should u2 increase their ticket prices on the next tour?

[U2girl]

They probably will, a little, as it happened with every tour for a while now.

But as long as they don't charge as much as the Rolling Stones/Madonna/McCartney and keep the best tickets at the lowest price, I'm not calling for anyone's head.
That said, I did think the tickets were expensive for Elevation and Vertigo.

 

[akann]

A hundred dollars for an amazing one off show such as u2 is not a lot of money. The way the world is today, most people tend to blow $100 on a night out anyway. It's not that much imo and I will be willing to pay even more than what they are charging now to see the greatest live band ever.

 

[indra]

U2Man, I love your threads! You always get the most entertaining answers.

 

[Axver]

A hundred dollars for an amazing one off show such as u2 is not a lot of money. The way the world is today, most people tend to blow $100 on a night out anyway. It's not that much imo and I will be willing to pay even more than what they are charging now to see the greatest live band ever.

WTF. $100 can feed me (or at least buy the food to do so) for three weeks. I'm very reluctant to part with such a significant sum of money. I consider myself rich if I have more than that in my wallet.

But hey, if $100 really isn't much money, can you send me some?

 

[U2Man]

U2Man, I love your threads! You always get the most entertaining answers.

thanks

well, a lot of effort usually goes into the creative process

this time around we need to give chizip a little credit too, though. his free concert thread inspired me.

 

[U2Man]

1. Rolling Stones "A Bigger Bang Tour" 2005-2006 $440,982,715.5

2. U2 "Vertigo Tour" 2005-2006 $389,047,636

3. Rolling Stones "Bridges To Babylon/No Security Tour" 1997/1998/1999 $339 million GROSS.

4. Rolling Stones "Voodoo Lounge Tour " 1994-1995 $319 million GROSS.

5. Rolling Stones "Licks Tour" 2002-2003 $300 million GROSS.

of course bono wants that number 1 spot. and when u2 has it, this forum will explode in posts such as:

"hahahahaha, the stones and coldplay can suck it , u2 is the biggest band in the world now "

 

[redhotswami]

unless i've missed something, i don't think i saw anybody offer up the obvious resolution to increasing ticket prices.

go GA

I've never paid more than $50ish for a U2 show.

 

[akann]

Axver

My point is it's not that expensive when compared to a lot of other events. You're paying just as much for an All Black test these days and other sporting events as well. It's not like we're seeing them every year either, most of us will only see them a handful of times if we're lucky and I don't mind dipping into the bank balance every now and again.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I'd just like to say that I really hate the fact that "The Biggest Act In The World" title goes to whoever sells the most...

It's not about talent or substance anymore its simply how much $$$ you can get, how many records you can sell, how many shows you can sell out and how many T-shirts you can sell.

Of course I get a feeling of pride when I hear that U2 is the highest grossing act of whatever year but that only lasts for a few minutes.

I don't like the idea of rising ticket prices if there is no need and other than making more money really, what other reason would they do this? Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should...

 

[toscano]

of course bono wants that number 1 spot. and when u2 has it, this forum will explode in posts such as:

"hahahahaha, the stones and coldplay can suck it , u2 is the biggest band in the world now "

Yeah, but only in the mornings before the posters pack up their laptops to go to school, and in the evenings if they don't have too much homework

 

[schnumi]

u2 didnt charge half of what the rolling stones charged for an average ticket at their last tour. every single vertigo show was sold out. it would make sense to raise the ticket prices next time, to show the world that u2 is indeed as big or maybe even bigger than the stones.

anyone can make thousands of people come to a show if its free or if the ticket prices are really low. the really big bands can make people come to their shows, even though the ticket prices are very high.

should u2 show who is the biggest and most popular band in the world on their next tour?

I don't think prices have to do with being the biggest.

Id only pay more if they would top the POPmart screen etc.

Im not paying more for more of the same. I want everything bigger.

 

[corianderstem]

I'd be curious to see how many people who were all pissed off about the "cash grab" of U218 don't see a problem with ticket prices jumping up dramatically.

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I'd be curious to see how many people who were all pissed off about the "cash grab" of U218 don't see a problem with ticket prices jumping up dramatically.

I'd be curious to see how many of those who bitch about U218 actually bought it...

 

[U2Man]

I'd be curious to see how many of those who bitch about U218 actually bought it...

me!!!

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

me!!!

Me as well, although I didn't bitch... much

 

[corianderstem]

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i believe both pearl jam and bruce springsteen have proven that you can effectively hold back scalpers by being just a little creative with how you give out your best tickets... u2 could easily follow suit... just make it so all fan club tickets need to be picked up the day of the show with proper ID... bada bing bada boom. you could even take it a step further and requre the person who picked up the tickets to get a wristband which they need to be wearing upon entrance just to make sure that they don't re-sell it after picking it up.

any tickets that end up not being picked up by show time can get re-released at the box office for those who've been waiting around with the hopes of getting a ticket from a non scalper source.

u2 gets their money, the hardcore fans get the best seats, the scalpers lose money


(i first put pearl jam and the rolling stones by accdient and have now corrected it to say springsteen... my bad)

 

[corianderstem]

That would be delightful.

Let's band together and send massive psychic power to Dublin and the U2 offices.

.... listen to Headache ...... use Pearl Jam's example .... pleeeeeeeeease.......

 

[U2Man]

rolling stones have scalpers, even though their ticket prices are so high?

that means that the stones could raise their ticket prices even further!

 

[toscano]

I'd be curious to see how many of those who bitch about U218 actually bought it...

not me

downloaded WITS though, but it's crap so I didn't buy it.

 

[STING2]

of course bono wants that number 1 spot. and when u2 has it, this forum will explode in posts such as:

"hahahahaha, the stones and coldplay can suck it , u2 is the biggest band in the world now "

Outside of the United States/Canada, U2 is bigger than the Stones! Consider the following statistics:


Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang Tour(outside USA/Canada)

GROSS: $148,407,984
ATTENDANCE: 1,480,547
AVERAGE GROSS PER SHOW: $4,364,940
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE PER SHOW: 43,545
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: $100.24
SHOWS: 34
SELLOUTS: 11

U2: VERTIGO TOUR(outside USA/Canada)to date:

GROSS: $245,697,711
ATTENDANCE: 3,137,122
AVERAGE GROSS PER SHOW: $4,724,956
AVERAGE ATTENDANCE PER SHOW: 60,329
AVERAGE TICKET PRICE: $78.32
SHOWS: 52
SELLOUTS: 52


If U2 had not underplayed North America and other places around the world, their Gross total would have been higher than the Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones average gross per tour used to be almost double that of U2, not anymore.

Plus, take a look at album sales, "A Bigger Bang" only sold about 3 million copies, while the BOMB sold over 9 million copies!

 

[U2Man]

i believe that the stones are still bigger than u2 in markets such as germany, scandinavia and england.

 

[phanan]

We saw your previous post, STING2. There's no need to repeat the same statistics.

 

[schnumi]

If U2 had not underplayed North America and other places around the world, their Gross total would have been higher than the Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones average gross per tour used to be almost double that of U2, not anymore.

Underplayed america?

Give me a break, U2 is playing way to much in the states. They need to give the european fans some love, americans get more then enough shows.

Now it's time for a bigger european leg or even 2.

 

[STING2]

Notice that nearly 1 million more people went to see the Vertigo Tour over the A Bigger Bang tour. 32 Rolling Stones concerts failed to sellout after being on sale for over 6 months. Almost every U2 concert soldout as fast as tickets could be sold.



VERTIGO TOUR
ATTENDANCE: 4,615,035
SHOWS: 131
SELLOUTS: 131



A BIGGER BANG TOUR
ATTENDANCE: 3,623,450
SHOWS: 113
SELLOUTS: 81

 

[U2Man]

how far were the stones shows from being sold out?

 

[STING2]

i believe that the stones are still bigger than u2 in markets such as germany, scandinavia and england.

Think again.

LONDON

U2
June 18-19, 2005 : Twickenham Stadium : GROSS $13,677,410 : ATTENDANCE 110,796 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 2

The Rolling Stones
Aug. 20, 22, 2006 : Twickenham Stadium : GROSS $13,526,368 : ATTENDANCE 100,540 : SHOWS 2 : SELLOUTS 0

As close to being the Stones hometown as any other major city in England, but the Stones still are beaten handily in London by U2. Higher Gross, higher attendance, plus one of the fastest sellouts in the history of the venue for U2. The Stones shows here were on sale for 6 months, and tickets in the low price ranges were still available the day of the show.


CARDIFF

U2
June 29, 2005 : Millennium Stadium : GROSS $6,406,073 : ATTENDANCE 63,677 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

The Rolling Stones
Aug. 29, 2006 : Millennium Stadium : GROSS $5,534,100 : ATTENDANCE 48,988 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 0

U2 outgross the Stones in another city in the Stones own country the UK. The Stones struggle for months to get across the 50,000 mark, but are simply unable to with tickets still available at all price levels day of show.

GLASGOW

U2
June 21, 2005 : Hampden Park : GROSS $5,819,053 : ATTENDANCE 53,395 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

The Rolling Stones
Aug. 25, 2006 : Hampden Park : GROSS $4,022,000 : ATTENDANCE 31,495 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 0

The Stones get beat in yet another city in their own country by U2

BERLIN

U2
July 7, 2005 : Olympiastadion : GROSS $4,725,530 : ATTENDANCE 70,443 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

The Rolling Stones
July 21, 2006 : Olympiastadion : GROSS $3,997,912 : ATTENDANCE 44,989 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 0

The Stones get thumped in both attendance and gross in the capital of the country which had previously been perhaps their strongest market outside the United States!

MUNICH

The Rolling Stones
July 16, 2006 : Olympiastadion : GROSS $5,770,265 : ATTENDANCE 53,501 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 0

U2
August 3, 2005 : Olympiastadion : GROSS $5,343,379 : ATTENDANCE 77,435 : SHOWS 1 : SELLOUTS 1

The Stones achieve a slightly higher GROSS than U2 in Munich, but the U2 show soldout in only a few hours leaving plenty of fans in the area without tickets. In contrast, the Stones show is on sell for months, and barely makes it across the 50,000 mark. Its another city that is perhaps underplayed by U2, and one in which the Stones exaust all available demand. U2's rapid sellout and comparable gross really make this a city where U2 is the stronger concert drawer.


In Scandinavia, the Stones only played one stadium show that did not sellout and one small arena show. U2 by contrast did 3 soldout stadium shows!

 

[STING2]

Underplayed america?

Give me a break, U2 is playing way to much in the states. They need to give the european fans some love, americans get more then enough shows.

Now it's time for a bigger european leg or even 2.

I'm talking about the supply of available tickets. The supply in Europe was nearly 2 million, in North America it was under 1.5 million. U2 could play to 2.5 million people in North America at these prices and obviously at least 3 million in Europe. The point is, they underplayed both markets when you look at the demand the supply of available tickets.

 

[U2Man]

In Scandinavia, the Stones only played one stadium show that did not sellout and one small arena show. U2 by contrast did 3 soldout stadium shows!

not true. and now i'm starting to doubt your figures. the stones played some festival grounds in denmark with a crowd of 100.000+ with ticket prices at least twice as high as u2's. it was a sell out.

 

[Chizip]

Underplayed america?

Give me a break, U2 is playing way to much in the states. They need to give the european fans some love, americans get more then enough shows.

Now it's time for a bigger european leg or even 2.

U2 played to more fans in Europe than the US last tour