With so much entertainment to go around in 2019, major venues around the country faced stiff competition to become the supreme seller. Ultimately, the year’s best-selling venues include a mix of ballparks, stadiums and theaters, led by “The World’s Most Famous Arena” – Madison Square Garden.
The New York staple ranked first once again for its wide array of events. MSG clocked the most ticket sales thanks to being home to two professional sports teams and hosting dozens of sold-out concerts and other special events. Its best-selling show occurred over the summer when Queen and Adam Lambert’s successful Rhapsody Tour rolled through.
Claiming the second spot among the year’s best-selling venues is Arrowhead Stadium. Given the overwhelming force the Kansas City Chiefs are when it comes to ticket sales, their home turf firmly stands as the best-selling NFL stadium.
Four other NFL stadiums joined Arrowhead in the year-end Top 20 list, while two theaters made the cut: Broadway’s Hamilton-dwelling Richard Rodgers Theatre and Las Vegas’ Park Theater at Park MGM.
See the Top 20 best-selling venues of 2019 below.
Top 20 Best-Selling Venues of 2019
| Sales Rank | Venue | City, State | Best-Selling Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY | Queen & Adam Lambert – Aug. 6 |
| 2. | Arrowhead Stadium | Kansas City, MO | AFC Championship Game – Jan. 20 |
| 3. | TD Garden | Boston, MA | NHL Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 – June 12 |
| 4. | Staples Center | Los Angeles, CA | Boxing: Errol Spence Jr. v. Shawn Porter – Sept. 28 |
| 5. | Richard Rodgers Theatre | New York, NY | Hamilton – Oct. 11 |
| 6. | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Atlanta, GA | Super Bowl LIII – Feb. 3 |
| 7. | Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN | Loretta Lynn All-Star Birthday Concert – Apr. 1 |
| 8. | T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas, NV | Canelo Alvarez v. Daniel Jacobs – May 4 |
| 9. | MetLife Stadium | East Rutherford, NJ | BTS – May 18 |
| 10. | American Airlines Center | Dallas, TX | Crossroads Guitar Festival – Sept. 21 |
| 11. | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | Billie Eilish – June 5 |
| 12. | Toyota Center | Houston, TX | Andrea Bocelli – Dec. 12 |
| 13. | Pepsi Center | Denver, CO | Elton John – Feb. 7 |
| 14. | AT&T Stadium | Arlington, TX | Dallas Cowboys v. Green Bay Packers – Oct. 6 |
| 15. | AmericanAirlines Arena | Miami, FL | Andrea Bocelli – Feb. 14 |
| 16. | Park Theater at Park MGM | Las Vegas, NV | Aerosmith – Apr. 26 |
| 17. | Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, PA | Queen & Adam Lambert – Aug. 3 |
| 18. | Dodger Stadium | Los Angeles, CA | Paul McCartney – July 13 |
| 19. | Minute Maid Park | Houston, TX | World Series Game 6 – Oct. 26 |
| 20. | NRG Stadium | Houston, TX | The Rolling Stones – July 27 |
Highest-Selling Events Per Venue
The year’s Top 20 venues may be some of the most visited in the U.S. and is easy to see why they are the best-selling. However, many have the element of surprise when it comes to the lone event that contributed the most to their success. Sporting events were noted as the best-selling event in only seven venues, including Super Bowl LIII and Game 6 of the World Series.
Concerts garnered the highest sales of most top venues with a diverse mix of artists in the spotlight. Grammy-nominated Billie Eilish boosted the yearly sales at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre, while classical crossover giant Andrea Bocelli had the best-selling show both in Houston and Miami. Music City came out in droves to see an All-Star Birthday Concert honoring Loretta Lynn at Bridgestone Arena and the Crossroads Guitar Festival featuring Eric Clapton caused the biggest commotion at Dallas’ American Airlines Center.
Major headlining acts like BTS, The Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney scored the most sales in U.S. stadiums. And despite Lady Gaga having the most in-demand Las Vegas residency of the year, Aerosmith bested her for the opening night of their Deuces Are Wild residency. Both regularly headline the Park Theater at Park MGM.
Best-Selling Venues by Region
Although Madison Square Garden, the Richard Rodgers Theatre and Boston’s TD Garden all landed in the top 5, Northeastern venues were the least represented on the top 20 best-selling venues list.
Nearly half of the year’s top 20 venues are located in the Southern region of the U.S., with five found in Texas alone. West Coast markets – primarily Los Angeles and Las Vegas – accounted for 30 percent of the list.
Want to see more posts like this? Check out the rest of our 2019 Year in Review series here.