Ticket sales down, but not at BOK

BY JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
10/13/10 at 5:03 AM

Tulsa's BOK Center, entering its third year of operation, ranks No. 5 nationally and No. 15 worldwide in ticket sales, with 320,048 sold so far this year, according to industry tracker Pollstar.

"It's amazing that the BOK Center has moved into its third year of business with such continued success," said John Bolton, general manager of the SMG-managed facility.

Industrywide, total tickets sold by the top-100 venues in each category are down from the same time a year ago. Ticket sales at clubs held up reasonably well at 5.4 million tickets sold.

Despite the BOK Center's success, not all other arena venues were so fortunate: The numbers for worldwide arena-level sales were down about 6 percent to 20.5 million tickets.

A Nation of millions

Live Nation and AEG Live are the top concert promoters worldwide. Both promote many shows in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City's DCF Concerts ranked No. 96, and Tulsa-based Celebrity Attractions ranked No. 97.

The total tickets sold by the top-100 promoters topped 60.8 million - down 11 million tickets from a year ago. This drop is attributable to Live Nation, which reported 11.7 million fewer tickets sold so far this year, Pollstar Pro reported.

In mid-August, Live Nation Executive Chairman Irving Azoff told Pollstar that the company decided to stop all external reporting of data. Azoff said the company would now report show results only when requested by an artist.

Numbers for several major tours were subsequently reported by Live Nation as a result of artists wanting the recognition. Quite a few venues also directly reported Live Nation-promoted shows, so the lack of centralized reporting from the company was not glaringly obvious, according to Pollstar Pro.

Raising Cain's

Tulsa's Cain's Ballroom ranked No. 29 in worldwide club venue ticket sales, with nearly 60,000 sold. Oklahoma City's Zoo Amphitheater made the worldwide top-100 list at No. 56, with almost 50,000 tickets sold.

Sales at the theater level remained strong, dropping about 1 percent to a little more than 10 million tickets. Oklahoma City's Civic Center Music Hall broke into the top 100 worldwide at No. 92, with more than 35,000 tickets sold.

Worldwide arena ticket sales

1. 1,129,552, The O2 - London London

2. 812,421, Madison Square Garden Arena New York

3. 672,234, Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, UK

4. 459,358, The O2 - Dublin Dublin, Ireland

5. 455,632, Air Canada Centre Toronto

15. 320,048, BOK Center Tulsa

National arena ticket sales

1. 812,421, Madison Square Garden Arena, New York

2. 392,851, Sprint Center, Kansas City

3. 379,089, Philips Arena, Atlanta

4. 369,394, Staples Center, Los Angeles

5. 320,048, BOK Center, Tulsa

Worldwide club venues

Cain’s - 29th in the world

1. 179,302, Terminal 5, New York

2. 176,097, 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.

3. 133,841, Ancienne Belgique, Brussels

4. 130,791, The Joint, Las Vegas

5. 123,751, The Pageant, St. Louis

29. 59,133, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa

Worldwide amphitheaters

1. 397,265, Filene Center At Wolf Trap Vienna, Va.

2. 307,489, The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, Texas

3. 286,145, Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison, Colo.

4. 277,413, Verizon Wireless Music Center Noblesville, Ind.

5. 270,655, Susquehanna Bank Center Camden, N.J.

56. 47,173, Oklahoma City Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City

Worldwide theater venues

1. 715,059, Auditorio Nacional Mexico City

2. 432,344, Fox Theatre Atlanta

3. 403,436, Radio City Music Hall New York

4. 280,789, Benedum Center Pittsburgh

5. 258,165, Colosseum At Caesars Palace Las Vegas

92. 36,499, Civic Center Music Hall Oklahoma City

Worldwide ticket sales by top promoter

1. 18,350,126, Live Nation 2. 8,877,658, AEG Live

3. 1,841,094, Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur, (Germany)

4. 1,545,021, T4F Time For Fun, (South America)

5. 1,543,725, Feld Entertainment

96. 76,337, DCF Concerts, (Oklahoma City)

97. 75,090, Celebrity Attractions, (Tulsa)

Jennifer Chancellor 581-8346
jennifer.chancellor@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

The BOK Center ranks No. 5 nationally and No. 15 worldwide in ticket sales, according to industry tracker Pollstar. TOM GILBERT / Tulsa World file