A lot can be said about Irish rock quartet U2, but one of their most talked about accolades is their ability to sell concert tickets. When U2 hits the road, not only do they move tickets, they break records. The band's iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE is reaching fans in more personal ways than ever before and that is sure to sell even more tickets as fans clamor for the chance to see the rockers live as the tour wraps this week at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
The band's last tour, U2 360, which ran from 2009-2011, was the biggest tour in concert history with 110 shows that grossed $736.4 million and moved 7.2 million tickets, according to Billboard Boxscore. As a whole, U2 is regarded as the top touring act in the world, having moved 22.8 million tickets to 625 shows that grossed $1.5 billion at the box office in the past 30 years.
The North American leg of their current iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour is slated to wrap up on July 31st in New York City and their sales have yielded noteworthy results. The tour, which is in support of their latest album, Songs of Innocence, began on May 14 and will come to an end in November in Paris, racking up a total of 44 shows. Although a solid run, the 44 dates seem nearly miniscule in comparison to the 110 dates the 360 World Tour saw, and venue size, which has varied greatly from the two tours, will play a role in whether or not U2 continues to crush tour records.
By comparison, the 360 Tour hit one Glasgow date on August 18, 2009, at Hampden Park, a 50,917 capacity venue. On the current iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour, U2 will make two stops at The SSE Hydro, a 13,000 capacity arena. Even with the two dates, the seats available to fill presents a considerably smaller ticket revenue possibility. U2 will also hit a whopping six London dates at the O2 Arena, a venue that seats 20,000. Even with the six shows (120,000 if both sell out), their two dates at the Wembley Stadium provided the band with the ability to sell 164,000 tickets. According to international ticket reseller Ticketbis, secondary market get-in prices to see U2 in London at the O2 Arena is, on average, $282.89 with the secondary ticket price across the six dates ranging from $220.94 to $332.15. For their 360 World Tour, an average ticket price was comparable and went all the way up to $594.15 in some markets.
For their upcoming dates at New York City's Madison Square Garden, the average secondary ticket price is $396.07. In 2011, secondary market tickets to see U2 in East Rutherford, NJ cost an average of $290.09, with a get-in of $67, according to TiqIQ.
Many speculate that U2's return to the more "intimate" arena tour is to showcase the personal nature of the music on Songs of Innocence, despite their ability to sell out larger venues and move more tickets. After the colossal run with 360, perhaps U2 is on less of a mission to break records and on more of a mission to connect with fans.
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