U2 and Stones tours, who will be #1 this year?

[Soldatti]

U2 or the Stones this year?

Some articles:
Rolling Stones Command Top Ticket Sales for May
Rolling Stones Trump Baseball, U2 According to TicketsNow Entertainment Index


CHICAGO, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rolling Stones proved they are still one of the biggest concert draws in all of rock n' roll as the band claimed the top spot in the TicketsNow Entertainment Index for the month of May. TicketsNow.com, the world's largest and most secure online marketplace for secondary event tickets, saw Rolling Stones fans out-purchase U2 fans as well as the fans of three of baseball's most storied franchises: the Red Sox, Yankees, and Cubs.
The Rolling Stones tour, which kicks off August 21 in Boston at Fenway Park, has 31 dates on the calendar and is already seeing premium tickets at some venues command more than $5,000. The Stones will perform with various other groups throughout the tour including Maroon 5, Pearl Jam, Joss Stone, Beck and John Mayer.

Baseball again proved that fans are still coming out to the ballparks in droves as all top five sellers in the sports category were baseball teams; the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Baltimore Orioles were the top five sports tickets sold. Wicked, for the fifth month running, held on to its top spot for theater tickets, making it the seventh most popular event on the site overall.

Following are the category leaders for May:

Top May Events Overall
1 Rolling Stones
2 Boston Red Sox
3 New York Yankees
4 Chicago Cubs
5 U2
6 Paul McCartney
7 Wicked
8 Monty Python's Spamalot
9 Kenny Chesney
10 Neil Diamond

Top May Concert Ticket Sales
1 Rolling Stones
2 U2
3 Paul McCartney
4 Kenny Chesney
5 Neil Diamond


Rolling Stones set to break record

Early reports regarding the presale of tickets as well as speculated sponsorship deals indicate that the 2005 Rolling Stones Tour will top the 1994 "Voodoo Lounge" tour as the most profitable in US history. With their 1994-95 "Voodoo Lounge" tour, the Rolling Stones set a record by grossing nearly $340 million, $121 in US alone.

For the 2005-2006 tour, income from tickets, merchandise and corporate sponsorship for Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood is expected to reach an astonishing $400 million.

The average face value of a single ticket for the concerts in America and Canada is $90 but tickets are now selling for an average of $400 on eBay. This amount is expected to go up as mid-summer approaches.

 

[bathiu]

U2 did better than the Stones in 1997 with PopMart (the best grossing tour of 1997) wich sold much more than Bridges thing Tour.

I don't see a problem of U2 doing it again with VertigoTour

 

[Zooropa man]

U2 damit!!!!!

 

[Fano]

Who is going to see the Rolling Stones ????
They were never any good .
Has beens

 

[Carmelu2fan]

U2 will beat the Rolling Stones( not that I have anything against them) I just like U2 better!!!!

 

[play it cool]

The Stones may earn more as they're probably going to play more stadiums and charge huge amounts for their tickets.

 

[Lancemc]

I'm feeling pretty confident Vertigo will outsell the Stones tour. Wasn't an early estimate for this tour something like 160 million dollars or more? Wouldn't that make it the highest grossing tour ever?

 

[Super_Fan]

$160 million and could reach $300 million after this tour is over with.

 

[Lemonfix]

Meh. I don't care. If casual music fan baby-boomers (and no offense to any boomer reading this ) want to put the Stones over the edge (no pun intended) then let em. Who's first and who's second kinda seems irrelevant, no?

 

[STING2]

U2 are on track to GROSS $300 million dollars alone from ticket sales this year (2005) for the 110 shows that have been put on sale and soldout. About $140 million will be from North America, the other $160 million coming from 32 stadium shows in Europe. For the Year, U2 will easily beat the Stones when it comes to Worldwide Gross.

But it is currently unknown what the true average ticket price is for the Stones shows, so an estimate of the 40 shows they are schedualed for this year cannot be accurately made. Amusement Business will have all the numbers at the end of the year, provided that Michael Cohl does not wait a full year to release them like he did last time for the Stones.

If the Stones charge a high enough average ticket price for their North American tour, it is possible for them to out Gross U2 in North America, but they will not even be in the ballpark worldwide by the end of the year. They will have to wait until the rest of their tour ends in 2006 to have a shot.

The fact that the Stones will eventually have the top tour by 2006 comes as no surprise, since the Rolling Stones have been the top touring act since 1975. But, on their last tour, nearly half the shows did not sellout indicating a possible decline in their concert drawing status.

A better question would be how many copies the new Rolling Stone album of new material will sell. HTDAAB has currently sold over 9 million copies, 6 months after its release.

 

[Leebonoman96]

Also remember the Stones will charge more than double the ticket price of U2. A better indication would be attendance figures and the number of sold out shows each band will have.

 

[P-T-P]

Also, didn't most of u2's shows go on sale well before May? There would be simply less U2 tickets to buy.

 

[STING2]

Also, didn't most of u2's shows go on sale well before May? There would be simply less U2 tickets to buy.

Yep, the ticketsnow.com chart for May means nothing. The Stones are naturally at the top because their shows just went on sale in May.

 

[TheBrazilianFly]

Who is going to see the Rolling Stones ????
They were never any good .
Has beens

Yeah, right.....

 

[2Hearts]

Thank goodness for the Rolling Stones. Without them, U2 would be seen as #1 instead of #2 in terms of "corporate sellout" rock. Wait, I guess I should give Paul McCartney credit here and list U2 at #3. Making money is the sign of a sellout, crap band. Haven't you heard?

 

[ScottsJen]

U2 ofcourse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[stagman]

No contest.
I even hear Oasis are gonna tour....haha good luck you pair of idiots!

 

[mosquito]

I supposse you are talking of north america tour 2005. In this case gross for U2 will be 135million$ . Stones will have on sale( some shows still not available or even announced) aproximately 1,200,000 tickets with arena average ticket aprox.235$ and stadium average ticket aprox.140$. I have made some numbers and i think stones gross will be over 145 million $.