MIXED BAG: THE BIG FIVE INDICIES
To say the last five years were a roller coaster doesn’t do justice to the fear and destruction the pandemic wrought; the bottom falling out of the live business and society at large; the climb back to normalcy which quickly became what Pollstar termed “The Great Return” with this business reaching unprecedented heights driven by what seemed insatiable consumer demand. The business is still sorting it out, as what once seemed insatiable demand this year is more satiable – but not by much.
See: Top Touring Artists Worldwide Chart (Subscribers)
As the live industry moved past the pandemic in 2022, we had a preview of what was to come when worldwide grosses for the Top 100 Worldwide Touring artists surpassed 2019’s year-end total by nearly 13%. That was plenty to celebrate, but the following year, worldwide grosses skyrocketed by a whopping 46.1%. It increased another 3.6% in 2024 and set a new all-time year-end gross record of $9.5 billion for the top 100 tours.
This year there’s been a correction of sorts with overall grosses landing 6.1% short of the 2024 worldwide total, but it’s still a massive $8.9 billion and 60.8% higher than 2019’s overall gross, the last full year prior to the pandemic.
RETURN TO POLLSTAR’S 2025 YEAR-END HUB
It’s a similar result with ticket sales as 2025’s worldwide total of 67.3 million reflects a 3.7% drop compared to 2024, yet the number of tickets sold this year is almost 10 million more than 2019’s number. Global attendance hit its peak in 2023 when ticket sales leaped from 59.2 million to 70.4 million in one year, but the level of growth has since leveled off. Sales are just a mere 4.4% less than that big number two years ago.
There is upward movement in two areas, though, with averages per show in both gross and attendance showing an increase. The 2025 Top 100 Worldwide Touring Artists averaged over $2.5 million per show worldwide, up 9.2% over 2024’s average, while ticket sales averaged 19,104 per night for an all-time record high. That’s 11.9% more than the 2024 average and 7.4% higher than 2023’s average of 17,793, which was the record high before now.
The 2025 average ticket price, however, is down slightly. The average increased from $96.17 in 2019 to $106.07 in 2022, marking the first time it had crossed the $100 threshold. Then, it steadily grew before peaking at $135.92 last year. This year’s price dropped 2.4% to $132.62, but it’s still more than either 2022 or 2023.
BEYONCÉ, OASIS, COLDPLAY DIFFERENT TOURING STROKES FOR DIFFERENT TOURING FOLKS
2025’s Worldwide Top Ten Touring Artists showed that there’s infinite ways to skin a tour and find success even in stadiums. Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter Tour” had the least number of venues ever to top a year-end survey at 9 stadiums, but her residencies of two to six nights per stop yielded a massive $407.6 million, selling 1.6 million tickets with a Top Ten leading average ticket price of $255.
After not touring for more than 15 years, Oasis’ “Oasis Live ’25 Tour” generated a massive buzz throughout the year as most thought the once acrimonious Brothers Gallagher would likely get together “not in this lifetime” (to purposely namecheck Guns N’ Roses’ surprising 2016 tour). They played double the markets as Beyoncé, but shorter multiples and lower ticket prices led Pollstar to estimate their gross at $405.4 million, but below “Cowboy Carter.”
Coldplay’s long and steady record-setting “Music of the Spheres Tour,” launched in March 2022, has set the bar for total ticket sales at 13,138,644 and grossed $1.52 billion from 223 shows. This year it grossed $390.5 million and a whopping 2.9 million tickets (the most by any artist) with a relatively reasonable average ticket price of $134, the third lowest in the Top Ten. They also played 50 shows across the globe that included stops in India, South Korea, Abu Dhabi and a record-setting 10 show residency at Wembley Stadium. (For a breakdown of the entire Top Ten Tours see here).
VENUES: STADIUMS ROCK; OTHER SIZE BUILDINGS, NOT SO MUCH
A substantial jump in box-office totals at stadiums and other large concert sites, over 30,000 in capacity, is a contributing factor to the year’s increase in averages. The average gross at stadium shows jumped to $7.11 million per concert this year, a 19% increase over 2024’s average. Also, the average number of tickets sold is 56,272, 11% higher than last year, while the average ticket price is 18.3% higher than in 2024. It averages $216.13 per show, up from $182.66 one year ago. And compared to 2023’s average ticket price at stadiums, this year’s average is 29% higher.
In the seven other venue groups, also categorized by seating capacity, there are both ups and downs in average gross and tickets, although in most of the smaller venue categories, the gross average per show actually climbed slightly year-over-year.
Only two venue groups saw a decrease in gross averages. The 15,001-30,000-capacity category, consisting primarily of larger arenas and smaller stadiums, saw a drop in the average gross, from $1.38 million per show in 2024 to $1.32 million this year, about 4.7%. Then, the smallest category of venues, with seating at 750 or lower, averaged $10,627 per show this year, down 5.3% from 2024. Over the last three years, that sector is down by 18.6%.
The other six categories saw increases in gross – as low as 1.06% in the 751-1,500 group and as high as 37.5% in the 1,501-2,500-capacity category.
On the other hand, ticket sales averages tended to drop slightly this year. Only two groups saw increases: the large arena category, 15,001-30,000, and the 5,001-10,000 group of large theaters and small sheds. And both of those increases were less than 1%. The decreases were also very minor with most categories decreasing between 1% and 2%, so ticket sales in most venue groups remained quite steady overall in back-to-back years with just slight movement in either direction.
NORTH AMERICAN MUCH LIKE WORLDWIDE
Although the live industry in North America this year experienced a similar result at the box office compared to the rest of the world, with single digit drops in both gross and tickets, the $5.8 billion gross in 2025 is up 55% compared to the last pre-pandemic year, while ticket sales are 10% higher than in 2019.
Although gross and tickets show slight declines of 6.6% and 5%, respectively, compared to 2024, the gross and ticket averages per show continue the worldwide trend with a year-over-year increase. This year’s North American gross average of $1.99 million per show is 6.8% more than last year, while the 14,805-ticket average per show beats the 2024 average by 8.6%.
The average ticket price, though, is also the same as the worldwide scenario and falls slightly in comparison to 2024. This year in North America, the top 100 touring artists had an average ticket price of $134.23, down 1.6% from last year’s $136.45.