local economy, attracted international tourism, and set a new standard in production and fan experience for artists and audiences alike.”

Another venue emblematic of its territory that saw great success is the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot near San Juan, where megastar Bad Bunny hosted a 31-date residency last summer and boosted the local economy as well as the venue’s box office. The Latin singer vaulted the arena to No. 12 in ticket sales among arenas with 1,035,786 sold in the past year, making a case for Puerto Rico as a strong live music market.

“The thing about [Bad Bunny and Assad] is that business is not the most important thing,” Alejandro Pabon, who works with Move Concerts and Rimas Nation, told Pollstar in March. “We do good business, but their main goal is to lift the culture of Puerto Rico, and everybody else that they work with wants the same. I think it shows in what we do.”