Magna Charta Stadiums: Wembley Looks Back On Record Concert Season

One of Wembley’s highlights last year included BTS’ two-night spectacle, June 1-2, which moved 114,583 total tickets and grossed $13,545,701, according to Pollstar Boxoffice reports.

Wembley Stadium’s tweet announcing the concerts became its most popular ever, and the K-pop group came with “a merchandise operation on a scale we at Wembley have not witnessed for a concert,” the venue’s senior commercial manager James Taylor told Pollstar. 

“The engagement [BTS fans] had with our staff and social channels was something we have never seen before.”

Later that month, Pink moved 145,230 tickets and grossed $16,568,721 over two sold-out nights, June 29-30. It marked a long-awaited return to Wembley Stadium for her promoter Barrie Marshall, who told Pollstar after the concerts that he had to maintain “very high standards in order to continue to have the privilege of working with her.”

Added Marshall: “I hope that continues for many years. Alecia is a fantastic person who I totally admire and respect. She is absolutely unique and a star in the real sense.” 

According to Taylor, Spice Girls’ final show of a three-night stand, June 13-15, was “arguably the standout moment of the summer – the girls just didn’t want to leave the stage, and who knows if we will see them on stage together again. This was another iconic Wembley moment and will forever be etched in the stadium’s history.”

Supported by Jess Glynne, Spice Girls sold 221,971 tickets and grossed $27,345,457, according to Pollstar Boxoffice reports.  Eagles, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi and Fleetwood Mac were among the other artists to play Wembley last summer.

“Commercially, all shows sold extremely well,” Taylor said. “Our new hospitality facilities sold very strongly for all of the shows with great feedback from fans and some new F&B improvements were also in place. All in all, it was an extremely strong summer of music for Wembley.”

It’s a challenge to fit all of the acts that want to perform at Wembley into a six-week window in summer. Last year’s record concert season was only possible that to promoters and the management of each act working closely together alongside the venue delivery teams to overcome the logistical challenges it presented. 

Taylor explained: “We turned around Bon Jovi to Billy Joel and then Eagles back-to-back – that requires great teamwork and a lot of planning from all parties. As a venue we do all we can to facilitate as many booking enquiries as possible to maximise our availability, but it was great to see collaboration from all sides to make it a record-breaking period for the venue”

 

Said Taylor: “As a multi-use stadium and host to major competitions, we are investing in the venue infrastructure to ensure that the iconic Wembley Stadium remains a world-class facility. 

“Since the stadium opened in 2007, technology has moved on at a rapid pace and these new features will give us the innovative and cutting-edge solutions to offer the best experience for fans, players and performers.”

Taylor is confident that all of the renovations will be ready for Wembley’s first event on March 1, and that fans attending concerts this year will notice an appreciable difference.

 

Wembley is an iconic world-class venue and we continue to invest in the stadium infrastructure to ensure it remains industry-leading and attracts the biggest and best acts and events

This year, Wembley Stadium will be very much focused on delivering its commitments as a EURO 2020 venue, where it will be hosting seven matches including both semi-finals and final. 

“That tournament will be delivered throughout the traditional concert season in June and July so our concert season will be shorter than previous years but we have availability in August and are still talking to a number of promoters regarding concerts and football events,” Taylor explained.

Westlife and Eagles are already confirmed and Taylor hopes to be in a position to announce further events soon. What is more, his team is already making bookings for 2021, which is almost full, and even 2022, confirming the new booking reality in this business.

“Availability is becoming increasingly challenging and we are definitely seeing promoters booking earlier than ever before,” said Taylor.

“It’s great for us, it provides us with certainty and clarity for our budgets as opposed to wondering six months before a concert season if you are going to have free weekends. It shifts the booking process for us from booking say six months in advance to acts booking as far as 18-24 months in advance.

“I don’t see many, if any, challenges for us with early bookings, its only positive for a venue with limited dates, such as ours, to have clarity on whether you are going to fill your dates or not. One downside is you may miss an act who decides to tour late but, more often than not, it will only benefit us,” Taylor concluded.