Sell-out shows by Elton John, Westlife, Arctic Monkeys, Rod Stewart, Ed Sheeran along with a Katie Taylor bout last year helped the 3Arena in Dublin to increase box office revenues by 50 per cent to a bumper €74.02 million.
According to new figures by trade industry journal, Pollstar Ed Sheeran’s gig at 3Arena last May generated €1.36 million at the box office, where ticket prices started at €105.85.
The €74.02 million box office is a €24.8 million increase on 2022 as the Live Nation-owned 3Arena surged up 16 places in the global Pollstar rankings to be the 21st highest grossing arena worldwide in 2023.
The top grossing arena globally in 2023 was Madison Square Garden in New York City, which recorded box office revenues of $254 million (€232 million) on the back of 1.98 million attendees.
Pollstar figures for the year from November 17th 2022 to November 11th last, show that a total of 985,341 fans attended the 3Arena during the 12 months.
The Pollstar figures - based on returns made by the 3Arena - show that bumper box offices were not only confined to music artists.
Pundits and former footballers, Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher appeared at the 3Arena in March as part of their ’The Overlap Live’ tour and the sell-out show generated €488,600 at the box office.
Katie the most lucrative
However, the 3Arena’s most lucrative night of the year under review was the first Katie Taylor bout in May 2023 with Chantelle Cameron where the Bray boxer lost to Cameron, but won at the box office with the night generating €2.08 million at the 3Arena box office.
The largest box office event for the year at the 3Arena belongs to the Arctic Monkeys which totalled €3.63 million for three nights in October.
Elton John had his first hit single 54 years ago, but his earning power shows no sign of waning as his two gigs at the Dublin venue generated one of the year’s biggest box offices with 17,024 fans paying out €2.98 million - or €1.49 million per night.
The highest earning Irish act in the year under review at the 3Arena was Westlife which generated €2.95 million at the box office for three gigs in December 2022.
Other Irish acts to feature prominently include Picture This, which had a combined box office of €1.38 million for two gigs in October, while Inhaler with frontman, Elijah Hewson enjoyed a box office of €447,198 last November.
2FM presenters, The 2 Johnnies recorded a box office of €465,514 for their gig at the venue in December 2022.
Chris Brown was one of a select group of artists that could generate more than a €1 million per night at the 3Arena with his two gigs in February generating €2.12 million.
Other €1 million per night box office performers included Lana Del Rey whose night at the 3Arena last July generated €1.09 million and Shania Twain who generated €2.36 million at the box office over two nights in September.
A 50 Cent gig in November generated €1.19 million while Muse also broke €1 million barrier with a gig in September.
Performances over two nights by both Michael Buble and Post Malone in May of last year each generated €1.9 million at the box offices.
Underlining the continuing appeal of so-called ‘heritage acts’, Rod Stewart's two gigs at the 3Arena made €2.12 million at the box office.
Comedy continued to be a big draw with comedian Peter Kay’s three nights last April generating €1.98 million at the box office. Michael McIntyre’s three-night stint in November made €1.76 million while Ricky Gervais’s two nights in July made €806,000 at the box office.
Box office receipts are shared between performer, promoter, ticket seller and venue operator.
