StubHub Releases 2022 Year in Live Experiences Report: Global Event Sales Double 2021

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Dec 14, 2022, 08:47 ET

World Series, World Cup and Elton John Among Top-Selling Events Worldwide; F1 Skyrockets in Popularity

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- StubHub, the marketplace with the world's largest selection of live events, today released its Year in Live Experiences report, citing that it served buyers in more than 175 countries, driving its global event sales to more than double that of 2021. The Year in Live Experiences report highlights the best-selling live music and sporting experiences of 2022 across the globe, including a British invasion in music, spike in demand of major international sports series and top trends to watch for 2023.

Highlights Include:

Top In-Demand Global Sporting Experiences

Legacy Reigns: Elton John beats the younger pop icon Harry Styles to be the top-selling touring artist of the year.
British Invasion: The top three global acts all hail from the United Kingdom.
Reggaeton Thrives: Bad Bunny's popularity drives reggaeton's debut on the annual top global touring artists list.
International Sports Series Rise: The World Cup is the most global event, while F1's growth in the U.S. shows the rising demand for European sports.
Top U.S. Markets: Entertainment hubs Los Angeles and New York are still on top, hosting many of the best-selling events of the year.
What's Ahead: Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Elton John's 60-show international farewell tour; Miami and Paris are what's hot in 2023.

"This year marks a pivotal comeback for live events with overall sales on StubHub more than double that of 2021 as we served buyers from more than 175 countries and territories across the StubHub North America and viagogo international marketplaces," said Cris Miller, Chief Business Officer for StubHub. "The year was defined by the battle of pop kings, new and legendary, with Elton John's final performances in North America clinching him the leading artist of the year spot, blowing away Harry Styles who hosted a wildly popular multi-city residency tour. The World Cup's worldwide draw makes it the most global event, while a Formula 1 debut on the list, driven by its growth with a new fanbase in the United States, has us looking forward to the new Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023."

Top In-Demand Global Touring Artists*

Elton John
Harry Styles
Coldplay
Bad Bunny
Mötley Crüe
Morgan Wallen
Billie Eilish
Garth Brooks
Adele
Justin Bieber

*Ranking based on cumulative ticket sales on StubHub North America and viagogo international marketplaces for events in 2022

2022 Global Touring Insights

This year's top global artists' list is among the most diverse representation of genres in years, featuring a range from pop to classic rock and country to hard rock and a debut of reggaeton.
The top three spots are all British acts – Elton John's farewell tour cemented him as the #1 global artist of the year, driving over 50% more sales than Harry Styles' multi-night U.S. residencies, 'Love On Tour,' which land him as the #2 artist. Coldplay's international dates – particularly multiple London shows – earns them the #3 position.
Elton John's tour is the highest-selling in the last five years and his last-ever U.S. performance at Dodger Stadium is the top concert of the year, driving nearly as many sales as a three-day pass for the second weekend of Coachella, while several of the legacy icon's dates are among the top 10 concert events in the world.
Mötley Crüe's comeback tour with Def Leppard was StubHub's highest-selling U.S. tour this summer.

"The diverse genre presence and global roster of the top touring artists makes this year distinctly different from previous years," said Miller. "While Elton John's undeniable legacy expectedly puts him at the top of our list and Harry Styles' incredible stardom brings him in at number two, we usually only see legacy and pop acts on a list like this. Bad Bunny, three British acts and a pair of country acts make this year notable."

Top In-Demand Global Sporting Experiences*

World Series (Astros-Phillies) *cumulative
FIFA World Cup *cumulative
Super Bowl LVI (Rams-Bengals)
College Football Playoff National Championship (Georgia-Alabama)
San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams - NFC Championship
Tennessee Volunteers at Georgia Bulldogs (College Football)
Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix
MLB All-Star Game
Formula 1 Austin Grand Prix
Red River Showdown: Oklahoma vs Texas (College Football)

*Ranking based on cumulative ticket sales on StubHub North America and viagogo international marketplaces for events in 2022

2022 Global Sporting Insights

The World Series matchup between the Astros and Phillies at #1, outselling last year's World Series, was spurred by a magical Phillies run from the Wild Card to their first Series appearance in 14 years.
Los Angeles was notably the epicenter of the NFL this year, hosting Super Bowl LVI and the NFC Championship intrastate battle – these two events alone made sales in Los Angeles particularly strong.
F1 enters the top 10 for the first time in StubHub's year-end rankings, drawing massive crowds for its two U.S. races.
The World Cup was the most global event of the year with StubHub serving ticket buyers from over 150 countries to date.
College football had a strong showing this year with the SEC battle between Georgia and Tennessee as the best-selling regular season game of the NCAAF season, and the Alabama-Georgia matchup in the National Championship in the top five events.

Look Ahead to 2023

Los Angeles and New York are expected to remain the world's leading cities for live experiences with Miami, Las Vegas and Paris heating up as hotspots to watch with F1 (Miami and Vegas) and global events planned.
On the heels of a career-defining U.S. leg, Elton John's farewell tour will traverse the world, sure to continue to draw remarkable international crowds as he bids adieu.
Taylor Swift's headline-driving U.S. tour on-sale undoubtedly points to a tour that will top the lists next year and an expected international on-sale that everyone will be watching.
Coldplay's dates in London signal that we're likely to see similar pent-up demand from the rock group's avid fan base propel the rest of their international tour dates to be some of the most in-demand of the year, even with U.S. dates yet to be announced.

"This year demonstrated that pent-up demand from the pandemic is continuing to drive exceptional sales for global touring acts and sporting events around the world," said Miller. "The sales, headlines and trends we saw this year are strong indications that next year may very well be a record-breaking one with Miami and Paris as markets to watch, while Taylor Swift and Coldplay are acts we anticipate will top lists in 2023."

StubHub in North America and viagogo internationally offer the world's widest selection for fans to buy and sell tickets to live events, with every order backed by a guarantee and globally accessible customer service.

About StubHub

StubHub is on a mission to give everyone the freedom to access and connect through live experiences. We power the world's most accessible, secure and transparent live event marketplaces. We're your ticket to freedom. We're here to allow any person around the world to access their love of live. With StubHub in North America and viagogo, our international platform, we service buyers, sellers and partners, alike, in more than 72 countries in 40 languages and 49 available currencies. StubHub is truly the global leader, making it possible to connect to the world's widest selection of live events. From any sport to every music genre, comedy to dance, festivals to theater - on any given day, StubHub has more than 50,000 tickets available to events around the world. Every order is backed by StubHub's FanProtect Guarantee, which ensures a seller is paid on time and a buyer is guaranteed in the event or their money back. More than 130 global brands, venues, leagues, teams and live event producers are partnered with StubHub to connect to the largest live event audience in the world including NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA and Paciolan. For more information on StubHub, visit StubHub.com or follow @StubHub on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

SOURCE StubHub