Will U2 sell the remaining tickets to make this tour a complete sell out?

[Hewson]

So I just added up all the tickets remaining . .

This does NOT include: GA for Pittsburgh and Louisville, 2nd Chicago or New Jersey how, or the festival in Tennessee.

There are over 13000 tickets unsold.

With the GA added, probably between 15000 -- 16000.

Ouch.

At a minimum that's over 15 million in lost revenue.

Or 1.5 Million if you do the math right.

 

[Mac_Fly]

Or 1.5 Million if you do the math right.

Ah, I stand corrected.

So much for using desktop calculators in a hurry . . .

 

[The_acrobat]

Here's what left for the non-sold out shows. BLUE DOTS ONLY, the red dots are resale and have been sold, as far as the band is concerned.... they get paid rather somebody buys that ticket or not. Scalpers will get desperate and come down on their prices to get people to buy those tickets.

LA 2- 2,085
Houston- 2,848
Pittsburgh- 3,363 (there's lots more that haven't even been attempted to be sold)
Tampa- 1,401
Louisville- 2,386 (plus whatever is unsold on the floor)

 

[The_acrobat]

Here's what left for the non-sold out shows. BLUE DOTS ONLY, the red dots are resale and have been sold, as far as the band is concerned.... they get paid rather somebody buys that ticket or not. Scalpers will get desperate and come down on their prices to get people to buy those tickets.

LA 2- 2,085
Houston- 2,848
Pittsburgh- 3,363 (there's lots more that haven't even been attempted to be sold)
Tampa- 1,401
Louisville- 2,386 (plus whatever is unsold on the floor)

That comes to roughly 12,000 unsold tickets for the whole tour... kings of Leon probably have that many unsold for each show! BOOM!

Pittsburgh is gonna be interesting. The rest won't be too bad looking by show day.

 

[Mac_Fly]

That comes to roughly 12,000 unsold tickets for the whole tour... kings of Leon probably have that many unsold for each show! BOOM!

Pittsburgh is gonna be interesting. The rest won't be too bad looking by show day.

I forgot the seats that have been blocked off in Pittsburgh.

That should count too, in a way.

No matter. If Pittsburgh is the only flop on the tour that isn't too shabby.

 

[bono2017]

I forgot the seats that have been blocked off in Pittsburgh.

That should count too, in a way.

No matter. If Pittsburgh is the only flop on the tour that isn't too shabby.

Selling 40,000 tickets to one show in Pittsburgh is NOT a flop. The Joshua Tree show there in 1987 and the ZOO TV show there in 1992 only sold roughly that many and they were not considered flops. Most popular artist only are able to play a single arena show to 17,000 people on their Pittsburgh stops. You usually don't see multiple arena dates let alone a stadium being played when it comes to Pittsburgh.

 

[The_acrobat]

Selling 40,000 tickets to one show in Pittsburgh is NOT a flop. The Joshua Tree show there in 1987 and the ZOO TV show there in 1992 only sold roughly that many and they were not considered flops. Most popular artist only are able to play a single arena show to 17,000 people on their Pittsburgh stops. You usually don't see multiple arena dates let alone a stadium being played when it comes to Pittsburgh.

Yep. They'll probably still end up with enough people to fill the Pittsburgh arena (whatever it's called) twice, which would've been considered extremely successful.

 

[rennowba]

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/...t-sales-says-ticket-seller-1.3082834?mode=amp

 

[womanfish]

Bottom line is they are getting great press for this tour. Also, to have them outstrip demand for Ed Sheeran and Adele is pretty amazing.

Anyway, if we are looking at 12,000 unsold tickets over the entire tour, probably a bit less as each show day comes, then they will have sold over 99% of the available tickets. That's absolutely amazing considering we are seeing almost every other rock band struggling to sell 50 to 80% of their tickets.

 

[womanfish]

I forgot the seats that have been blocked off in Pittsburgh.

That should count too, in a way.

No matter. If Pittsburgh is the only flop on the tour that isn't too shabby.

Can someone show me what has been "blocked off" in Pittsburgh? I'm not really seeing that looking at the TM map...

 

[rennowba]

Looking on the ticketing sites. Think it's only Pittsburgh we're you will really notice empty seats.

 

[Mac_Fly]

Can someone show me what has been "blocked off" in Pittsburgh? I'm not really seeing that looking at the TM map...

It applies to the upper level only.

The available seats give it away.

There are rows and rows of seats available up to a certain point, after which (moving to higher rows) all others are grayed-out.

 

[womanfish]

It applies to the upper level only.

The available seats give it away.

There are rows and rows of seats available up to a certain point, after which (moving to higher rows) all others are grayed-out.

Ahhhh. Gotcha. Thank you, i see that now.

 

[vandesa]

When I saw the original tour back in 1987 attendance at CNE in Toronto was 62,846.

Are there any venues given the stage set up, than are going to be that big on this tour?

 

[georgemccauley]

Bottom line is they are getting great press for this tour. Also, to have them outstrip demand for Ed Sheeran and Adele is pretty amazing.

Anyway, if we are looking at 12,000 unsold tickets over the entire tour, probably a bit less as each show day comes, then they will have sold over 99% of the available tickets. That's absolutely amazing considering we are seeing almost every other rock band struggling to sell 50 to 80% of their tickets.

Saw that article today. In this day and age it's a great achievement by them. They have done very well with the sales in what might be the last time we witness them on a stadium tour, hope not though. They belong in stadiums!

 

[Bernie02]

Selling 40,000 tickets to one show in Pittsburgh is NOT a flop. The Joshua Tree show there in 1987 and the ZOO TV show there in 1992 only sold roughly that many and they were not considered flops. Most popular artist only are able to play a single arena show to 17,000 people on their Pittsburgh stops. You usually don't see multiple arena dates let alone a stadium being played when it comes to Pittsburgh.

Why play Pittsburgh though? They should have hit any of Denver/Phoenix/Minny instead.

 

[Bernie02]

Selling 40,000 tickets to one show in Pittsburgh is NOT a flop. The Joshua Tree show there in 1987 and the ZOO TV show there in 1992 only sold roughly that many and they were not considered flops. Most popular artist only are able to play a single arena show to 17,000 people on their Pittsburgh stops. You usually don't see multiple arena dates let alone a stadium being played when it comes to Pittsburgh.

Why play Pittsburgh though? They should have hit any of Denver/Phoenix/Minny instead. Or Montreal.

 

[Hewson]

When I saw the original tour back in 1987 attendance at CNE in Toronto was 62,846.

Are there any venues given the stage set up, than are going to be that big on this tour?

I'd guess The Rose Bowl will be more, the capacity for football is around 92,000.
They are selling 19 out of 28 sections so that's around 62,500 in the stands, add in 11,000 for the field and we're in the low to mid 70's there.

 

[womanfish]

When I saw the original tour back in 1987 attendance at CNE in Toronto was 62,846.

Are there any venues given the stage set up, than are going to be that big on this tour?

I think Seattle was already more than that. I've heard two reports saying 66,000 and "nearly 70,000" for that show...

Rose Bowl definitely will top it.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

There seem to be a LOT of floor tickets being sold, more than 360, because of the wide open layout.

 

[Mac_Fly]

Saw that article today. In this day and age it's a great achievement by them. They have done very well with the sales in what might be the last time we witness them on a stadium tour, hope not though. They belong in stadiums!

I've always felt that way too.

I know a lot of people prefer the indoor arenas.

But U2 has a big sound that can fill up an open air stadium like no other.

 

[womanfish]

Boxscore should be up for the first few shows soon. The most recent have some shows from early May on there... PS. It seems that Coldplay is huge in Indonesia.

 

[bono2017]

Why play Pittsburgh though? They should have hit any of Denver/Phoenix/Minny instead. Or Montreal.

Pittsburgh was not played on the 2015 Innocence and Experience tour which means there is greater demand there to see U2 than Denver, Phoenix and Montreal which got shows on the 2015 tour. Also, Denver only sold 28,000 tickets for its two shows in 2015 which makes It a bad idea for a stadium show when you need at least 40,000 if not more to make the stadium look full.

 

[Mac_Fly]

Pittsburgh was not played on the 2015 Innocence and Experience tour which means there is greater demand there to see U2 than Denver, Phoenix and Montreal which got shows on the 2015 tour.

On the other hand, Phoenix sold out two arena shows for the I&E tour..

Not to mention, with the whole Tempe thing back then, it would be a natural fit for U2 to play there it would seem.

Not sure you can judge the demand in Phoenix to be saturated when they sold out two shows in 2015, I'd think that would be a good indication to the contrary.

 

[bono2017]

On the other hand, Phoenix sold out two arena shows for the I&E tour..

Not to mention, with the whole Tempe thing back then, it would be a natural fit for U2 to play there it would seem.

Not sure you can judge the demand in Phoenix to be saturated when they sold out two shows in 2015, I'd think that would be a good indication to the contrary.

You can judge it based on how fast the tickets were sold in Phoenix. Tickets for most of the cities sold at a slower pace despite sellouts then in past tours. In addition, any city will naturally be weaker in terms of demand when its already been played recently. Phoenix was played in 2015, Pittsburgh was not. Pittsburgh got the Joshua Tree show. While Phoenix and Denver may have had some historic U2 shows, that does not make them automatic sellout markets for U2. Just look at what happened on POPMART in those cities.

 

[Wide Awake n AZ]

Phoenix is a U2 town. This area has felt connected to the band since the Joshua Tree tour, not only the $5 R&H show that virtually everyone in the state went to (except me...long story I have told), but also due to their first show on the tour running headfirst into the Ev Mecham/MLK Day controversy, and then the Zoo TV tour again running headfirst into the MLK Day controversy (with PE not playing due to it). Add the desert theme, and, yeah....a Joshua Tree themed show in particular would recycle old memories, get massive coverage that a regular U2 show would not, certainly with the local media producing pieces that would tie the two together


Analytics serve as a tool, not as the total answer.

 

[Mac_Fly]

You can judge it based on how fast the tickets were sold in Phoenix. Tickets for most of the cities sold at a slower pace despite sellouts then in past tours. In addition, any city will naturally be weaker in terms of demand when its already been played recently. Phoenix was played in 2015, Pittsburgh was not. Pittsburgh got the Joshua Tree show. While Phoenix and Denver may have had some historic U2 shows, that does not make them automatic sellout markets for U2. Just look at what happened on POPMART in those cities.

It's in the eye of the beholder then isn't it?

You say two sold out shows equates to over saturation, I say it equates with interest and enthusiasm.

You say a slow sales pace equates with an empty Tempe stadium ala POPMART, I say a sold out show is a sold out show -- especially a sold out I&E tour (not a sure thing in any given city).

Not to dismiss your points, they probably did feel that after two shows there two years ago it might be too soon to return for a stadium show.

But this particular kind of stadium show -- the entire JT performed, well, I just think it would have made sense to play there and the turnout would have been great.

 

[hand0lotion]

If Cleveland was NOT the North American tour closer, it would not be sold out (is my guess). Vice versa, if they closed in Pittsburgh or God forbid Louisville, those would sell out as well.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Aren't there political reasons for skipping Arizona? Even more so than the 6-8 red state shows they are doing in 2017.

If Cleveland was NOT the North American tour closer, it would not be sold out (is my guess). Vice versa, if they closed in Pittsburgh or God forbid Louisville, those would sell out as well.

They've had other North American tour closers that didn't sell out. Even an arena show in 2001(Britney has venue record 2,000 more people than U2 in Miami).

 

[bono2017]

Phoenix is a U2 town. This area has felt connected to the band since the Joshua Tree tour, not only the $5 R&H show that virtually everyone in the state went to (except me...long story I have told), but also due to their first show on the tour running headfirst into the Ev Mecham/MLK Day controversy, and then the Zoo TV tour again running headfirst into the MLK Day controversy (with PE not playing due to it). Add the desert theme, and, yeah....a Joshua Tree themed show in particular would recycle old memories, get massive coverage that a regular U2 show would not, certainly with the local media producing pieces that would tie the two together


Analytics serve as a tool, not as the total answer.

I thought Phoenix was a U2 town and then saw only 33,000 people show up to Sun Devil Stadium concert on POPMART just under 10 years after all the Joshua Tree stuff. I thought Denver was a "U2 Town" as well, but only 28,000 showed up at Mile High Stadium for POPMART. Despite these cities having great U2 history, it does not make them forever great U2 markets. 10 years let alone 30 years is a long time. Demographics change.