Pollstar (03/18/22) Gensler, Andy

Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium hosted over 80,000 fans and grossed about $13.8 million for Metallica and Billy Joel concerts held separately over two consecutive evenings in late February, which can serve as a template for future stadium touring amid "The Great Glut of 2022." This model yielded a number of cost-saving synergies, including shared production, promotion, marketing, public relations and ticketing. "There's a huge savings, obviously, at a stadium scale with stadium production, the cost of building your stage — loading in and loading out is an expensive proposition — and that's why it's difficult for a lot of shows to scale at that level," said Allegiant Stadium general manager Chris Wright. Artist Group International Chairman Dennis Arfa, who is also Metallica and Billy Joel's agent, said Las Vegas was the best venue "because it was the city with the least amount of COVID restrictions and limitations and we're selling tickets like pre-COVID times. If you combine that with Metallica and Billy Joel, who are in an elite class of artist, it was pretty clear early on the weekend would be a great success." Wright and Arfa credit that success to their alliance with Live Nation, especially when the concerts were delayed several times due to COVID and conflicting shows. "'22 is certainly a hot year for stadiums and from what we can see so far, '23 looks like it's going to be strong as well," Wright forecasts.

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