The Midwest Entertainment Mecca
Reported Market Gross: $295,681,068
Reported ticket sales: 3,291,100
Average ticket price: $89.84
A poster child for the vibrancy of the Roaring Twenties, Chicago's treasured era theaters, the friendly confines of Wrigley Field and an electric blues institution make it one of the most revered and celebrated entertainment destinations in the country.
As such, it's no surprise that we're finding Chicago venues of all sizes near the top of Pollstar's year-end charts, with the United Center at No. 14 on the Top 200 Arenas chart, with the Allstate Arena a close second Rosemont right back at No. 24. United Center recently went through a run of 22 concerts and special events over a 51-day period from September 10th to October 30th. This time span included two nights from Eric Clapton, Panic! At The Disco and Kevin Hart. Singles nights came from Lizzo, Post Malone and, between six dates with Harry Styles' 'Harry's House', appearances with The Who and Iron Maiden.
“All the stars lined up on this one,” said Jerry Goldman, the United Center's vice president of reservations, describing the six weeks as being able to “ski” between preseason games. “It's not every day that the biggest pop act wants to play six shows in your building, from just four cities.”
The suburbs of Chicago, colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, are developing along with the sports and entertainment industries.
“We can both make a living from the number of gigs out there for sure, and it's competition, but there are certain bands that should be downtown, in that kind of atmosphere, or that should be outdoors and in the suburbs,” says Pat. Nagle, executive director at the Allstate Arena in nearby Rosemont. “Maybe we're in good shape here just because it's a big city, but, knock on wood, we've been doing really well every show,” Nagle said.
Chicagoans long for the outdoors after brutal winters, but arena shows have proliferated during the summer months in the Midwest.
“June, July and August, most of the time you did one or two shows, and the last couple of years we haven't. It's just solidly shut down,” Nagle said.
Checkout PollstarThe 2023 Concert Market Rankings at the link below:
