Stadiums in the US?

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zoopop

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Is U2 going to do stadiums for fall leg of their tour? With album doing so well, stadium setup in the summer, and with tickets going to be in high demand I would think U2 would take on stadiums for the US. Even though Popmart was the last stadium show U2 did in the states, the bomb is doing so well to pass up high demand. What do you guys think?
 
I have to doubt it. THe only reason I say that is that there aren't many people that can sell out stadiums anymore. I can't remember the last time a stadium tour went through Florida. It probably was like Ozzefest or something but I just don't think they could sell out stadiums all over the US. Maybe in big markets.

I was used to seeing them in stadiums up until last tour and I have to say I like to see them in arenas much better. It's far more intimate.
 
Ticket prices would have to come down for stadiums. Who wants to pay 60.00-80.00 for seats 200 yards from the band?
 
I have heard that they are in talks with Comcast with utilizing the Lincoln Financial Field in Philly for the fall. This is where the EAGLES play. The source was a popular DJ on a radio station here.
 
tkramer said:
Ticket prices would have to come down for stadiums. Who wants to pay 60.00-80.00 for seats 200 yards from the band?

Adjusted for inflation, the POPMART ticket price of 52.50 in 1997 today is 61 dollars. U2 soldout several stadiums in the United Sates at that ticket price. As long as they charge around 60 dollars per ticket, they could do wonderful business.

Let me remind everyone that this is U2's fastest selling album in the United States EVER? Faster than Joshua Tree and faster than Achtung Baby.

By the time tickets go on sales on January 15 , 2,500,000 albums will have already be sold to consumers in the USA, and the total shipment figure will be closing in on 3,500,000.


But, the band must be careful with the number of shows they play on the Spring first leg of the USA. If they play multiple nights in places like Miami, Philadelphia, Washington DC, etc, it would make it difficult to play Stadiums in the fall.

But just playing one night per city, would not dappen demand in most cities for a fall stadium tour.
 
sortofhomecoming said:
I have heard that they are in talks with Comcast with utilizing the Lincoln Financial Field in Philly for the fall. This is where the EAGLES play. The source was a popular DJ on a radio station here.

This fits the tour rumours which have them playing no arena shows in Washington DC and only one arena show in Philadelphia on the first leg spring tour. This is exactly what they did back in 1992 for the ZOO TV tour. They later came back and played two stadium shows in Philadelphia and two stadium shows in Washington DC on the fall ZOO TV tour.
 
It would make sense for some cities to get stadium shows. I think Boston, Chicago, New York, Philly and LA would sell out. Last year Springsteen sold out multiple nights in these stadiums at $75 per ticket. U2 is much bigger than Springsteen and should have no trouble selling out these shows at a reasonable price.
 
What barrett said.

U2 sells out stadiums in the major cities. Basically the places that voted for Kerry are the places that will fills stadiums to see Bono.
 
Maybe in Florida they would have a hard time selling out a stadium, but in Philly, NY, Boston, etc, will have ZERO problems... U2 could play 20 shows in Philly and sell them all out easy... as well as NY and Boston
 
It would be EXCELLENT if U2 played the Linc. I wasn't able to see an Eagles game there (I saw one game at the Vet 3 years ago b/c my uncle had an extra ticket-- twas awesome) this year, but I was there for the preseason rally thing they had there. Not a bad seat in the house...
 
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STING2 said:


This fits the tour rumours which have them playing no arena shows in Washington DC and only one arena show in Philadelphia on the first leg spring tour.

Your right Sting2 - but they really need to have two arena shows here in Philly.
 
Basically the places that voted for Kerry are the places that will fills stadiums to see Bono

They never had a problem selling out stadiums in Dallas. Hardly Kerry-ville. :wink:

I agree with the last poster. A smattering of arenas and sprinkle of stadiums in the larger markets.

And about Springsteen's versus U2's popularity: U2 is not going to sell out FIFTEEN shows at the Meadowlands. Now that's the boss' home but still.....FIFTEEN?! :ohmy:
 
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barrett said:
It would make sense for some cities to get stadium shows. I think Boston, Chicago, New York, Philly and LA would sell out. Last year Springsteen sold out multiple nights in these stadiums at $75 per ticket. U2 is much bigger than Springsteen and should have no trouble selling out these shows at a reasonable price.

It would not be possible for U2 to do the level of business Springsteen does in New York City and probably Philly as well since those cities straddle his home state.

Springsteen was in far less demand in places like LA and Chicago and this is where U2 would probably crush Springsteen. U2 would also probably do better Business in Washington DC as well as Boston.

In fact the only places where Springsteen has the edge over U2, anwhere in the world, is in New York City and Philly.
 
Hitman said:
What barrett said.

U2 sells out stadiums in the major cities. Basically the places that voted for Kerry are the places that will fills stadiums to see Bono.

Remember, there are millions of U2 fans who voted for Bush! All of my friends who are U2 fans are Bush supporters. They often travel from the suburbs into the cities that voted for Kerry to see the band play.
 
clip51 said:
Maybe in Florida they would have a hard time selling out a stadium, but in Philly, NY, Boston, etc, will have ZERO problems... U2 could play 20 shows in Philly and sell them all out easy... as well as NY and Boston

U2 did just fine in attracting a massive crowd for their POPMART tour stop in 1997 for Miami. U2 at best is good for 2 shows in Philly at a 50,000 seat stadium like the one the Eagles play in. That is really great business and about where they were on ZOO TV in terms of demand. They could probably do 6 shows at Giant Stadium if demand is going to be at the same level it was for ZOO TV.
 
sortofhomecoming said:


Your right Sting2 - but they really need to have two arena shows here in Philly.

They would hurt sales though for a fall stadium show or shows. It would be better for them to play one arena show and then come back in the fall and potentially play TWO stadium shows in Philly.
 
jedi Larry said:
Basically the places that voted for Kerry are the places that will fills stadiums to see Bono

They never had a problem selling out stadiums in Dallas. Hardly Kerry-ville. :wink:

I agree with the last poster. A smattering of arenas and sprinkle of stadiums in the larger markets.

And about Springsteen's versus U2's popularity: U2 is not going to sell out FIFTEEN shows at the Meadowlands. Now that's the boss' home but still.....FIFTEEN?! :ohmy:

If U2 have the same demand on this tour as they did on ZOO TV, they could sellout 6 shows at GIANTS STADIUM. They could probably do Fifteen shows at the Meadowlands Arena if they wanted to.
 
Reggie Thee Dog said:
I think there is a possibility that U2 could play a smattering of stadium shows, but not a whole leg of stadium shows.

If the album continues to sell faster than either Joshua Tree or Achtung, then the band may be forced to play a full leg of Stadium shows in order to meet demand.

The great thing about Stadium shows is that typically, tickets are much cheaper than arena shows.
 
I'll be so :( if U2 doesn't tackle stadiums this tour. There are very very few bands that could do a stadium show and U2 should be up for the challenge. I guess we'll find out in a few days.
 
That would be totally dumb because the weather would be crap in about half of the country by the time they rolled through on that leg. People would be freezing their asses off and/or getting snowed on. I can't see U2 (or any band, really) putting their fans through that.
 
That's happened before though. On ZooTV they played Mile High in Denver in the fall and it was freezing.

They could play the stadiums in the first half of the leg and then larger domes across the midwest and northeast.
 
STING2 said:


Remember, there are millions of U2 fans who voted for Bush! All of my friends who are U2 fans are Bush supporters. They often travel from the suburbs into the cities that voted for Kerry to see the band play.

How sad. Obviously they don't listen to the lyrics.
 
don't overestimate u2's ability to sell out stadiums, even in big cities. in nyc, during zoo tv, they sold out 2 shows at giants, and one at yankee stadium, but the second night at yankee stadium was not sold out. during popmart, they sold out 2 shows at giants, but the third night was pathetic. there wasn't a single seat sold on the third level and that was after thousands of tickets were given away free by radio stations. In Philly during popmart a second show that was reserved was cancelled because of weak demand. boston only had 2 shows, they had three during zoo tv. only one show was played in dc when they had 2 during zoo tv. popmart stadium ticket sales are even more disappointing since there was no arena shows to help meet demand. i love u2, but i do not think they can fill stadiums like they used to. nobody can. bruce does it through a loyal fan base that will see him for the next twenty years, even if he never releases another disc, u2's following is different. paul mcguiness is an incredibly smart business man. he doesn't want to oversaturate a market, he always wants demand to exceed supply, he said as much in u2 show. the last tour brought them the greatest profits of their careers and critical aclaim. there is no need for them to try stadiums in the us.
 
The newer stadiums (Lincoln Financial, Gillette, FedEx) are places that U2 hasn't played at and are perhaps better suited for concerts than that stadiums they replaced. Better accoustics, better overall experience. Agreed, 200 yards from the stage is still 200 yards from the stage whether you're watching U2 at the old Foxboro Stadium or the new Gillette Stadium. But I think it would be a better experience in the newer stadiums.

The point about stadiums working for U2 only in the 'Blue States' is probably valid. The band has had problems selling out arenas in some places, let alone outdoor stadiums. Boston could absolutely pull it off (and has); so too for the other big eastern seaboard cities. BUT, if the band is paying for an outdoor stadium stage set, then I don't see why they WOULDN'T seek to derive some additional use from it here in the U.S. after using it in Europe?

Chris in NH
 
I agree - do not overestimate U2's ability to sellout the stadiums.

In regards to the POPmart tour in Philly, it was at a venue that is not a normal concert location - and therefore, a turnoff do to not knowing how well public transportation and parking would be. The Linc has had two big concerts so far, Bon Jovi and Bruce - which were also sellouts - and I heard the sound is much better than the Vet.

In 1992 - the Outdoor ZooTV, they did sellout two shows at the Vet Stadium. The only Indoor ZooTV show at the Spectrum in March was sold out in 15 minutes. I just would love to have two indoor shows at the Wachovia Center.
:sexywink:
 
Johnovox said:


How sad. Obviously they don't listen to the lyrics.

They do listen to the lyrics but unlike some other fans, do not make wild extrapolations taking songs with one meaning and applying them to a hundred different politically left idea's.

The band are not pacifist and have supported military action in the past as well as much of, but not all of, Bush's war on terror. They are not the extreme politically left band that many liberal fans dream that they are. In fact, many of their political thoughts on a variety of issues are unknown.
 
bridonohue said:
don't overestimate u2's ability to sell out stadiums, even in big cities. in nyc, during zoo tv, they sold out 2 shows at giants, and one at yankee stadium, but the second night at yankee stadium was not sold out. during popmart, they sold out 2 shows at giants, but the third night was pathetic. there wasn't a single seat sold on the third level and that was after thousands of tickets were given away free by radio stations. In Philly during popmart a second show that was reserved was cancelled because of weak demand. boston only had 2 shows, they had three during zoo tv. only one show was played in dc when they had 2 during zoo tv. popmart stadium ticket sales are even more disappointing since there was no arena shows to help meet demand. i love u2, but i do not think they can fill stadiums like they used to. nobody can. bruce does it through a loyal fan base that will see him for the next twenty years, even if he never releases another disc, u2's following is different. paul mcguiness is an incredibly smart business man. he doesn't want to oversaturate a market, he always wants demand to exceed supply, he said as much in u2 show. the last tour brought them the greatest profits of their careers and critical aclaim. there is no need for them to try stadiums in the us.

During ZOO TV in New York City, all four stadium shows were soldout. "Amusement Business" which tracks the concert industry shows that all 104,000 tickets put on sale for the two combined Yankee Stadium shows soldout. They may not have been playing the absolute full capacity of the stadium, but every ticket that was put on sell was sold. Thats a confirmed fact from Amusement Business records. The band were planning to do 5 stadium shows in New York City for POPMART prior to the release of the album and tickets going on sell, based on their past performance in that city.

The POP album and POPMART tour saw demand for U2 tickets drop by around 50% across the United States. Still, this level of demand was far in excess of most other bands except the Rolling Stones and perhaps Pink Floyd(who were essentially disbanded by then) in the USA. World Wide, the only band able to beat U2 overall in Stadium concert business peformance was the Rolling Stones.

On POPMART in New York City, the first two shows did well and the third night was indeed behind, but once again how many artist out there are able to sell enough tickets to play THREE shows at GIANTS Stadium let alone one show! Friends that I have that went to the third show said the stadium looked 1/2 to 2/3s full. Around 30,000 people were there for the third night.

But remember, POPMART was a tour where demand for U2 tickets was down by 50% in the USA. Still, they soldout two shows in Boston, almost three in Chicago, and had great attendance in Miami, San Francisco, Washington DC, and soldout shows in LA and Philadelphia.

Worldwide, POPMART was the 4th highest GROSSING TOUR of all time with $171 million dollars worth of tickets sold. All U2 concerts in South America and most in Europe were sellouts. All this despite POP have sales that were much weaker than Joshua Tree or POPMART. U2 played a soldout show in Reggio Italy to 150,000 people on the POPMART tour. That show was the largest paying concert for a single band(no opening acts) in history!

Bruce Springsteen does incredible Business with Stadiums in the North Eastern part of the United States, but THATS IT! Bruce Springsteen failed to sellout out a single Stadium show in LA on his last tour! Outside of the North Eastern part of the United States, U2 would outsell Bruce anywhere on the planet, and I have the boxscore results from Amusement Business which show that fact.

By the way, the band is already booked to play stadiums all across EUROPE this summer! Paul McGuiness is a smart man and he is not going to have U2 play a tour where they FAIL to meet the demand that is out there. U2 on the last tour could have done stadiums in many of the major markets in the USA with attendance easily outstripping the attendance for the POPMART shows. But of course, when planning that tour, no one could be sure about what the demand would be like, so an Arena tour was planned.

Realize that this is U2's fastest selling album EVER in history. What influences the type of tour a band will do is the level of demand. The album sales of "BOMB" show that demand currently for U2 is stronger in the USA and elsewhere than at any time in their career. U2 booked a stadium tour on the Joshua Tree Tour when they had only 2 to 3 million albums in the USA of the Joshua Tree album. Same with Achtung, the stadium leg of the tour was booked around the time the band were at the 2.5 million to 3 million mark of the new album being sold. U2 reached these marks 5 to 6 months after the albums were released.

Currently, "BOMB" has already shipped over 3 million copies in the United States after only 4 weeks and at the 5th week mark has sold over 2,100,000 copies. At the current rate of sales, it will be at the same point in three weeks when stadium shows were booked for Joshua Tree and ZOO TV tours in the United States. Within two months, this album has provided the level of Demand it took Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby 5 months to build.

None of this guarentees that there will be stadium shows in the United States, but think about why the band moved to stadiums in 1987 and went back to them in 1992 in the United States. Strong album sales is a huge indicater and a "warm up Arena tour" is another. If the album continues to outpace Joshua Tree and Achtung as it is currently doing, plus the speed of sellouts on the Arena tour first leg is impressive enough, then we will see Stadium shows in the USA in the fall.

But if McGuinness plays multiple arena shows on the spring leg in many markets, then that will mean that regardless of increased demand, McGuinness has decided to keep the tour indoors. Playing to many arena shows in on the first leg would hurt sales for a fall stadium tour of the USA.

Even with the level of demand U2 had on POPMART in the USA, the band was able to sellout stadium shows in the United States. The new album is going to sell 3 times as many copies in the USA as POP did just this year. The new album has currently sold more than twice as many copies as ATYCLB had at this point and is all saw outselling Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby at the 5 week mark!

Will know in about 10 days if there will be a stadium tour in the fall or not. If McGuinness has the band playing multiple arena shows in many cities that would typically only get 1 or 2 stadium shows, on the the first spring leg, then stadiums in the fall for the USA will probably not happen. But if we see a first leg arena tour like the ZOO TV first leg arena tour, then stadiums will probably be played in the fall for the USA.
 
sortofhomecoming said:
I agree - do not overestimate U2's ability to sellout the stadiums.

In regards to the POPmart tour in Philly, it was at a venue that is not a normal concert location - and therefore, a turnoff do to not knowing how well public transportation and parking would be. The Linc has had two big concerts so far, Bon Jovi and Bruce - which were also sellouts - and I heard the sound is much better than the Vet.

In 1992 - the Outdoor ZooTV, they did sellout two shows at the Vet Stadium. The only Indoor ZooTV show at the Spectrum in March was sold out in 15 minutes. I just would love to have two indoor shows at the Wachovia Center.
:sexywink:

Don't forget how this album "BOMB" is selling in comparison to the Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby. Right now this is U2's fastest selling album EVER. Also remember the sales level of Achtung and Joshua Tree when stadium tours for those albums were booked. Already, "BOMB" is within a few weeks of reaching those sales levels in the USA.
 
regardless of the records, the second night at yankee stadium was a slow seller, and did not sell out. at least several thousand seats in the upper level, primarily behind home plate did not sell. i was there, but you can see this in the footage shot at the concert for the wild horses video and the fox special.
as i said earlier, third night giants had a pathetic turnout, and probably would have been cancelled if it was a one off show instead of a three night stand.
by putting on a stadium show and not selling out, u2 hurts its brand. mcguiness knows it's better to sell several nights in an arena than play to the same number of people in a stadium and leave seats unsold. every media review of shows at popmart where they had not sold out mentioned it. the press reported it as if it was a dissapointment, and it ended up being veiwed that way.
record sales is a horrible indicator of a bands ability to put butts in seats. usher will sell at least twice as many records as u2, but will not sell half as many tickets. the greatful dead were able to sell almost no albums but sell out stadiums continuously. u2 will sell out all their arena shows in the us, and all their stadium shows in europe, but i would be shocked if they attempted to play stadiums in the us this tour. i don't see the incentive for them.
 
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