As Baseball Attendance Fades Concerts Step Up To Fill Stadiums

It has long been the highest aspirational goal for touring acts to graduate to a stadium tour. Stadium shows had been reserved for those elite few whose market power was so strong that people would go see them where they could, even though most seats were far enough away from the stage the experience was mostly akin to listening to a live stream event while looking at video of the performer. Or, as this was once called, radio.

The acts which commanded stadiums in the past were global in nature: U2, The Rolling Stones, Queen. These were performers who had such a hold on their fans that no venue was to big, because to miss their performance was inexcusable.

Over the past few years prior to the pandemic, more acts began to book stadiums although often as a packaged bill, something like a mini festival. There you would expect to spend the day and see three or four solid bands all for the price of one ticket. Green Day went out on the Hella Mega tour along with Fall Out Boy and Weezer, Motley Crue blew the doors off pricing expectations because of the buzz generated by The Dirt, the Netflix origin story of the band. They are playing a stadium tour along with Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett. It’s been almost three years since the Dirt hit Netflix, lucky for them Hulu just had a big hit series about Pam and Tommy. Attendance should hold steady.

Prior to the pandemic, baseball attendance was in continuous decline, as fans attended for playoffs and games against their cross-town rivals but actual physical attendance for ordinary games dropped as pictures flooded the internet from sites such as @emptyseatspics on Twitter. There for all to see are rows and sections with no one in attendance.

The economics of a stadium tour are favorable for the acts and the promoter. More seats and more ways to differentiate value makes for a broad variety of price points. Seats at the top of the stadium and way to the back sell for a fraction of the price for floor seats, center section. Meanwhile, parking, alcohol and food sell for the same price no matter where the fan is seated.

The question is whether this is sustainable as ticket markets begin to normalize after the tremendous rush to go see live events as the world reopened last year. Prices are currently declining on secondary markets for most shows which suggests consumer demand has begun to catch up with supply, or more likely, that consumers feel less urgency to go see another show – they’ve been satiated by the shows they already saw over the past year. Now, they’re beginning to choose alternative ways to spend their entertainment dollars.

The counter argument is that while baseball is static, and attendance remains in decline, in part because of the 82-game schedule, any concert only comes to town at best once annually. If you weren’t there, you weren’t there. Therefore, there is more of a social urgency to be in the crowd and the event itself becomes as much about the social interaction both at the event and after with your peers who attended. There is status signaling related to which events were attended and how well your experience was based in part by what you were willing to spend to obtain more premium viewing locations.

In San Diego, the fairgrounds which host horse racing have been adding a concert for free to Friday night attendance for years. That concert drives attendance to the venue, and the concert holds people there for hours longer, therefore leading to large additional sales of food, drinks and merchandise.

This year’s twist in stadium concerts is packaging bills with many buzzy artists but no “headliner” per se. It’s just a show with four to six artists who are fun for crowds, and the crowds respond. Ticket prices are lower, the food and alcohol remain pricey, and the events fill up because of the social demands of your peer group who will be there and want you there with them.

There are a lot of questions brewing about what happens to baseball as television contracts come up for renewal and broadcast rights payments may reflect the declining interest in baseball. The baseball stadiums remain perfectly capable of hosting full houses for EDM, Hip-Hop or classic rock events. Music seems to be particularly efficient at filling seats. Pay close attention. The transition is beginning from pop flies to popular music. Stadiums are not going anywhere, but the reason for people to go to them is changing quickly.