A
S CITIES, STATES AND
entire countries shut
down to flatten the curve
of the coronavirus, the
touring industry is facing an unprec-
edented crisis. Live Nation, AEG
and major booking agencies WME,
Creative Artists Agency, UTA and
Paradigm released a joint statement
on March 12, effectively halting all
major tours worldwide. In the days
that followed, concert venues of all
sizes closed to stop mass gatherings.
As artists and executives scramble
to reschedule album rollouts and
get in on the livestreaming boom, an
analysis of boxscore data from 2019
offers insight into the hundreds of
millions of dollars the industry will
likely miss out on from major tours
in the coming months.
In 2019, the top 30 tours of March
and April collectively grossed
$697.5 million and sold over 6.5 mil-
lion tickets during the 61-day period,
according to figures reported to Bill-
board Boxscore. That marks an 11%
increase in revenue from the same
period in 2018, which was already
up 9% from 2017. These year-over-
year increases can be explained by
standard inflation, an ever-growing
ticketing market and the broadening
scope of global attractions, which
are more inclusive of hip-hop, Latin
and K-pop acts than ever before.
Assuming that 2020 earnings
would increase another 5% to 10%,
the top 30 tours of March and April
would have been expected to gross
approximately $750 million. That
doesn’t mean that March 2020
grosses will collapse to $0, however.
Initial reports for the early-March
tour dates that took place before can-
cellation recommendations are in the
multimillions thanks to A-listers like
Billy Joel, Halsey and Blake Shelton,
not to mention February’s leaders
Post Malone and Céline Dion. As
more artists, venues and promoters
report figures for shows during the
March 1-12 period, the month’s top 30
tours are likely to exceed $100 mil-
lion to $125 million in earnings — not
far off from the totals the industry
sees in the typically slow month of
January, when this year’s top tours
collectively grossed $144.5 million.In addition to the superstar tours
already mentioned, March was the
planned launch (or relaunch) of
tours by Cher, Ozuna, Lynyrd Sky-
nyrd and Chris Stapleton. A number
of acts were also making the transi-
tion to full national arena treks,
including Tame Impala, Dan + Shay,
Jojo Siwa and Billie Eilish. Because
many artists rely on live shows to
build buzz and boost sales (often
through ticket bundles), several have
had to adjust their album rollouts as
they rejigger routings. Dua Lipa re-
scheduled a European tour that was
supposed to begin in April, but she
softened the blow to fans by pushing
the release date of her album Future
Nostalgia up a week. Lady Gaga
indefinitely postponed her April
release, Chromatica, tweeting that it
“just doesn’t feel right with all that
is going on,” while noting that she
had planned a surprise Coachella set
to help unveil the record.
Some of the biggest hits to the
touring industry won’t be felt till
summer, when artists such as BTS,
Guns ’N Roses and Kenny Chesney
were all supposed to begin stadium
tours. While arena shows often earn
$1 million to $2 million, stadium
dates generally reap anywhere
from $3 million to $10 million each
night. The Rolling Stones — perhaps
the world’s most bankable tour-
ing act — averaged over $11 million
per show on the 2019 leg of the No
Filter Tour, but the band’s 2020 leg,
originally scheduled for 15 shows
beginning May 8, is also among the
postponed stadium tours. As agents
and promoters work to schedule new
routings for what is sure to be the
most crowded fall season on record, a
return to normalcy remains elusive.ARTIST(S)
Venue
Date(s)GROSS
Ticket PricesTOTAL
ATTENDEES
No. of ShowsPROMOTER(S)TOP BOXSCORES
Lipa recently
rescheduled her
European tour.AT A LOSS
Canceled and postponed March/April concerts will cost the
industry over half a billion dollars —and that’s just the startBY ERIC FRANKENBERGBEHIND THE BOXSCORE
13
ELTON JOHN
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin, New Zealand
Feb. 4$4,117,990
$219.19/$63.9933,731
1Frontier Touring14
ELTON JOHN
International Sports Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia
Feb. 25-26$3,992,190
$223.86/$65.3833,055
2Frontier Touring15
EAGLES
American Airlines Center, Dallas
Feb. 29$3,726,569
$774.50/$293.50/
$183.50/$123.5012,825
1Live Nation16
CÉLINE DION
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Feb. 18-19$3,587,437
$192.65/$147.32/
$71.77/$49.1128,257
2AEG Presents/
Concerts West17
BACKSTREET BOYS
Palacio de los Deportes, Mexico City
Feb. 20-22$3,560,696
$82.1043,370
3OCESA-CIE18
AVENTURA
Toyota Center, Houston
Feb. 14, 22$3,308,230
$500/$59.5022,734
2Live Nation19
BANDA MS DE SERGIO LIZARRAGA
Staples Center, Los Angeles
Feb. 14-15$3,166,581
$249/$3931,035
2Goldenvoice
Presents20
TOOL
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
Feb. 17-18$2,782,730
$120.95/$71.5827,306
2Frontier Touring21
RICKY MARTIN
Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Feb. 7-9$2,725,143
$650/$2031,927
3TM Entertainment22
MICHAEL BUBLÉ
Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
Feb. 7-8$2,685,360
$145.35/$89.9423,010
2TEG Dainty23
STRCITLY COME DANCING LIVE!
O2 Arena, London
Feb. 7-9$2,664,127
$123.12/$45.0842,033
5Phil McIntyre
Entertainments24
OPRAH WINFREY
Barclays Center, Brooklyn
Feb. 8$2,663,299
$299.50/$49.5013,244
1Live Nation25
CÉLINE DION
American Airlines Center, Dallas
Feb. 3$2,657,817
$237/$166/
$150/$9012,634
1AEG Presents/
Concerts West26
VAN MORRISON
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Feb. 5, 7-8$2,572,193
$229/$183/
$138/$91/$5511,881
3Caesars
Entertainment,
Live Nation27
ANDREA BOCELLI
Amalie Arena, Tampa, Fla.
Feb. 14$2,498,351
$179.3413,931
1David A. Straz Jr.
Center for the
Performing Arts,
Gelb Productions28
CÉLINE DION
Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, N.J.
Feb. 22$2,470,305
$246/$223/
$153/$8411,252
1AEG Presents/
Concerts West29
OPRAH WINFREY
The Forum, Inglewood, Calif.
Feb. 29$2,462,102
$299.50/$49.5013,505
1Live Nation30
MICHAEL BUBLÉ
RAC Arena, Perth, Australia
Feb. 21-22$2,452,890
$144.75/$60.0822,794
2TEG DaintyTOURING RECAP / FEBRUARY62 BILLBOARD • MARCH 28, 2020LIPA: RYAN PIERSE/GETTY IMAGES. HALSEY: WILL HEATH/NBC/NBCU PHOTO BANK/GETTY IMAGES. HEALY: LORNE THOMSON/REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES. JONAS BROTHERS: XAVI TORRENT/REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES. CAREY: SAMIR HUSSEIN/WIREIMAGE. AVENTURA: OMAR VEGA/GETTY IMAGES.7chart_touring [P]_27829449.indd 62 3/25/20 2:21 PM