Taylor Swift and Lionel Messi dominated ticket sales in 2023
By Jordan Valinsky, CNN
New York (CNN) — If it seemed like everyone was buying tickets to see Taylor Swift or Lionel Messi this year, that probably wasn’t far off.
StubHub released its 2023 “Year in Live Experiences” report that revealed some of the top-selling events sold on the ticketing website. Swift’s tour and Messi’s matches were among the most popular events.
Perhaps it’s no surprise, but Swift’s “Eras Tour” was StubHub’s biggest tour in the website’s history and female artists — including Swift, Beyoncé and Pink —encompassed 73% of overall sales for the top 10 global touring artists that also included Coldplay, U2 and Bruce Springsteen.
Swift, Beyoncé and Pink also “tripled the sales” of the entire top 10 highest-selling artists of 2022 on StubHub.
The “Eras Tour” grossed about $2.2 billion in North American ticket sales alone, according to research firm QuestionPro, showing how the incredible demand for entertainment and experiences helped boost the economy.
For Messi, his transfer to MLS team Inter Miami this summer was a boon for ticket sales for the league, which rose 160%, according to StubHub. The Argentinian soccer superstar also attracted fans from outside of the US with international sales up 220%.
Inter Miami also became the “most in-demand team” in the MLS following his arrival, outselling the second-most popular team (Los Angeles FC) by 85%. Before “Messi mania” took over, Inter Miami was the 13th most-demanded team for tickets.
The top six games in the MLS season were Inter Miami’s away matches, StubHub said, and the match between Los Angeles FC and Miami was the most expensive MLS game ever with average tickets going for around $800 — a sharp increase of a typical LAFC price of $145.
Other sporting events that spurred StubHub sales were Super Bowl LVII between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, which outsold last year’s championship by 50% and the WNBA final between New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces, StubHub’s highest-selling finals for the league in its history.
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