The Police Tour '07 - Part 3

[U2democrat]

How's the tour merchandise at the shows?

I looked at the online store but I know that merchandise at shows and online can differ a lot. Basically I want a t-shirt and I want to know how my options will be. (Preferably a women's t-shirt because those actually fit me )

 

[onebloodonelife]

How's the tour merchandise at the shows?

I looked at the online store but I know that merchandise at shows and online can differ a lot. Basically I want a t-shirt and I want to know how my options will be. (Preferably a women's t-shirt because those actually fit me )

After a quick glance at the online store, it's all essentially the same. There might only be one of the two colors (I'm thinking of the striped women's shirt), but for the most part, it's the same merch. And, if I remember correctly, the women's shirts are $45 at the show.

 

[U2FanPeter]

I've heard rumours that the Sting and Andy autobiographies available at the merch stands have been autographed by the respective Police member. Very cool if it's every copy.

u2fp

 

[Allegra]

^I was able to get a copy of each for both me and a friend. But since they were flying off of the shelf, I got two Sting sig books at one stand and bought two Andy sig books at a different one. And they're very cool!!!

 

[U2democrat]

$45 for a women's tee? Dang. Good thing I'll have birthday money


I'm trying to avoid looking at setlists so I can be surprised

 

[EdgeIsTooSexy]

there were $30 ones too, thats what i got.

I bought Andy Summers- One Train Later. Its a great book but no sig.

i want to see them again in philly

 

[kellyahern]

Did anyone here go to the Atlanta show and have behind the stage seats? I thought I read that on here a while ago.

 

[U2democrat]

I just downloaded the audio from the DC concert I went to and man it sounds great!

This will be on repeat on my iPod for awhile.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Curious to see that The Police tour includes stops in places u2 has never visited. China, Puerto Rico and Singapore.

 

[Strongbow]

But apparently I was talking out of my a$$ back in April.

You were when you were describing the demand for this tour as being over inflated. The Police played plenty of stadiums all across North America, as well as many arena's. All though not all of the numbers are in yet for 2007, it appears The Police have the second highest grossing tour in history just after the Stones for a single calendar year. The Police broke gross records previously held by U2's Vertigo Tour stops in both London and Paris. In Dublin, The Police set the single night gross record for Ireland as well as the entire Planet!

October 6, 2007
Dublin, Ireland
Croke Park
Capacity: 81,640
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $11,837,425
Average Ticket Price: $145

$11,837,425 is the most anyone has ever grossed from a single show in history. The previous record was held by Madonna for a show she did two years ago in Denmark with about $9 million in gross.

The tour has grossed $214 million dollars from the 69 shows reported so far, and with 12 more shows yet to be reported for 2007, the total gross for 2007 is likely to be between $250 million dollars and $260 million dollars. The Police will then head down under and then to Japan, followed by another return to the United States and then to Europe in the summer. By the time things wrap up, the Police will have likely grossed $400 million dollars outgrossing U2's previous tour, crushing the last Springsteen/E-Street Band tour which did $221 million dollars on the road, and be sitting at second place on the all time tour list behind the Stones A Bigger Bang Tour at $558 million dollars.

 

[Strongbow]

Here are the totals for THe Police Tour so far. There are 12 shows that have been played, but not reported yet. So, their figures are not apart of the totals at the end of each section yet.

Also, a word about "CAPACITY" and "SOLD OUT". CAPACITY is set by the promoter and sometimes is not the FULL CAPACITY of the Venue being played. "Sold Out" refers to the sell of each ticket made available for sale, and does not, necessarily, refer to the selling of each potential seat in the venue being played.





NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2007 1ST LEG



May 28 & 30, 2007
Vancouver, BC
GM Place
Capacity: 37,018
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $4,046,518 USD
Average Ticket Price: $109.31 USD

June 2, 2007
Edmonton, AB
Commonwealth Stadium
Capacity: 29,592
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $3,216,118 USD
Average Ticket Price: $108.68 USD

June 6 & 7, 2007
Seattle, WA
Key Arena
Capacity: 29,022
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $3,314,875
Average Ticket Price: $114.22

June 9 & 10, 2007
Denver, CO
Pepsi Center
Capacity: 33,736
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $3,762,755
Average Ticket Price: $111.54

June 13, 2007
Oakland, CA
McAfee Coliseum
Capacity: 47,202
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $4,572,620
Average Ticket Price: $96.87

June 15, 2007
Las Vegas, NV
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Capacity: 16,165
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,863,954
Average Ticket Price: $177.17

June 18, 2007
Phoenix, AZ
US Airways Arena
Capacity: 16,710
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,970,365
Average Ticket Price: $117.92

June 20, 2007
Los Angeles, CA
Staples Center
Capacity: 17,036
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,656,145
Average Ticket Price: $155.91

June 21, 2007
Anaheim, CA (Los Angeles area)
Honda Center
Capacity: 13,663
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,059,675
Average Ticket Price: $150.75

June 23, 2007
Los Angeles, CA
Dodger Stadium
Capacity: 55,623
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $6,106,010
Average Ticket Price: $109.77

June 26 & 27, 2007
Dallas, Texas
American Airlines Center
Capacity: 33,708
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $3,784,600
Average Ticket Price: $112.27

June 29, 2007
Houston, TX
Toyota Center
Capacity: 16,651
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,847,945
Average Ticket Price: $110.98

June 30, 2007
New Orleans, LA
Arena
Capacity: 15,992
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,677,470
Average Ticket Price: $104.89

July 2, 2007
St. Louis, MO
Scottrade Center
Capacity: 17,821
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,872,140
Average Ticket Price: $105.05

July 3, 2007
St. Paul, MN
Xcel Energy Center
Capacity: 17,185
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,943,310
Average Ticket Price: $113.08

July 5 & 6, 2007
Chicago, IL
Wrigley Field
Capacity: 79,458
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $9,494,248
Average Ticket Price: $119.49

July 10, 2007
Miami, FL
Dolphins Stadium
Capacity: 46,105
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $ 5,094,870
Average Ticket Price: $110.50

July 11, 2007
St. Petersburg, FL (Tampa area)
Times Forum
Capacity: 18,690
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,064,875
Average Ticket Price: $110.48

July 14, 2007
Louisville, KY
Churchill Downs
Capacity: 25,413
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,899,375
Average Ticket Price: $114.09

July 16, 2007
Cleveland, OH
Quicken Loans Arena
Capacity: 18,881
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,885,040
Average Ticket Price: $99.84

July 17, 2007
Auburn Hills, MI (Detroit area)
The Palace Of Auburn Hills
Capacity: 19,342
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,069,428
Average Ticket Price: $106.99

July 19, 2007
Philadelphia, PA
Citizen's Bank Park
Capacity: 42,599
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $4,128,705
Average Ticket Price: $96.92

July 20, 2007
Hershey, PA
Hersheypark Stadium
Capacity: 30,318
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $3,101,630
Average Ticket Price: $102.30

July 22 & 23, 2007
Toronto, ON
Air Canada Centre
Capacity: 38,031
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $4,456,636 USD
Average Ticket Price: $117.18 USD

July 25 & 26, 2007
Montreal, QC
Bell Centre
Capacity: 41,275
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $4,571,063 USD
Average Ticket Price: $110.75 USD

July 28 & 29, 2007
Boston, MA
Fenway Park
Capacity: 67,154
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $7,644,400
Average Ticket Price: $113.83

July 31, 2007
Hartford, CT
Rentschler Field
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?

August 1, 3, 2007
New York City, NY
Madison Square Garden
Capacity: 37,487
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $4,753,610
Average Ticket Price: $126.81

August 5, 2007
East Rutherford, N.J.
Giants Stadium
Capacity: 55,247
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $6,415,610
Average Ticket Price: $116.13


NORTH AMERICAN 1ST LEG TOUR TOTALS TO DATE:
GROSS: $104,273,990
ATTENDANCE: 917,124
AVERAGE GROSS: $2,818,216
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 24,787
SHOWS: 37
SELLOUTS: 37
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE PER SHOW: $113.70
SHOWS PLAYED BUT NOT REPORTED YET: 1






EUROPEAN TOUR 2007 1ST LEG


August 29,30, 2007
Stockholm, Sweden
Globe Arena
Capacity: 24,286
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,098,632
Average Ticket Price: $86.41

September 1, 2007
Aarhus, Denmark
Vestereng
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?

September 4, 5, 2007
Birmingham, United Kingdom
National Indoor Arena
Capacity: 24,099
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $3,579,363
Average Ticket Price: $148.53

September 8, 9, 2007
London, United Kingdom
Twickenham Stadium
Capacity: 104,417
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $15,369,280
Average Ticket Price: $147.19

September 11, 2007
Hamburg, Germany
AOL ARENA
Capacity: 34,596
Attendance: 29,150
Gross: $3,191,128
Average Ticket Price: $109.47

September 13, 14, 2007
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Amsterdam Arena
Capacity: 93,790
Attendance: 93,211
Gross: $10,216,228
Average Ticket Price: $109.60

September 16, 2007
Geneva, Switzerland
Stade de Geneve
Capacity: 21,878
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,238,986
Average Ticket Price: $102.34

September 19, 2007
Vienna, Austria
Stadthalle
Capacity: 15,463
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,460,708
Average Ticket Price: $94.47

September 22, 2007
Munich, Germany
Olympiastadion
Capacity: 44,740
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $4,451,894
Average Ticket Price: $99.51

September 25, 2007
Lisbon, Portugal
National Stadium
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?

September 27, 2007
Barcelona, Spain
Olympic Stadium
Capacity: 54,553
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $5,554,320
Average Ticket Price: $101.82

September 29, 30, 2007
Paris, France
Au Stade de France
Capacity: 157,906
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $15,319,076
Average Ticket Price: $97.01

October 2, 2007
Turin, Italy
Stadio Della Alpi
Capacity: 62,604
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $5,164,887
Average Ticket Price: $82.50

October 6, 2007
Dublin, Ireland
Croke Park
Capacity: 81,640
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $11,837,425
Average Ticket Price: $145

October 8, 2007
Antwerp, Belgium
Sportpaleis
Capacity: 17,905
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,002,164
Average Ticket Price: $111.82

October 19, 2007
Cardiff, United Kingdom
Millenium Stadium
Capacity: 48,065
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $5,964,008
Average Ticket Price: $124.08

October 20, 2007
London, United Kingdom
Wembley Arena
Capacity: 11,301
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,852,912
Average Ticket Price: $163.96



EUROPEAN TOUR 2007 TOTALS TO DATE:
GROSS: $90,301,011
ATTENDANCE: 791,218
AVERAGE GROSS: $4,515,051
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 39,561
SHOWS: 20
SELLOUTS: 17
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: $114.13
SHOWS PLAYED BUT NOT REPORTED YET: 2




NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2007 2ND LEG

October 31, November 2, 2007
New York City, NY
Madison Square Garden
Capacity: 34,961
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $4,530,450
Average Ticket Price: $129.59

November 3, 2007
Atlantic City, NJ
Boardwalk Hall
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?

November 5, 2007
Washington DC
Verizon Center
Capacity: 14,050
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,676,406
Average Ticket Price: $119.32

November 6, 2007
Charlottesville, VA
John Paul Jones Arena
Capacity: 10,496
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,075,090
Average Ticket Price: $102.43

November 8, 9, 2007
Toronto, ON
Air Canada Centre
Capacity: 31,286
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $3,828,654
Average Ticket Price: $122.38

November 11, 2007
Boston, MA
TD BankNorth Garden
Capacity: 14,256
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,804,535
Average Ticket Price: $126.58

November 12, 2007
Montreal, QC
Bell Centre
Capacity: 12,615
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,419,151
Average Ticket Price: $112.50

November 15, 2007
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte Arena
Capacity: 13,741
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $1,523,560
Average Ticket Price: $110.88

November 17, 18, 2007
Atlanta, GA
Philips Arena
Capacity: 27,665
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $3,249,155
Average Ticket Price: $117.45

November 20, 2007
San Antonio, TX
AT&T Center
Capacity: 8,967
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $978,905
Average Ticket Price: $109.17

November 24, 2007
Mexico City, MX
Foro Sol
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?

November 27, 28, 2007
Monterrey, MX
Arena Monterrey
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?



NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2007 2ND LEG
GROSS: $20,085,906
ATTENDANCE: 168,037
AVERAGE GROSS: $1,673,826
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 14,003
SHOWS: 12
SELLOUTS: 12
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: $119.53
SHOWS PLAYED BUT NOT REPORTED YET: 4





SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR 2007

December 1, 2, 2007
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Estadio River Plate
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?

December 5, 2007
Santiago, Chile
Estadio National
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?

December 8, 2007
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Maracana Stadium
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?

December 11, 2007
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Coliseo de Puerto Rico
Capacity: ?
Attendance: ?
Gross: ?
Average Ticket Price: ?





THE POLICE TOUR 2007 TOTALS WORLDWIDE TO DATE:
GROSS: $214,660,907
ATTENDANCE: 1,876,379
AVERAGE GROSS: $3,111,028
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE: 27,194
SHOWS: 69
SELLOUTS: 66
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: $114.40
SHOWS PLAYED BUT NOT REPORTED YET: 12

 

[U2FanPeter]

October 6, 2007
Dublin, Ireland
Croke Park
Capacity: 81,640
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $11,837,425
Average Ticket Price: $145

$11,837,425 is the most anyone has ever grossed from a single show in history. The previous record was held by Madonna for a show she did two years ago in Denmark with about $9 million in gross.

Barbra Streisand - Las Vegas - 12/31/99
$14,694,750 - 12,000+ tickets
allbusiness.com

I know I've had this argument with Axver and/or blueroom on this message board before. While I'll relinquish the argument that the 2 hour 3 Tenors shows does not count single group(one show grossed USD$12m) I disagree some figures and records U2 and Police have claimed. I think the argument against Babs was that the boxscores are sometimes not printed in Billboard, or it was not during a tour, or she doesn't tour regularly or it's not Rock etc...

u2fp

 

[Hewson]

You were when you were describing the demand for this tour as being over inflated. The Police played plenty of stadiums all across North America, as well as many arena's. .

And for most you could buy tix on the street well below face value...the second night of the tour people were paying $10 outside GM Place.
The "demand" was greatly enhanced by our brave new world of amatuer internet scalper....many folks snatched tix and attempted to sell them on ebay and Craigslist. Many lost money in doing so because the price point was already very high.

 

[Strongbow]

And for most you could buy tix on the street well below face value...the second night of the tour people were paying $10 outside GM Place.
The "demand" was greatly enhanced by our brave new world of amatuer internet scalper....many folks snatched tix and attempted to sell them on ebay and Craigslist. Many lost money in doing so because the price point was already very high.

The same situation happened for U2 on the last tour. In Denver, Scalpers bought up tickets and then many had trouble selling them before show time. Scalping has always been out there and it was easier to make money from scalping back in the 1980s when tours were often underpriced and the level of money made from tour was not large.

Bruce Springsteens new tour is failing to sellout Arena's that The Police just played this year. Scalpers just don't buy tickets for the Police and U2, they buy for anyone of the in demand artist that they think they can make money on. Whats hot and what is not is determined by what tickets are sold at the BOXOFFICE period!

The Police
July 17, 2007
Auburn Hills, MI
The Palace Of Auburn Hills
Capacity: 19,342
Attendance: Sold Out
Gross: $2,069,428
Average Ticket Price: $106.99

Bruce Springsteen And The E-Street Band
November 5, 2007
Auburn Hills, MI
The Palace OF Auburn Hills
Capacity: 19,555
Attendance: 14,559
Gross: $1,231,928
Average Ticket Price: $84.62

Now does this mean that Bruce Springsteen is not in "Demand" or Popular, of course NOT. He is even with the results so far on this tour, one of the most popular touring artist out there. Were many of the 14,559 tickets sold happen to be tickets that were initially sold to scalpers and then resold well below face value because there were still nearly 5,000 tickets available? You bet, just like any other concert out there.

Anecdotal evidence from what one see's in the secondary ticket market outside an Arena or on a ticket resell site on the internet, is not an accurate way to gauge concert tour demand. The best and only accurate way to gauge concert tour demand is through the official Boxoffice results that are reported by the music business magazine, Billboard.

 

[Strongbow]

Barbra Streisand - Las Vegas - 12/31/99
$14,694,750 - 12,000+ tickets
allbusiness.com

I know I've had this argument with Axver and/or blueroom on this message board before. While I'll relinquish the argument that the 2 hour 3 Tenors shows does not count single group(one show grossed USD$12m) I disagree some figures and records U2 and Police have claimed. I think the argument against Babs was that the boxscores are sometimes not printed in Billboard, or it was not during a tour, or she doesn't tour regularly or it's not Rock etc...

u2fp

If its not a printed Boxscore in Billboard, it is questionable if the figure is accurate as general media and sometimes even business media that are not responsible with reporting weekly figures often make mistakes.

That being said, I could see the Barbara Streisand figure being correct, although it appears to be a single special engagement on the eve of the millenium 2000, not exactly the same as a random tour date in Dublin Ireland.

I didn't actually know if the Dublin Police date was the highest gross for a single night, but I had never seen a higher figure before in Billboard, so I assumed it was, and in fact is for a single night on a tour by one artist as opposed to some non-tour, special engagement on the eve of the millenium 2000 in of all places Las Vegas. With a date like that, you could have insurted any big name act and received a massive figure.

Barbara Streisand did go on tour recently. Her North American totals came in at $92,457,062 and several shows did not sellout. Her first European tour ever had similar results. As impressive as those figures are, they are far behind the figures being posted by The Police on their "Walking On The Moon" Tour as well as U2's recent Vertigo Tour.

As reported by Billboard magazine, the Rolling Stones last "A Bigger Bang Tour" is the highest grossing tour of all time at $558 million. U2 is second with their Vertigo Tour at $389 million, and the Police tour is projected to come in at $400 million dollars by the time the tour is over, replacing U2 at the #2 position.

 

[Strongbow]

Billboard has just reporte the top 10 tours of 2007. The eligibility period runs from November 14, 2006 through November 13, 2007. Any show played during this time frame is included in the totals.

The Police total is 212 million dollars, but does not include 4 shows already reported in Charlotte, 2 in Atlanta, and San Antonio. These shows took place after the November 13, 2007 cut off date. The 8 shows south of the United States in Central and Southern America have not been reported yet.

1 show that was reported that I do not have the figures for yet took place in Connecticut and had roughly 30,000 people with a $3 million gross. Mysteriously, 3 shows in Atlantic City, Lisbon Portugal, and Denmark, have not been reported at all and so are not apart of the tour totals.

Here are the top 10 tours for 2007:

1. The Police $212 million
2. Genesis $129 million
3. Justin Timberlake $126.8 million
4. Kenny Chesney $71.2 million
5. Rod Stewart $70 million
6. Cirque Du Soleil's Delirium $59.4 million
7. Roger Waters $53.2 million
8. Tim McGraw/Faith Hill $52.3 million
9. Christina Aguilera $48.1 million
10. Rascal Flatts $41.6 million

The above figures are worldwide.


http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003685265

 

[U2democrat]

I just love it that my favorite old bands like The Police and Genesis beat out the king of teeny-boppers Justin Timberlake

 

[phanan]

The same situation happened for U2 on the last tour. In Denver, Scalpers bought up tickets and then many had trouble selling them before show time. Scalping has always been out there and it was easier to make money from scalping back in the 1980s when tours were often underpriced and the level of money made from tour was not large.

Oh boy, STING2 is back.

It wasn't just scalpers, though. People who had bought tickets and then were trying to get rid of them when they had extras or couldn't go anymore had a very hard time doing so. If I had been available for the November show, I would have had my pick of tickets to choose from.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Here are the top 10 tours for 2007:

1. The Police $212 million
2. Genesis $129 million
3. Justin Timberlake $126.8 million
4. Kenny Chesney $71.2 million
5. Rod Stewart $70 million
6. Cirque Du Soleil's Delirium $59.4 million
7. Roger Waters $53.2 million
8. Tim McGraw/Faith Hill $52.3 million
9. Christina Aguilera $48.1 million
10. Rascal Flatts $41.6 million

The above figures are worldwide.

Where do The Rolling Stones(several US shows in late 06 and Europe 2007) plus Van Halen(only 6 weeks would be eligible) fit in with this list?

u2fp

 

[Strongbow]

Oh boy, STING2 is back.

It wasn't just scalpers, though. People who had bought tickets and then were trying to get rid of them when they had extras or couldn't go anymore had a very hard time doing so. If I had been available for the November show, I would have had my pick of tickets to choose from.

But thats true of just about any concert tour including U2. The Police went for the highest average ticket price they could get and still sellout the venue most of the time. U2 charges a little bit below what would be the highest average ticket price but still, it was very difficult to get rid of a $95 dollar or a $160 dollar ticket at the last minute, unless of course you went down in price. The fact is, the majority of people(willing to buy tickets at face value) still buy tickets through normal channels and if they don't have a ticket by the day of the show, they don't go to the show. That makes it tough for scalpers trying to make money on a show where the average ticket price is over a hundred dollars and you have to charge more than that to make any money.

The whole issue of scalpers selling tickets at below face value is something that happens year round for multiple artist at various levels of popularity. The majority of tickets are still sold from the boxoffice to customers that do not resell them and go to the show. Regardless of what goes on in the secondary ticket market, the only accurate way to measure demand of various artist is through the official boxoffice results which are reported by Billboard Magazine.

 

[Strongbow]

Where do The Rolling Stones(several US shows in late 06 and Europe 2007) plus Van Halen(only 6 weeks would be eligible) fit in with this list?

u2fp

Good point. The above list was just a preliminary one as the official will be the Billboard year end chart list. The Rolling Stones did not report their individual results to Billboard Boxscore for 2007 as many of the shows were only half full. But, the final total was reported in the media and it should be included in Billboards year end chart. Van Halen had only played 22 shows by the November 13 cut off, and were averaging about $1.5 million per show in Gross which would not put them on the list.

So with the Stones figures included, this is how the list will look:


1. The Police $212 million
2. Genesis $129 million
3. Justin Timberlake $126.8 million
4. Rolling Stones $118 million
5. Kenny Chesney $71.2 million
6. Rod Stewart $70 million
7. Cirque Du Soleil's Delirium $59.4 million
8. Roger Waters $53.2 million
9. Tim McGraw/Faith Hill $52.3 million
10. Christina Aguilera $48.1 million
11. Rascal Flatts $41.6 million

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Holy hell that's an awful Top 10.

How did Police ticket sales finish up in Australia? I know they were sluggish, so they added Fergie (Fergie!) to the shows to try boost them a bit.

 

[Strongbow]

Holy hell that's an awful Top 10.

How did Police ticket sales finish up in Australia? I know they were sluggish, so they added Fergie (Fergie!) to the shows to try boost them a bit.

Well, the global top 10 does have The Police, Genesis, The Rolling Stones, and Roger Waters.

Those result won't be in until sometime in February. The tour down under doesn't start until January 17, 2008. Provided they eventually sellout or come close to selling out, they should get 4 to 5 million gross for each stadium(Sydney, Melbourne, Aukland) and about 2 million for the arena's. They are doing 3 stadiums in Japan compared to the three Arena shows U2 did in Japan on the last tour. But, Japan has never really been a strong market for U2 except on the Lovetown Tour.

 

[Axver]

Oh boy, STING2 is back.

Well, that would explain why Strongbow's posting style seemed familiar. Why the name change, Sting2? Forgot your password and didn't want to go to Sting3?

And U2FP, you definitely didn't have any such discussion with me. I like reading the concert sales stats threads, but I almost never post in them.

 

[Hewson]

But thats true of just about any concert tour including U2. The Police went for the highest average ticket price they could get and still sellout the venue most of the time. U2 charges a little bit below what would be the highest average ticket price but still, it was very difficult to get rid of a $95 dollar or a $160 dollar ticket at the last minute, unless of course you went down in price. The fact is, the majority of people(willing to buy tickets at face value) still buy tickets through normal channels and if they don't have a ticket by the day of the show, they don't go to the show. That makes it tough for scalpers trying to make money on a show where the average ticket price is over a hundred dollars and you have to charge more than that to make any money.

The whole issue of scalpers selling tickets at below face value is something that happens year round for multiple artist at various levels of popularity. The majority of tickets are still sold from the boxoffice to customers that do not resell them and go to the show. Regardless of what goes on in the secondary ticket market, the only accurate way to measure demand of various artist is through the official boxoffice results which are reported by Billboard Magazine.

Which was my original point at the beginning of the Cops hype, specifically about the super quick Fenway Park sell out, I said that it was a kind of false sell out cause the market would flood with tix later when the tix held for Red Sox season ticket holders to purchase if they desired were put back in the system, and if you read the posts here from July,(see pages 17-19 of this thread, posts by myself and phanan) that happened...the Red Sox and Ticketmaster were selling thousands of good seats for the Police at Fenway, including the Red Sox enticing people to buy with the inclusion of a free pair of Red Sox tix (Tickets which were in much higher demand in Boston this year than the Police). I explained to your previous incarnation(which was a better screen name ) that the Red Sox hold a pair of seats for each season ticket account, which would add up to 10's of thousands of tix, and as expected, many of the Sox season ticket holders didn't exercise their opportunity to purchase the seats cause they had been burned so badly trying to re-sell Stones tix in 2005 cause the price point was way too high for the demand, just like the Police.

 

[phanan]

But thats true of just about any concert tour including U2. The Police went for the highest average ticket price they could get and still sellout the venue most of the time. U2 charges a little bit below what would be the highest average ticket price but still, it was very difficult to get rid of a $95 dollar or a $160 dollar ticket at the last minute, unless of course you went down in price. The fact is, the majority of people(willing to buy tickets at face value) still buy tickets through normal channels and if they don't have a ticket by the day of the show, they don't go to the show. That makes it tough for scalpers trying to make money on a show where the average ticket price is over a hundred dollars and you have to charge more than that to make any money.

The whole issue of scalpers selling tickets at below face value is something that happens year round for multiple artist at various levels of popularity. The majority of tickets are still sold from the boxoffice to customers that do not resell them and go to the show. Regardless of what goes on in the secondary ticket market, the only accurate way to measure demand of various artist is through the official boxoffice results which are reported by Billboard Magazine.

Well, it varies by location as well. In Boston, I can definitely tell you that the demand for The Police was nowhere near that of U2 or Springsteen. Of course, the ticket prices probably had something to do with that as well.

 

[Hewson]

Well, it varies by location as well. In Boston, I can definitely tell you that the demand for The Police was nowhere near that of U2 or Springsteen. Of course, the ticket prices probably had something to do with that as well.

The Van Halen show Oct 30 was a much tougher ticket than the Police 12 days later at the Garden in fact. The fact that the Police had already played Fenway had a lot of bearing on that, they absolutely flooded the market in Boston much like the Stones after playing Fenway in 2005 coming back to the Garden in Jan 2006 and never coming close to selling out.

 

[U2FanPeter]

would the 2007 Van Halen boxscores include the private/corporate and secret 3rd show they did in Toronto in November?

Someone compared Police/Bruce in Detroit. I think this is what happened after Bruce played the political game in 2004. Some of his audience checked out for awhile.

There was another posting about cheap ticket out front for the Police in vancouver. Opening night they were giving them away, partly because there were no real reviews yet, but the next night it was $100 to get in at show time. This was because for the last Vancouver show people stopped expecting the worst and because someone in the press printed that $20 tickets were abundant so the scene outfront was a freeloader chaos.

u2fp

 

[Strongbow]

Well, that would explain why Strongbow's posting style seemed familiar. Why the name change, Sting2? Forgot your password and didn't want to go to Sting3?

You got it.

 

[Strongbow]

Which was my original point at the beginning of the Cops hype, specifically about the super quick Fenway Park sell out, I said that it was a kind of false sell out cause the market would flood with tix later when the tix held for Red Sox season ticket holders to purchase if they desired were put back in the system, and if you read the posts here from July,(see pages 17-19 of this thread, posts by myself and phanan) that happened...the Red Sox and Ticketmaster were selling thousands of good seats for the Police at Fenway, including the Red Sox enticing people to buy with the inclusion of a free pair of Red Sox tix (Tickets which were in much higher demand in Boston this year than the Police). I explained to your previous incarnation(which was a better screen name ) that the Red Sox hold a pair of seats for each season ticket account, which would add up to 10's of thousands of tix, and as expected, many of the Sox season ticket holders didn't exercise their opportunity to purchase the seats cause they had been burned so badly trying to re-sell Stones tix in 2005 cause the price point was way too high for the demand, just like the Police.

You don't have any figures to show how many tickets were released later after the on sale date, so the above is just pure speculation and is something that would apply to any artist making the issue essentially irrelevant.

The main point is that The Police DID NOT make a mistake in booking stadiums across North America and the rest of the world based on the results they saw at Fenway Park. Plus it wasn't just the sales at Fenway Park, it was also how fast the first Madison Square Garden shows soldout. Arthur Fogal, the tour promoter for The Police and U2 was very impressed with the results at Fenway Park, the official boxoffice results prove that the Police tour was not hype, but is already one of the most successful tours in history.

As the ticket reseller, ticketsnow.com has stated, The Police tour was the hottest resell ticket of 2007. Many scalpers still made plenty of money selling tickets for even higher prices. So even when you look at the secondary ticket market which is not an accurate way at looking at concert success, the Police overall did very well for many people. Sure, many people got burned, but thats no different than any tour where tickets are priced at their correct market value.


The Police tour has already grossed $250 million dollars plus. By the end of summer 2008 it will likely be at the $400 million dollar mark making it the second most successful tour ever in history and way ahead of most big artist including Bruce Springsteen and Madonna who's last tours grossed a little above $200 million dollars. Bottom line, The Police are doing amazing business and the only artist on the planet that are even competitive with this performance are U2 and the Rolling Stones. Not bad for a band that only had 5 albums and last toured almost a quarter of a century ago.