euro dates not sold out

[hedge]

i have just composed a long, detailed and thoughtful analysis of why there seem to be loads of tickets still available for U2's european leg that starts in 2 weeks.

But it refused to post due to there being routine maintenance on the site!!!

So i really cannot be bothered doing it all again.

I will just ask a general question hoping for some feedback...

look at the dates that are not sold out yet.

munich, moscow, san sebastian and seville look like they will sellout by show date

hannover, frankfurt - only 2 weeks left for these dates to sell out

Italy - what is going on?

Athens, Istanbul - looking like there are more unsold than sold at the moment! is it common for these markets to not buy in advance?

thoughts?

 

[Janus02]

Hannover: EUR 179,00 for seats in the back.......= stupid

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

i have just composed a long, detailed and thoughtful analysis of why there seem to be loads of tickets still available for U2's european leg that starts in 2 weeks.

But it refused to post due to there being routine maintenance on the site!!!

So i really cannot be bothered doing it all again.

I will just ask a general question hoping for some feedback...

look at the dates that are not sold out yet.

munich, moscow, san sebastian and seville look like they will sellout by show date

hannover, frankfurt - only 2 weeks left for these dates to sell out

Italy - what is going on?

Athens, Istanbul - looking like there are more unsold than sold at the moment! is it common for these markets to not buy in advance?

thoughts?

1. U2 has already played 24 massive stadium shows in Europe with an average attendance of 70,000+ per night. At some point, when you keep adding shows, you will reach the point of saturation which will prevent you from selling out.

2. Remember, this is the first tour ever that has played football stadiums in a 360 format. This means U2 has to sell and extra 20,000 to 30,000 seats just to achieve a sellout in these stadiums.

3. 11 of though shows on the 2nd leg are soldout leaving only 11 that are not.

4. Germany has always typically been a weaker market for U2 in Europe, and Greece and Turkey are new or somewhat new.

5. The only head scratcher might be Italy, but again were talking about having to sellout 80,000 seat stadiums.

6. The economy is obviously not in the best shape these days.

 

[digitize]

The economy is a big factor. It's much, much worse in Europe than in America - right now would have been a very good time for U2 to play an American leg, considering how close the euro has gotten to the dollar again. It's no wonder Italy isn't selling out. They're one of the worst of Europe. Greece is certainly the worst of the eurozone. Turkey wasn't the richest place in the world to begin with (it's generally considered the developing world, though it's hardly Sub-Saharan Africa)... same with Russia. Germany's doing pretty well, but they're never a strong market for U2. France and Britain are holding on, sort of, but there's one concert between both nations. What's a wonder is that U2 are still doing so well in Spain and Portugal.

 

[robbrecon72]

Here is a break down of sales. I think we are looking at last minute buyers. Salt Lake City sold 1000 tickets the 3rd week out before the concert was supposed to happen and only roughly 200 the week before that. the closer to the show the tickets will fly. I'm still working on Istanbul that website is touchy.

Greece: Sales are good!

Sept 3 Athens Olympic Stadium
Red Zone sold out
Price level 1 Cat 1 multiples
Price level 2 Cat 2 multiples
Price level 3 Cat 3 Singles
Standing Tickets sold out
Price level 4 Cat 4 sold out

Germany: Sales will be fine. Frankfurt questionable.

Frankfurt
Category 1 available
Category 2 available
Category 3 available
Category 4 sold out
Category 5 sold out
Category 11 available-VIP section

Hannover
Category 1 available
Category 2 available
Category 3 sold out
Category 4 sold out
Category 5 sold out
Category 6 sold out
Category 7 sold out

Munich
Category 1 available
Category 2 sold out
Category 3 sold out
Category 4 sold out
Category 5 sold out
Category 6 sold out

Spain: Sales are awesome

Sept 29 Seville Spain Olympic stadium
€403.00 Palcos VIP multiples
€380.50 Palcos VIP multiples
€257.50 red zone sold out
€168.50 fondo club sold out
€168.50 fondo grada baja singles
€168.50 preferencia club singles
€168.50 preferencia grada baja singles
€101.50 fondo club sold out
€101.50 fondo grada alta singles
€101.50 fondo grada baja singles
€101.50 fondo voladizo sold out
€101.50 gol sur banco pista singles
€101.50 gol sur grada alta inf multiples
€101.50 gol sur grada alta sup multiples
€101.50 gol sur grada baja singles
€101.50 preferencia club sold out
€101.50 preferencia grada alta singles
€101.50 preferencia grada baja sold out
€101.50 preferencia voladizo sold out
€79.50 gol norte banco pista sold out
€79.50 gol norte grada alta inf sold out
€79.50 gol norte grada alta su sold out
€79.50 gol norte grada baja sold out
€62.50 GA sold out
€34.50 gol norte banco pista sold out
€34.50 gol norte grada alta inf sold out
€34.50 gol norte grada alta su sold out
€34.50 gol norte grada baja sold out

Sept 26 San Sebastian Estadio Anoeta
€257.70 red zone sold out
€168.50 tribuna este baja multiples
€168.50 tribuna principal baja multiples
€107.00 gol norte singles
€107.50 gol norte alta singles
€107.50 gol norte baja sold out
€107.50 tribuna esta alta singles
€107.50 tribuna este baja sold out
€107.50 tribuna principal alta singles
€107.50 tribuna principal baja sold out
€62.50 entrada general pista sold out
€34.50 anfiteatro sold out
€34.50 gol sur sold out
€34.50 gol sur alta sold out
€34.50 gol sur baja sold out
€34.50 tribuna esta alta sold out
€34.50 tribuna principal alta sold out

 

[coolian2]

meh, still two weeks away from the nearest date. they'll go as we get closer. there won't be any embarrassingly empty stadiums.

 

[Janus02]

5. The only head scratcher might be Italy, but again were talking about having to sellout 80,000 seat stadiums.

Olimpico = 28.000 seats

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

The economy is a big factor. It's much, much worse in Europe than in America - right now would have been a very good time for U2 to play an American leg, considering how close the euro has gotten to the dollar again. It's no wonder Italy isn't selling out. They're one of the worst of Europe. Greece is certainly the worst of the eurozone. Turkey wasn't the richest place in the world to begin with (it's generally considered the developing world, though it's hardly Sub-Saharan Africa)... same with Russia. Germany's doing pretty well, but they're never a strong market for U2. France and Britain are holding on, sort of, but there's one concert between both nations. What's a wonder is that U2 are still doing so well in Spain and Portugal.

I don't think you could state U2 is doing bad or not well in any of these markets. They are playing massive stadiums in the round and will likely end up selling out all or most of the remaining 11 shows that have yet to sellout.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Olimpico = 28.000 seats

Good point! This is another show in Northern Italy, Southern France area where U2 has already played 2 shows at the massive San Siro Stadium, as well as a Stadium in Nice.

They knew ahead of time that it would be difficult to put on another stadium show in the area which is why they went with Olimpico instead of Stadio delle Alpi which can hold nearly 75,000 people for concerts.

Still, with GA on the field, I think there should be a capacity for between 40,000 and 50,000 people for the show at Olimpico.

 

[robbrecon72]

Olympic size pitches can play a factor into this as well. Of the 22 stadiums they are playing 17 of them have olympic size pitches, thus increasing the amount of tickets considerably! For example, last year the concert at Slaski stadium in poland had a capacity of 43,000 but they had sold 75,180 tickets. That's 32,180 people on the pitch. At Maksimir stadium in Zagreb, it's capacity is 38,923 and there were two shows there so that's 77,846, but u2 sold 124,012 tickets to those two shows, that's 23,086 people on the pitch per show. Last year there was over 16,000 on the pitch for each sweden show.

Since moscow has a capacity of 84,745 there could potentially be more than 100,000 people at that concert or close to it. It seems to be roughly 95% sold out right now.

 

[doctorwho]

Two quick things:

1) Large stadiums with the field tickets still hold 40K+ in seats. That's a lot more tickets than any arena. U2 could have had another arena show, with some select market stadium shows as before, and sold out everywhere. By making this a full stadium show, there's bound to be a few areas that don't sell due to saturation of the market (as was already stated). If U2 sell 90% of any show, it could mean 35,000 to 90,000 tickets sold, which is far larger than any arena show. The advantage of arena is usually multiple dates, meaning fans can see the show when it works best for their schedules. With one show, fans are limited. Still, 90,000 tickets sold, even if not a sell-out, is still amazing.

2) The definition of "sell out". We have had pages and pages of this discussion already. Even if there are 100,000 seats, a "sell out" might be only 80% of that. I'm not sure what "rules" there are for these, but I see this happening everywhere, not just with U2. Baseball stadiums are famous for this - having a sell out even though there are less people than at another game where that was also considered a sell out. This proves that the stadium could hold more people, but both shows were sell outs. So what is the "magic number" for a sell out? Also, as U2 have field tickets, do those count as part of the sell out? For example, the stadium might only hold 50,000 people in seats. 40,000 of those seats are sold and technically the show is not a sell out. However, U2 sold 10,000 field tickets, for a total of 50,000 tickets sold. The stadium holds 50,000 and U2 sold 50,000 tickets. Thus, they have a sell out. This is just speculation, but my point is I'm sure some of these shows that are close (that is, >90% of the tickets sold) will be considered as "sold out".

 

[Aygo]

The economy is a big factor. It's much, much worse in Europe than in America - right now would have been a very good time for U2 to play an American leg, considering how close the euro has gotten to the dollar again. It's no wonder Italy isn't selling out. They're one of the worst of Europe. Greece is certainly the worst of the eurozone. Turkey wasn't the richest place in the world to begin with (it's generally considered the developing world, though it's hardly Sub-Saharan Africa)... same with Russia. Germany's doing pretty well, but they're never a strong market for U2. France and Britain are holding on, sort of, but there's one concert between both nations. What's a wonder is that U2 are still doing so well in Spain and Portugal.

Portuguese: we can be homeless and starving for days, but we always have money for fun and for products to impress our neighbour - that has to come first.

 

[vaz02]

Portuguese: we can be homeless and starving for days, but we always have money for fun and for products to impress our neighbour - that has to come first.

That made me laugh quite badly

 

[KEVIN051269]

Good point! This is another show in Northern Italy, Southern France area where U2 has already played 2 shows at the massive San Siro Stadium, as well as a Stadium in Nice.

They knew ahead of time that it would be difficult to put on another stadium show in the area which is why they went with Olimpico instead of Stadio delle Alpi which can hold nearly 75,000 people for concerts.

Still, with GA on the field, I think there should be a capacity for between 40,000 and 50,000 people for the show at Olimpico.

Stadio Delle Alpi is being/has been demolished

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Stadio Delle Alpi is being/has been demolished

Thats terrible. Why would anyone want to destroy Turin's biggest stadium?

 

[coolian2]

Thats terrible. Why would anyone want to destroy Turin's biggest stadium?

because it was a hovel.

 

[Popmartijn]

Thats terrible. Why would anyone want to destroy Turin's biggest stadium?

To build a new one instead.

 

[HBK-79]

Why is Germany such a tough market for U2?

AC/DC dominated the entire Republic on their last tour.

 

[Tyagu_Anaykus]

That made me laugh quite badly

Sadly, It's true

 

[Aygo]

^ It is, and unfortunately I wasn't being ironic (although this has nothing to do with what the media have been unfairly saying about our economy) - this is a cultural issue within that comes from generations even from the times we were a monarchy.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Why is Germany such a tough market for U2?

AC/DC dominated the entire Republic on their last tour.

Germany seems to be big into Metal, so U2 just isn't RAWK enough for mainstream rock fans. U2 has the same problem in the United States where they actually have less fans per capita here than any other developed nation. The definition of rock in the United States is either loud pseudo-metal screaming on mainstream stations or anything that doesn't deviate too much from Led Zeppelin on Classic Rock radio (where U2 gets almost no play whatsoever).

 

[robbrecon72]

so far so good, turino was sold out at 40,000 tickets. pretty good considering the capacity of the stadium is 27,994. that figure of course was from an article. billboard may be a little less or a little more, who knows. i'll bet that every show in europe will be sold out with the exception of istanbul, that one may be iffy.

 

[Dima]

because it was a hovel.

actually the stadium was beautiful...but completely useless

1)too big for Turin (despite being the home of Juventus that's the most beloved football team of Italy, in Turin the vast majoity of the people supports Torino that's the other team of the city and that's struggling in minor leagues)
2)watching a football game in Delle Alpi was simply a nightmare: the completely useless trackfield that ran around the football field actually made the view uncomfortable even from the best seats (you were simply too far away)...the consequence was a (sad) half empty stadium.
3)the rent for the stadium was too high...so Juventus decided to move from Delle Alpi to Comunale (now called Olimpico after the 2006 winter Olympic games)
4)after juventus moved from Delle Alpi the society that ran the stadium found that it wasn't profitable anymore (Torino FC couldn't afford the rent alone) so seeked an aggreement with Juventus. The soil was sold to juventus that decided to demolish the old stadium and build a new one (about 40k seats)

 

[coolian2]

2)watching a football game in Delle Alpi was simply a nightmare: the completely useless trackfield that ran around the football field actually made the view uncomfortable even from the best seats (you were simply too far away)...the consequence was a (sad) half empty stadium.

that's what i meant by hovel, to be honest. i can't bear athletics tracks in football stadiums when they aren't needed!

 

[Dima]

that's what i meant by hovel, to be honest. i can't bear athletics tracks in football stadiums when they aren't needed!

yes, and why they decided to build a stadium for a football world cup (actually it was built for the 1990 world cup) with a trackfield is something beyond my comprehension. Definitely X-files material.

As for the thread newspaper here in Italy reported between 45k and 50k attendants..so technically a sell out.

As for the reasons of slow pace in tickets selling i think that the prices of the tickets are to blame. 180€+ for a tour already seen last year (with little or no changes) is simply crazy...recession or not.

 

[robbrecon72]

Torino had 45,000 according to this article: capacity of stadium 27,994

http://www.gazzettadiparma.it/primapagina/dettaglio/4/50135/U2:_festa_per_45mila.html


Frankfurt had 55,000 according to this article: capacity of stadium 52,300

U2 wieder auf Tour - Boulevard - Aktuelles - merkur-online

Hannover had 57,000 according to this article: capacity of stadium 48,933

U2 lässt es beim Konzert in Hannover richtig krachen Aus der Stadt Hannover / HAZ - Hannoversche Allgemeine

 

[robbrecon72]

70,000 For Horsens Denmark according to this article: capacity of the stadium is 11,000, so 35,000 each night.


Sidste chance for skuffede U2-fans - Musik - BT.dk

 

[digitize]

70,000 For Horsens Denmark according to this article: capacity of the stadium is 11,000, so 35,000 each night.


Sidste chance for skuffede U2-fans - Musik - BT.dk

That's more than the population of Horsens.

 

[prbiker15]

70,000 For Horsens Denmark according to this article: capacity of the stadium is 11,000, so 35,000 each night.

Impressive. Will be very interesting.

 

[robbrecon72]

According to this article there will be over 100,000 people for both helsinki concerts, a first for that venue. the actual capacity is 84,124 for both shows.

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