Latest news with #ticketSales
The Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Peter Kay fans left gutted after ticket site crashes and venue forced to apologise over gig chaos
PETER Kay fans have been issued an apology after ticket sales for a special upcoming gig descended into chaos. Comedy lovers had logged on to snap up tickets for the one-off show with DJ Sara Cox only to find the website kept crashing. 5 The pair are due to take to the stage in Salford this September for Peter Kay In Conversation With Sara Cox. But when tickets went on sale at 10am on Saturday for the two-performance charity gig at The Lowry Theatre, fans were left struggling to buy them. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one frustrated punter wrote: "Had 3 tickets in basket and then couldn't finish purchase and when tried to get back in everything almost gone. Guess I won't be spending my bday celebration at the Lowry.' Another added: " Peter Kay crashing the internet again!" A third complained that it took him almost two hours to try and buy tickets. One lucky customer added: "Pretty chuffed to have gotten front row accessible tickets for this today before the ticket website fell over for a good while!" Peter has now re-shared an apology from The Lowry on his Instagram account. The message read: "We are aware of the issues this morning regarding booking tickets. "Please bear with us while we try to rectify the problem. "We apologise for any inconvenience caused." A further update from the theatre thanked fans for their patience and confirmed the two performances had eventually sold out. Peter and BBC Radio 2 DJ Sara will be taking to the stage on September 14 at both 2.30pm and 7.30pm. A blurb on The Lowry's website reads: "In these unique and heartwarming shows, the two proud Boltonians will sit down to reflect on Peter Kay's remarkable life and career, including the release of his much-anticipated new memoir, 'Peter Kay's Diary', due later this year. "As part of the conversation, they'll also share and discuss the songs that have shaped Peter's journey – from growing up in Bolton to becoming one of the UK's most beloved entertainers." All profits from Peter and Sara's show will go to Bolton Hospice and Crescent Food Bank Bolton. The performances will also be recorded, to air on television at a later date. Peter has been touring with his Peter Kay Live: Better Late Than Never tour since returning to the stage in 2022. On Saturday night, he took to the Manchester AO Arena and will now be taking a break until July 25. His tour will then run again until early November. During his shows, Peter has endured several encounters with rowdy audience members. In March, he halted his set and threatened to set security on hecklers at London 's O2 Arena. Weeks earlier, Peter had a fan kicked out after he repeatedly disrupted the show by shouting out the comedian's catchphrase "garlic bread". He also sparked controversy after comparing one heckler to actress Lisa Riley. Peter later treated Lisa, who plays Debbie Dingle in Emmerdale, to VIP tickets to one of his shows in the wake of the remark. 5
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Surprising Aussie footy venue beats the MCG to be ranked in the top 10 stadiums in the world
Melbourne's Marvel Stadium has pipped the MCG to be recognised as one of the top-10 stadiums in the world. According to the 2025 Pollstar Mid-Year Top 50 Worldwide Stadium Rankings, the Docklands Stadium sits fifth in the world as one of the highest-grossing stadiums. The 53,343-capacity venue also ranks seventh for the highest number of stadium ticket sales as part of the rankings, surpassing the MCG, SCG, Adelaide Oval and the Suncorp Stadium. The rankings are measured between November 14, 2024, and May 14, 2025, with the venue now rubbing shoulders with some illustrious venues around the world, including California 's SoFi Stadium and Japan's Tokyo Dome, which both ranked inside the top-10. While this is the first time Marvel has been recognised inside Pollstar's top-10 venues. The acknowledgement also comes 12 months after the stadium broke into the 2024 Billboard Boxscore rankings after it was ranked the top venue in the world for its top-grossing concert revenue figures during October. Despite boasting a much bigger capcity, Marvel topped the MCG for ticket sales to be ranked as the fifth highest-grossing stadium in the world Marvel was first opened in 2000 and is currently owned by the AFL. It cost approximately $460million to build and last year underwent a $225m upgrade, which was funded by the Victorian Government. The refurbishment works included the addition of two new video screens situated under the stadium's roof as well as amendments to the stadium's infrastructure, to enhance fan experience. Over the past year, many fans have flocked to the venue to watch both cricket and footy, but the venue has also hosted some massive concerts. Luke Combs recently sold out the venue with two shows in February, with 111,200 fans attending the concert. A month later, US rock band Green Day took to the stage at Marvel for a gig in March, with 60,000 fans in attendance. Coldplay hosted four gigs at Marvel back in November, while the Weeknd and PINK all played last summer and plenty more big events are coming to the stadium to celebrate its 25th anniversary. In October and November, Oasis will play three concerts at the venue as part of their reunion tour, while Metallica and Lady Gaga are also due to play at the venue before the year is out. 'Marvel Stadium is incredibly proud to have been recognised in Pollstar's Mid-Year Top 50 Stadiums worldwide,' AFL general manager of Marvel Stadium Scott Fitzgerald said. 'To be named among the best stadiums on the global stage is a true testament to the investment and innovation that has gone into evolving Marvel Stadium into a world-class, 365-day multi-purpose venue that is delivering unforgettable experiences for fans, artists, and athletes alike.' 'Events like these would not be possible without the support of our world-class partners including Disney, Live Nation, Frontier, Ticketmaster and Delaware North who work tirelessly to attract the best in global entertainment and ensure our fans have amazing guest experiences at our venue. 'Melbourne is a city that lives and breathes sport and live entertainment, and we're proud that Marvel Stadium is continuing to shine on an international stage and creating experiences that rival the world's best.' Marvel sat fifth behind Mexo City's Estadio GNP Seguros, the SoFi Stadium in California, Allianz Parque in Brazil and the Autordromo Hermanos Rodrigues in Mexico for gross sales. It also comes as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's Wrexham are now set to travel Down Under for a pre-season tour and are due to play at Marvel on June 11.
Telegraph
15-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Empty seats, exhausted players, excess heat – the tournament that could embarrass Fifa
Judging by the stadium availability maps that present themselves on Fifa's official ticketing website for its Club World Cup, there may be many stadiums over the next few weeks in the United States where the crowds are massed in the stand that faces the cameras. Glance at the ticketing arrangements for some of the more problematic games for ticket sales, a pattern emerges. For Tuesday's collision of South Korea's Ulsan HD and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, only tickets on two sides of the Inter&Co stadium in Orlando are available. Of the two greyed-out stands only the area immediately behind one of the goals is available for sale and the cheapest tickets are just $11 (£8). It may well be the same for Mexico's Liga-MX Pachuca against Red Bull Salzburg in Cincinnati on Wednesday, although the pattern is harder to read in that respect. There seem to be large parts of the vast MetLife Stadium in New Jersey that have also been retired for Thursday's game between Palmeiras of Brazil and the Egyptian club Al-Ahly, although time will tell. There were still tickets available for the opening game between Al-Ahly and Inter Miami at the latter's Hard Rock Stadium in the hours before kick-off. Just a few hours left until the FIFA Club World Cup kicks off, and less than half the tickets are sold for the opening match. FIFA partnered with Miami Dade College after poor ticket sales. Every student who buys 1 ticket for $1 gets 4 extra tickets to help pack the stadium. — Cricket Business HQ (@cric_businessHQ) June 14, 2025 Of course, closing parts of a stadium to save on stewarding and concessions – and then pointing the cameras away – is an old trick that many sports deploy when ticket sales fail to meet expectations. Fifa's dynamic pricing model – a euphemism for wringing the most out of the paying fan – means that the price in some cases is starting to shift. There have been suggestions that Fifa has been obliged to refund part of the cost paid by some supporters who bought their tickets early, only for the price to fall dramatically. As of Saturday one could watch Bayern Munich play the amateur side Auckland City, from New Zealand, on Sunday for as little as $52 (£38) in Cincinnati. But if Bayern reach the final at the MetLife on July 13, the cheapest available ticket is currently $657.71 (£484.86) as a resale on the official site. The size of the crowds has the potential to be an embarrassment for Fifa in the early rounds of the competition at least. There are many ways, when it comes to the television coverage, that a skilful match director can conceal the swathes of empty seats but nothing that anyone can do to stop those attending the game posting pictures of empty seats on social media. The Fifa president Gianni Infantino insisted that his Club World Cup project was played in the bigger stadiums rather than those smaller stadiums in the next tier, many of which were MLS only. Fifa is not saying much when it comes to ticketing other than that its biggest ticket sales have been in the US, followed by Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Canada. The sales of tickets in Britain is only 11th on the list behind France, Japan, Germany, Portugal and Saudi Arabia. At a Fifa event last week, Infantino said he expected 'a full stadium' for the opening game between Miami and Al-Ahly, and doubtless efforts were made with discounts and other offers. It is a reminder that this is a tournament that has not been driven in any way by match-going fan demand. Instead the match-going fans have been retro-fitted around it. The tournament itself, as has been well trailed, is a political play by Infantino to make an incursion into the lucrative broadcast rights for the elite club game – by which one means Uefa and the Champions League primarily. The location and the suitability or otherwise for a global, international tournament has been largely incidental. It ended up in the US because of the proximity of next summer's Fifa men's World Cup but it was originally intended in 2021 for China. There may well be big attendances at some of the games, and perhaps the latter stages might even attract the kind of sell-out crowds of big venues like the MetLife of which Infantino has dreamed. But that is not why the tournament was conceived. There was no groundswell of opinion that the fans wanted a 32-team summer tournament that would settle the argument once and for all as to whether Mamelodi Sundowns were a better side than Ulsan HD, or indeed that there must be a world champion. At least not a world champion that took four weeks and 63 games to decide. There was none of the fascination that existed, for example, in the post-war years with the relative merits of one style of European club football over another, which led to the establishment of the European Cup. This was entirely confected to demonstrate that Fifa and its president could create a tournament that might rival the Champions League. One so totally out of kilter with the rhythm of club football that it needed someone to tell Fifa that players' contracts could conceivably expire midway through it unless they changed the rules. It has been an extraordinary demonstration of the power of a Fifa president – who has pushed it through regardless of legal challenge and widespread opposition. Ideally for Infantino most of the big European teams stay in it to the end as well as a selection of the South Americans. It may suit the streamer DAZN and all its sub-licensees if the European teams dominate but, for Infantino, it will look like an unnecessary re-run of the Champions League. The best chance that challengers from South America and elsewhere might have is the indifference of some of those European-based players after a long, hard season and the punishing temperatures of the eastern US in summer. Bad for the players, but good for business. That said, the shortest-priced non-European with the bookmakers is Brazilian club Flamengo at around 33-1, placed behind nine European clubs in terms of the favourites. Either way, come July 13, one would get very long odds on Infantino declaring it anything other than a huge triumph. It does not matter how many seats are empty, how tired some of the players look or whether the wealthiest European clubs dominate the final stages – or whether some flop in the US heat. Infantino has got his tournament and all else will be secondary to that.
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Met Opera attendance dropped in spring as tourism fell, coinciding with immigration crackdown
Metropolitan Opera season attendance dropped slightly following the Trump administration's immigration crackdown that coincided with a decrease in tourists to New York. The Met sold 72% of capacity, matching 2023-24 and down from its 75% projection. 'We were on track to continue to improve,' Met general manager Peter Gelb said Friday. 'We were disappointed by the sales in the last two months of the season — our projections were much higher and I attribute the fact that we didn't achieve our sales goals to a significant drop in tourism." New York City Tourism & Conventions last month reduced its 2025 international visitor projection by 17%, the Met said. International buyers accounted for 11% of sales, down from the Met's projection of 16% and from about 20% before the coronavirus pandemic. 'It's unfortunate, but this is the times in which we live,' Gelb said. The Met said factoring ticket discounts, it realized 60% of potential income, down from 64% in 2023-24 but up from 57% in 2022–23. 'We were able to sell an equal amount of tickets the last year, but there were more discounted tickets,' Gelb said. 'This really was the result of the last two months of the season.' There were 76,000 new ticket buyers, a drop from 85,000 in 2023-24, and the average age of single ticket buyers was 44, the same as in the previous season and a drop from 50 before the pandemic. Subscriptions accounted for just 7% of ticket sales, down from 12-15% before the pandemic, Gelb said economic uncertainty impacted sales for next season. 'The stock market jumping up and down made people feel insecure,' he said. 'In one week we saw an enormous decline in our advance for next season. Then it picked up again.' Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin earned $2,045,038 in the year end last July 31, up from $1,307,583, in the previous fiscal year, according to the company's tax return released Friday. Gelb earned $1,395,216, roughly the same as his $1,379,032 in 2022-23,and he also accrued $798,205 listed as retirement or deferred compensation. Assets declined by about $40 million to $467 million, primarily because of an endowment draw following the pandemic. Among individual productions last season, the highest percentage of tickets sold were for the English-language version of Mozart 's 'The Magic Flute' and a new staging of Verdi 's 'Aida,' both at 82%, followed by the company premiere of Jake Heggie's 'Moby-Dick' at 81% Other new productions included Strauss' 'Salome' (74%), John Adams' 'Antony and Cleopatra' (65%), Osvaldo Golijov's 'Ainadamar' (61%) and Jeanine Tesori's 'Grounded' (50%). The best-selling revivals were Puccini's 'Tosca' (78%), Tchaikovsky's 'Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades)' and Puccini's La Bohème (77% each), Beethoven's 'Fidelio' and Rossini's 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' (76% each) and Mozart's 'Le Nozze di Figaro' (71%). Lagging were Strauss' 'Die Frau ohne Schatten' (68%0, Verdi's 'Rigoletto' (64%), Offenbach's 'Les Contes d'Hoffmann' and the German-language version of Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' (62% each) and Verdi's 'Il Trovatore' (59%).
Japan Times
09-06-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Osaka Expo sees strong ticket sales
Ticket sales for the ongoing 2025 Osaka Expo have been strong recently. The number of tickets sold in a week has exceeded 500,000 for three consecutive weeks since mid-May. If the current pace continues, total cumulative sales may reach 18.4 million, the level that makes the operation of the six-month Osaka Expo profitable. Meanwhile, the increase in visitors has led to issues such as long lines occurring more frequently. Maintaining visitor satisfaction is now a major challenge, especially as temperatures are set to rise. The Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition aimed to sell 14 million advance tickets by the April 13 start of the Expo. Actual sales fell short of the target, at about 9.7 million, however. Still, sales began to increase gradually after the opening. "The appeal of the expo is becoming known" to the public, a senior official of the association said. In particular, sales of season passes, for which price discounts were applied until the end of May, were robust. In addition, starting May 7, the entry time for night ticket holders was moved up to 4 p.m. from 5 p.m., which contributed to strong ticket sales. The association hopes that about 80% of the Expo operation costs seen totaling ¥116 billion will be covered with ticket sales revenue. If tickets continue to sell at the pace of 500,000 per week, cumulative sales would reach 18.4 million by mid-August, possibly making the Expo operation profitable. But Jun Takashina, deputy secretary-general of the association, sounded cautious at a news conference on June 2. "We need to carefully monitor how long sales will remain brisk and the possibility of sales starting to decline at some point," Takashina said. The number of visitors is also on the rise. Daily visitors hit the highest level of about 170,000 on May 31, apparently thanks to a series of popular events such as a live concert and a fireworks show. The association expects a total of 28.2 million people will visit the expo, which ends Oct. 13. The daily number of visitors is seen peaking at 220,000. However, an association official cautioned that there are no events or services capable of entertaining some 200,000 visitors at the same time. The association is also concerned that waiting in line for a long time in front of pavilions in the summer could increase the risk of heatstroke. "It's not that we are trying to attract as many visitors as possible no matter what," Takashina said. The association plans to respond appropriately while listening to visitors' opinions, among other things.
