Katie Taylor and Ed Sheeran help 3Arena to €74m box office
Against Cameron Undisputed Lightweight Bout Katie Title 08m Ticket In Fight At The 3arena The Generated Reacts World From In Her €2 Super Dublin Taylor Sales May After Chantelle
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% to a bumper €74.02m.
That is according to new figures by trade industry journal which show that from one night’s work at the 3Arena last May, Ed Sheeran’s gig generated €1.36m at the box office where ticket prices started at €105.85.
The €74.02m box office is a €24.8m increase on the €49.2m generated at the 3Arena box office in 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 $254m on the back of 1.98m music fans.
figures for the year from November 17, 2022, to November 11 last show that a total of 985,341 fans attended the 3Arena during the 12 months.
The 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.
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 €2.08m at the 3Arena box office.
The largest box office for the year at the 3Arena belongs to the Arctic Monkeys which totalled €3.63m 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 €2.98m or €1.49m per night.
The highest-earning Irish act in the year under review at the 3Arena was Westlife which generated €2.95m 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 €1.38m for two gigs in October while Inhaler front man 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 €1m per night at the 3Arena with his two gigs in February generating €2.12m.
Other €1m per night box office performers included Lana Del Rey whose night at the 3Arena last July generated €1.09m, and Shania Twain who generated €2.36m at the box office over two nights in September.
A 50 Cent gig in November generated €1.19m while Muse also broke €1m barrier with a gig in September.
Performances over two nights by both Michael Buble and Post Malone in May of last year each generated €1.9m at the box offices.
Underlining the continuing appeal of so-called ‘heritage acts’, Rod Stewart's two gigs at the 3Arena made €2.12m at the box office.
Comedy continued to be a big draw with comedian Peter Kay’s three nights last April generating €1.98m at the box office. Michael McIntyre’s three-night stint in November made €1.76m while Ricky Gervais’s two nights in July made €806,000 at the box office.
Box office receipts are shared between the performer, promoter, ticket seller, and the venue operator.