SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, today revealed its second annual Year In Live Events (YILE) report, which found that consumers, globally, are spending more than ever on live event experiences in a year marked by firsts, lasts and historic milestone events. The top-10 selling events of the year in the U.S. on StubHub were sports events, led by Super Bowl 50, which outsold last year’s Super Bowl by 7%, and the World Series, which was the highest-selling World Series ever on StubHub. Adele led all the music acts with the #1-selling tour spot and the runaway Broadway hit, Hamilton: An American Musical, drove at least four times the sales of any other theater production in company history. International NFL games and fútbol matches led as the top five international events with the highest sales from U.S. ticket buyers.
“At StubHub, we are driven by one purpose: to connect people to inspiring event experiences,” said Scott Cutler, president of StubHub. “2016 has been a remarkable year, underscored by once-in-a-lifetime events that have demonstrated our customers' innate desire to make life's richest memories happen live at sports, concerts and performing arts events. As these experiences play an increasingly meaningful role in our lives, StubHub is committed to leading in innovation, premium products and partnerships to make access to a life rich in live experiences easier than ever.”
- According to a survey of international consumers, globally, consumers have increased spend on live events by 8% in the last year.
- Additional StubHub consumer insights and sales trends show that the event-going experience is becoming increasingly connected by mobile, driven by social connections and an influencer of travel plans.
- Around the world, StubHub reports that mobile usage to purchase tickets is up, and users who switch from desktop to buying in the StubHub app tend to buy more tickets and spend more money.
- Regardless of region, buyers are willing to travel more than two hours to a live event of their choice, with buyers in Italy having the highest tendency to travel for events, buyers in the UK spending the most money on international events and Spanish buyers proving to be the most socially oriented, with the highest tendency to buy in advance and attend events in groups.
Across all live events, the past year has been highlighted by milestone and historic events that are unrivaled in years past, including Super Bowl 50, which was also the last game played by Peyton Manning, Kobe Bryant’s final home game, championship appearances for Cleveland in basketball and baseball, UFC taking its first match to New York City, the Cubs’ historic showing and win in the World Series, Desert Trip’s first year, a popular COPA America, and the Broadway phenomenon of Hamilton: An American Musical. A recent third-party survey, commissioned by StubHub, shows that events like these are driving fans’ happiness, with 88% of respondents saying live events make them happy and named their first concert as their best memory over first kiss and first job.
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2016 Top 10 Events* |
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1. Super Bowl 50 |
6. World Series Game 2 | |||
| 2. World Series Game 4 | 7. Utah Jazz v Los Angeles Lakers (4/13) | |||
| 3. World Series Game 3 | 8. NBA Finals Game 7 | |||
| 4. World Series Game 5 | 9. MLB NL Championship Series Game 6 | |||
| 5. World Series Game 1 | 10. 2016 College Football Championship | |||
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*List represents top events in the U.S. based on total value of ticket sales on StubHub for each event |
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(StubHub’s Top 10 Events in 2015: 1. Super Bowl XLIX; 2. World Series Game 3; 3. World Series Game 4; 4. World Series Game 5; 5. Mayweather v Pacquiao; 6. 2015 College Football Championship; 7. World Series Game 2; 8. NHL Stanley Cup Final; 9. New England Patriots v Dallas Cowboys (10/11); 10. 2015 Cotton Bowl College Football Semifinal (Alabama v Michigan State) |
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Top music events in 2016 were dominated by music festivals with the mainstay festivals – Coachella and Lollapalooza – maintaining their top positions, and newcomer Desert Trip coming in with sales that rivaled both. Artist tours were highlighted by Adele and dominated by nostalgic legacy acts including Springsteen, Billy Joel, Guns N Roses and Pearl Jam, as well as pop including Bieber, Beyoncé, Drake and Coldplay. Luke Bryan was the only country act to break the top-10 tour list; Luke Bryan and Billy Joel are the only acts returning from the top 10 in 2015.
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2016 Top 10 Music Tours* |
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| 1. Adele | 6. Billy Joel | ||
| 2. Justin Bieber | 7. Coldplay | ||
| 3. Bruce Springsteen | 8. Guns N Roses | ||
| 4. Beyoncé | 9. Pearl Jam | ||
| 5. Drake | 10. Luke Bryan | ||
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*List represents top music tours in the U.S. based on total value of ticket sales in the U.S. on StubHub |
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(StubHub’s Top 10 Tours in 2015: 1. Taylor Swift ; 2. Garth Brooks ; 3. Billy Joel; 4. U2; 5. Ed Sheeran; 6. Luke Bryan; 7. The Grateful Dead; 8. Kenny Chesney; 9. One Direction; 10. Rolling Stones) |
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Top Selling International Events* |
| 1. Oakland Raiders vs. Houston Texans (Mexico City on 11/22) |
| 2. Barcelona vs. Atlético de Madrid (Barcelona on 4/5) |
| 3. Arsenal vs. Chelsea (London on 9/24) |
| 4. Barcelona vs. Real Madrid (Barcelona on 4/2) |
| 5. Chelsea vs. Liverpool (London on 9/16) |
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*List represents the international events with the highest sales generated by U.S. buyers on Ticketbis |
The theatre category grew the most in 2016 but the greatest amount of ticket sales were generated in the concert segment of the StubHub business:
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2016 Top Genres* |
2016 Top Growing Genres* |
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| 1. Concerts | 1. Theater | |||
| 2. MLB | 2. Music Festivals | |||
| 3. NFL | 3. Motor Sports | |||
| 4. College Football | 4. Soccer | |||
| 5. Theater | 5. Concerts | |||
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*List generated by total ticket sales across event type in the U.S. on StubHub |
*List represents most growth in total ticket sales since 2015 across event type in the U.S. on StubHub |
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2016 YEAR IN LIVE EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS:
- Kobe’s last game generated nearly 25% of the total sales for the Lakers season and sold twice as many tickets than the NBA Finals game this year.
- Sales for this year’s World Series were 160% higher the 2015 World Series and were 85% higher than the 2014 World Series (SF Giants v Kansas City Royals), which previously held the lead as the highest sales for a World Series on StubHub.
- Tickets to the final game of the World Series were purchased by a buyer in every state within the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii) and from 12 different countries.
- Adele’s highest-selling single-tour date was Sept. 23 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
- The top-selling, single-day music event overall was for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on March 28 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
- Metallica’s Aug. 20 show at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis also outsold Adele’s highest-selling tour date.
- Luke Bryan was the best deal of the top-10 artists with the lowest average ticket price across his U.S. dates while Adele generated the highest average ticket price, earning her nearly three times the total sales of Luke Bryan but with 16 fewer dates than Bryan.
- With the fewest number of dates, Pearl Jam had nearly one-fourth the number of dates as Luke Bryan who came in behind the rock group at #10, but the group was able to command nearly twice the average ticket price as Bryan.
- Coachella remained the biggest music festival and Desert Trip’s arrival generated a comparable level of demand that’s unique for a newcomer festival.
Data provided throughout this release is compiled from StubHub and Ticketbis sales data and consumer buying habits, StubHub consumer insights studies surveys and buying trends from 2015 through 2016, and StubHub international strategic research on consumer behavior.
About StubHub
At StubHub, our mission is simple: help fans find fun. We connect fans with their favorite teams, shows and artists and introduce them to the ones they'll love next. As the largest ticket marketplace in the world, we enable fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of events, whenever they want, through our desktop and mobile experiences, including our StubHub app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android. Offering a superior fan experience at its core, StubHub reinvented the ticket resale market in 2000 and continues to lead it through innovation. Our industry firsts include the introduction of the first ticketing application, the first interactive seat mapping tool and the first live entertainment rewards program, Fan Rewards™. Our business partners include more than 60 teams in MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and NCAA, AEG, AXS and Spectra Ticketing & Fan Engagement. With the acquisition of Ticketbis in August 2016, throughout the world, StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience. StubHub is an eBay company (NASDAQ:EBAY). For more information on StubHub, visit StubHub.com or follow @StubHub on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or YouTube.com/StubHub.