Big leagues, big events, and the surprise demand winners
This year, Ticket Club fans didn’t just go to games—they chased bucket-list events, rivalry matchups, and the kind of live spectacles that turn into annual traditions. Using Ticket Club order data pulled through December 29, 2025, we looked back at what led the way across Concerts, Sports, and Theatre.
To protect company-sensitive information, we’re sharing rankings and themes (not raw sales totals). Want the full year-in-review package? Start here and then move on to our other category deep-dives: Concerts | Theatre.
And if you’re already plotting your 2026 schedule: Ticket Club members get no added fees on tickets—so you can keep your budget focused on the important stuff (like snacks, parking, and pretending you’ll “just watch highlights” next time).
The biggest surprise: 2025 wasn’t only about the big leagues
Yes, the major leagues showed up in a big way (more on that in a second). But the most “tell me you love live events without telling me” takeaway from 2025 is that sports fandom is much bigger than the NFL/NBA/MLB conversation. In Ticket Club’s data, the overall #1 performer for both sales volume and demand was Monster Jam. That’s not a fluke—it’s what happens when an event is family-friendly, schedule-friendly, and rolls through a ton of markets.
The other headline: rodeo and bull riding didn’t just have a moment—they had a year. Events like National Finals Rodeo, Stockyards Championship Rodeo, PBR Bull Riding, and PBR – Unleash The Beast consistently ranked among the biggest demand drivers. The “why” is pretty intuitive once you think about it: these aren’t just events—they’re traditions. They have regional loyalty, repeat attendance, and a built-in “bring the whole crew” vibe that behaves a lot like a holiday concert run.
And this is where sports is secretly similar to concerts: repetition matters. When a property stacks dates (or runs a season with lots of home games), it creates more chances for fans to buy—especially when plans come together late. That’s why you’ll see season-long engines like Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves mixing right alongside one-off “event” purchases and traveling fan moments. In other words: 2025 sports was the perfect blend of weekly habits and once-a-year chaos. We love a balanced lifestyle.
When fans bought: March led sales volume, while August led demand
Sports has a rhythm, and 2025’s rhythm had two clear peaks depending on what you measure. By overall sales volume, March ranked #1. By demand (order activity), August ranked #1—with July close behind. That split makes sense when you consider what each month represents in the sports calendar.
March is where “big-stage sports” starts stacking up: tournaments, championship chases, marquee matchups, and high-stakes games that feel like a mini-holiday for fans. Even if you’re not following every bracket or standings race, March has a way of turning casual interest into “okay fine, let’s go.” That kind of urgency tends to produce a strong sales-volume month—especially when premium events and high-profile nights collide on the calendar.
August, meanwhile, is the land of volume. Baseball is in full swing, summer event series are everywhere, and the “let’s do one more fun thing before fall” energy is undefeated. That’s also where you see demand-heavy experiences that aren’t necessarily tied to a traditional league schedule, including destination-style weekends and repeat-date properties. It’s no coincidence that August includes top-demand moments connected to Ellensburg Rodeo, special-event nights like Green Bay Packers Family Night, and high-interest “you have to be there” spectacles.
And just like concerts, the day-of-week story is extremely predictable in the best way: Saturday ranked #1 for both sales volume and demand. Friday and Sunday follow. Translation: fans love a night that either starts the weekend or finishes it with a bang—preferably without a 7:30 a.m. meeting hovering over their heads.
Where it all happened: Vegas won premium, Houston won volume (and a few venues absolutely carried)
If you only looked at one line from the location data, make it this: Las Vegas ranked #1 by overall sales volume, while Houston ranked #1 by demand. Two very different kinds of wins—both extremely on brand.
Vegas is the capital of “make it a weekend.” Big-ticket, destination-driven events naturally cluster there, and that tends to push sales volume up. It also helps explain why properties tied to Vegas-style travel behavior—like National Finals Rodeo and mega-event combat or wrestling nights—show up as notable moments in the year. Vegas isn’t just where events happen; it’s where fans go when they want the experience to feel bigger than the seat they’re sitting in.
Houston’s demand leadership comes from a different engine: a dense calendar, huge local fan bases, and recurring events that act like community traditions. One of the clearest examples is the continued draw of the Houston Livestock Show And Rodeo, which behaves like its own sports-and-entertainment universe. Add steady team schedules and repeat-buy behavior, and you get a market that consistently racks up orders.
The venue leaderboard tells the same story in concrete terms. By sales volume, the top venues were: TD Garden (#1), Madison Square Garden (#2), Thomas & Mack Center (#3), Cowtown Coliseum (#4), and NRG Stadium (#5). These venues represent three different demand types: iconic big-city arenas, premium destination event rooms, and tradition-heavy local engines.
By demand, the top venues were even more revealing: Cowtown Coliseum (#1), Petco Park (#2), NRG Stadium (#3), TD Garden (#4), and Yankee Stadium (#5). That’s “repeat events + baseball season volume + big-market staples” in one tidy list. In other words: 2025 wasn’t driven by one kind of sports fan. It was powered by many kinds of sports fans.
Top 10 lists (ranked)
Top 10 performers by sales volume (ranked)
- Monster Jam
- National Finals Rodeo
- Boston Red Sox
- New York Knicks
- Stockyards Championship Rodeo
- PBR Bull Riding
- Buffalo Bills
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Chicago Cubs
- PBR – Unleash The Beast
Top 10 performers by demand (ranked)
- Monster Jam
- Stockyards Championship Rodeo
- PBR Bull Riding
- Atlanta Braves
- Boston Red Sox
- San Diego Padres
- Detroit Tigers
- New York Yankees
- Chicago Cubs
- PBR – Unleash The Beast
(Translation: 2025 sports fandom was part “season tickets energy,” part “let’s do something fun this weekend,” and part “I will travel for this.”)
The “big moments” list: single-event standouts
Some nights don’t behave like normal games. They behave like events—the kind where fans travel, groups coordinate outfits, and the story gets retold for months. Here are the biggest single-event standouts in our sports data.
Top 10 single sports events by sales volume (ranked)
- Pittsburgh Steelers — NFL International Series (Steelers vs. Vikings) — Croke Park (Dublin, Ireland) — Sep 28, 2025
- College Football Playoff National Championship — Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA) — Jan 20, 2025
- Daytona 500 — Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, FL) — Feb 16, 2025
- New York Knicks — Eastern Conference Finals home game — Madison Square Garden (New York, NY) — May 21, 2025
- Canelo Alvarez — vs. Terence Crawford — Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas, NV) — Sep 13, 2025
- National Finals Rodeo — Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, NV) — Dec 13, 2025
- Chicago Bears — vs. Minnesota Vikings — Soldier Field (Chicago, IL) — Sep 8, 2025
- National Finals Rodeo — Thomas & Mack Center (Las Vegas, NV) — Dec 11, 2025
- WrestleMania — 2 Day Pass — Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas, NV) — Apr 19, 2025
- Gervonta Davis — Premier Boxing Champions (vs. Lamont Roach) — Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY) — Mar 1, 2025
Top 10 single sports events by demand (ranked)
- Pittsburgh Steelers — NFL International Series (Steelers vs. Vikings) — Croke Park (Dublin, Ireland) — Sep 28, 2025
- Daytona 500 — Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, FL) — Feb 16, 2025
- Ellensburg Rodeo — Ellensburg Rodeo (Ellensburg, WA) — Aug 30, 2025
- Atlanta Braves — MLB Speedway Classic (Reds vs. Braves) — Bristol Motor Speedway (Bristol, TN) — Aug 2, 2025
- Green Bay Packers Family Night — Lambeau Field (Green Bay, WI) — Aug 2, 2025
- Ellensburg Rodeo — Ellensburg Rodeo (Ellensburg, WA) — Aug 29, 2025
- Houston Livestock Show And Rodeo (Bun B’s Birthday Bonanza) — NRG Stadium (Houston, TX) — Mar 7, 2025
- Canby Rodeo — Clackamas County Event Center (Canby, OR) — Aug 16, 2025
- Cook Out Southern 500 — Darlington Raceway (Darlington, SC) — Aug 31, 2025
- Monster Jam — Casey’s Center (Des Moines, IA) — Apr 12, 2025
Bonus: the “premium bucket list” effect
One more fun pattern: some events don’t need a long season to create massive interest—they just need the right spotlight. In 2025, the priciest “treat yourself” experiences (by average ticket price) clustered around championship stakes, destination weekends, and globally recognizable brands. Think international NFL moments, big-time boxing and wrestling cards, and iconic annual traditions like Kentucky Derby and US Open Tennis Championships.
The takeaway is simple: if an event is a bucket-list purchase, it tends to behave like one—fans travel, plan early, and treat the ticket as part of the trip. If you’re aiming for value, watching the calendar (and being flexible on dates/sections) can make a huge difference.