Pollstar rankings show resurgence of Australian live entertainment in first half of 2022

US-based publication Pollstar’s latest industry ranking show that the Australia’s live entertainment is rebounding with encouraging performance figures.

After a slow start to the year due to extended pandemic restrictions, Pollstar’s mid-year rankings show that promoter TEG and acts including Guy Sebastian and Midnight Oil have performed strongly in recent months.

Looking forward to an ongoing resurgence in the sector, with more international tours on their way in the next four months, Live Nation Australia President, Roger Field told Pollstar “we will be finishing on an extremely busy, and strong note.”

TEG Dainty President Paul Dainty described the live sector’s return as “a race to the gate…it’s been unbelievable, from nothing to 100 miles per hour!”

Pollstar results, recognised as the industry benchmark for live entertainment, suggest that promoters and venues who took planning risks in the last few years of lockdown are now reaping the benefits.

TEG, for instance, topped the Top 10 Promoters list with US$31.8 million and 485,988 ticket sales, set up for recovery by expanding its executive team, launching TEG Europe, and a pending a move into Asia.

The Untitled Group which shifted 237,246 tickets to a gross of $22.6 million was second in the rankings - double its pre-Covid numbers, with the company forecasting 400,000 tix over its eight festival brands over the next 12 months.

Frontier Touring, which had a massive restructure earlier in the year to set up for the return, was at third in the rankings with an $18.7 million gross and sales of 249,456.

Bluesfest was fourth in the rankings following its return at Easter with a last-minute crowd rush to over 100,000 after budgeting for 85,000.

Best performing auditorium theatre was Sydney’s Aware Super Theatre ($2.5 million in revenue from 42,546 tickets sold), while Melbourne’s Forum Theatre headed the Clubs list with $3.9 million in revenue and ticket sales of 92,041

Among venues, as already reported by Australasian Leisure Management, four ASM Global venues - Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Perth’s RAC Arena and the Brisbane Entertainment Centre - secured a listing in Pollstar’s Top 5 Arenas in the 2022 Australia/New Zealand Focus Chart rankings for total ticket revenue.

Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena secured second place on the list, with 80,189 tickets sold to events at the venue between August 2021 and July 2022.

Melbourne and Olympic Parks’ Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena also performed strongly in the rankings.

Margaret Court Arena placed seventh with 36,592 tickets sold, with John Cain Arena in 10th with 8,648 tickets sold.

Melbourne and Olympic Parks venues also played host to several of the year’s best performing tours, with Guy Sebastian’s T.R.U.T.H tour topping the chart with over 100,000 tickets sold.

His run of five shows at Margaret Court Arena set a new house record for most tickets issued for a single tour at the venue.

Midnight Oil, The Kid LAROI and Tyler, The Creator also placed in the top five, with all performing sold-out shows at Rod Laver Arena during their tours of Australia and New Zealand.

Image: The Kid Laroi performs at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena (top, credit: Rebecca Houlden/Melbourne and Olympic Parks) and Sydney's Qudos Bank Arena (below).