Season 8 Idol Tour – Final Concerts Stats and Wrap-up

By On 09/23/2009 · 46 Comments · In American Idol

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Concert Stats for Sep 9-10, 12-15: Wilkes-Barre, Bridgeport, Portland, Providence, Syracuse and Manchester. Plus a wrap-up after the jump:


Sep 9: Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: 6,707 of 7,901 (85%): $423,876
Sep 10: Bridgeport, Conn.: 8,421 of 8,421 (100%): $535,509
Sep 12: Portland, Maine: 6,238 of 6,238 (100%): $395,868
Sep 13: Providence, R.I.: 8,922 of 8,922 (100%): $551,084
Sep 14: Syracuse, N.Y.: 5,576 of 5,576 (100%): $359,130
Sep 15: Manchester, N.H.: 8,612 of 8,612 (100%): $545,541

Summary of Concerts (6): 44,476 of 45,670 (97%): Total Revenue: $2,811,008 Avg Revenue: $468501: Avg Attendance: 7413

AI-8
Total Gross: $30,071,631
Total Attendance: 483,512
Number of Tickets Available: 564,938
% Capacity: 85.6%

Average Gross: $578,301
Average Attendance: 9,298
Average Ticket Price: 62.19
Number of Shows: 52
Number of Sell-outs: 8
Percentage of Sell-0uts: 15%

Lowest Attendance (tickets): 5,576: Syracuse, N.Y.
Highest Attendance (tickets): 14,288: North Little Rock, Ark.
Lowset Attendance (percentage): 65%: Vancouver, British Columbia
Highest Attendance (percentage): 100%: North Little Rock, Ark.; Duluth, Ga.; Boston, Mass.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Portland, Maine; Providence, R.I; Syracuse, N.Y; Manchester, N.H.
Lowest Gross: $359,130: Syracuse, N.Y.
Highest Gross: $820,823: North Little Rock, Ark.

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  • Mtlfan

    Thanks, Kristen. Good job at compiling!
    Thanks mj

    so season 8 is the 2nd most succesful.. that cool!!

    Special mention for Liitle rock and NE :)

  • 123abc456

    I guess Kirsten and Myself got it wrong it cannot be a statistical tie because we have actual numbers so I guess Season 8 is the winner. I am not sure what it won but it seems important to some. My point was that the difference in ticket sales between the two tours was insignificant but I forgot that in Idol land one side always has to “win”

  • Kirsten

    Just to be accurate, statistical ties only apply to forecasts and sample projections, not to actual quantative facts. Season 8 had higher receipts and attendence than Season 7. It is not a tie, but damn close.

    Yes, the term “statistical tie” was used incorrectly. IDK. There are just so many variables between tours (from the days that certain venues are hit, to changing economic climates, to changing artists), that results this close are almost spooky.

  • Q3

    I guess Kirsten and Myself got it wrong it cannot be a statistical tie because we have actual numbers so I guess Season 8 is the winner. I am not sure what it won but it seems important to some. My point was that the difference in ticket sales between the two tours was insignificant but I forgot that in Idol land one side always has to ‘win’ 

    Oh, I’m sorry, I reread what I wrote and I didn’t mean to be “AI8 beat AI7″. I was thinking solely about Statistics — and nothing more. And was just trying to be accurate.

    And yes, Kristen, it is eerie how close AI7 and AI8 ended up considering all the variables — and close in many ways. But I have to imagine that everyone involved with tours was thrilled with the results from both years.

  • http://www.f3properties.com Animated

    Thanks MJ and Kirsten for providing this information.

    Congratulations to Season 8. It’s recession . Business is dismal. Yet they made revenues very close to or even slightly higher than 2008- Season 7.

    Can this be considered an indicator of a strong support for the talents of Season 8, thus strong albums /singles sales for the Season 8 finalists ?

    But on the other hand, Season 5 outsold most of the other Seasons. Did they also outsell other Seasons in album sales ?

  • adamaloha

    Carrie was Season 4. Season 3 was Fantasia, Diana, Jasmine (hence the sold out Hawaii concerts), LaToya, George Huff, John Stevens (? Red), Jennifer Hudson, JPL’ ¦ er’ ¦and some other people.

    Ugh.

  • Squirrely

    Season 5 tour did well. Almost doubled season 4, it was my first so my dollars are in there.

    Thanks guys for compiling the numbers.

    ETA:
    Looking over the numbers, Season 5 narrowed down to 52 shows (thanks Kristen) still puts them above Season 8 and Season 8 did slightly better than season 7. Too bad we couldn’t get full data for Season 6.

    I wonder if it would have made a difference in what drove ticket sales if Adam or Danny had won, if the impact would have been higher or lower sales?

  • wiredforsound

    interesting data! I think the season that’s most impressive is Season 1. The show was supposed to be a summer filler program. No hype for the tour no previous tours to judge it on and they toured in the winter months when school was in session. Yet they sold out 5 shows and grossed only a few million less than season 3 with ticket prices averaging $31.00 and only 30 shows.

    The fact that these concert generate that much revenue is amazing regardless of who does better and i hope these contestants are getting a bigger cut than just a piddly $200K!!!

  • Squirrely

    and i hope these contestants are getting a bigger cut than just a piddly $200K!!!

    Doubt it – their 15 minutes is their reward. Honestly they could give each contestant way more that what we assume they are getting and still turn a huge profit.

  • IndyMuse

    Animated, in answer to your question, Season 5 did have Daughtry, whose debut was multiplatinum. Taylor’s album sold I think around $750k, not the greatest. After that I’m not sure. I don’t think they outsold Carrie or Kelly’s seasons on the whole, but were in the same ballpark. However, I don’t have exact numbers so I could be mistaken. I believe due to Daughtry alone, their records likely outsold the other seasons besides Carrie and Kelly’s.

    As to seasons 7 and 8, the difference is immaterial on attendance, which I think was 123abc456′s point. That is nearly rounding error. The take is higher due to higher prices.

  • http://www.irish-wolfhounds.com Buderschnookie

    Concert Stats for Sep 9-10, 12-15: Wilkes-Barre, Bridgeport, Portland, Providence, Syracuse and Manchester. Plus a wrap-up after the jump:

    Shouldn’t that bolded bit be “9-15″??

  • rowenaaine

    Buderschnookie, I think it means September 9th and 10th, and 12th thru 15th (11th being a day off). That’s how I’m reading it?

  • tyrpen

    Well, CD sales aside, I saw season 5 shows, before Kat came on board, Taylor was handling a larger share of the show, and judging from the crowds it seemed like most were wanting to see him, or maybe they were just the loudest. Could be his genre of music doesn’t sell so well, but people sure do like to watch him. Or it could be that when you don’t sign with 19E your promotion is not so good. Slight possibility?
    There was a reason season 5 added more shows, it was because they were doing so well. Also that whole crowd that year, Elliott, Bucky, Ace, Kellie and all had good fan bases.

  • BestAI

    and i hope these contestants are getting a bigger cut than just a piddly $200K!!!

    Doubt it ‘“ their 15 minutes is their reward. Honestly they could give each contestant way more that what we assume they are getting and still turn a huge profit.

    The higher the position, the more they get. Kris got the most, then Adam, and so on. I’m thinking #10 idol got over $200K, so who knows how much Kris got ($500K?)

  • BestAI

    Seasons 5 and 6 did 59 shows. Those guys sure must have been tired. I guess more shows, more money in their pockets, tho.

    As others have stated, considering the economy, Season 8 did exceptionally well. If the economy was the same as Season 5, they may have actually fared better than that season.

  • beehiway

    “and i hope these contestants are getting a bigger cut than just a piddly $200K!!!”

    ” Doubt it ‘“ their 15 minutes is their reward. Honestly they could give each contestant way more that what we assume they are getting and still turn a huge profit.”

    “The higher the position, the more they get. Kris got the most, then Adam, and so on. I’m thinking #10 idol got over $200K, so who knows how much Kris got ($500K?)”

    I was crunching a few numbers a while back and pondering what AI’s profits would be. I would hope that both Kris and Adam would receive more than the $100,000 per song (taking this no. from the more Knowledgeable ones on this board) due to the fact that they were required to perform other promo and recording duties.

    But assuming that they didn’t receive extra pay, then figure around $3,400,000 for all 10 idols (if i counted the no. of individual songs correctly) and figuring 65% in overhead costs, that includes crew, band, hotels, buses, food etc., then oh total is 19.5 mil. Profits would be about 23.7%, about 7 mil.

    Anyone know if this is typical for the industry?

    ETA: oh yeah, forgot about the cut in ticket sales to the venue. I don’t have any info on that.

  • ianaleah

    ticketmaster info online said ‘”no seats available’ tried a week later-same info- just before San Diego concert got 2 tickets by phone !!! first tier, good seats – but acoustics bad there. Season 7 with the Davids, and Jason Castro, Brook White., Carly, and also Michael Johns has more talent/ Season 8 was all about the best ever- Adam Lambert- and the only reason I attended. Even with economy what it is, when Adam has solo tour-whatever the cost, I want front row floor seats every city I can get to. :)

  • jpfan

    It’s cool that S8 matched S7 because the Davids had some big fan bases. I think overall S8 had a much better top 5 than S7 and that helped attendance.
    The deeper the field, the better. That’s what put S5 at the top of the list. The field of talent was very deep with almost each Idol having a significant fan base.

    If they ever get a season that deep in talent again, they’ll match those numbers. It’s not just the winner than draws the crowds.

  • Ladybug

    Interesting stats all around. I think part of the reason for the popularity of S5 over all was not just the great talent, but the variety of talent, appealing to all age groups and multiple styles of music. Just my opinion, but that is how it appears to me.

  • thataway

    This season featured contestant/artists that appealed to a wide age group. As someone who went to the Wilkes-Barre concert and took my 13 year old on a (gasp) school night, the promoters need to consider those statistics as well. The good thing is we live ( if we get a good parking spot) within half an hour drive of the arena. A number of people who had gone in the past did not go because the concert was in the middle of the week and on a school night. The next closest venue, Reading, was also on a school night. One year ago the Idol tour did not come to Wilkes-Barre. Two years ago they came on a Monday or Tuesday. The last time it was a weekend was Taylor Hicks.

  • hicksaholic

    Glad to see Season 5 still remains at the top. A lot of talent that year and a charismatic group starting with Taylor.
    I agree that although Taylor is nowhere near as successful a recording artist as others (partially due to genre of music he performs) he is one hell of a live performer and a lot of people went to see him that year.
    Season 8 IMO was so much better than the last two seasons but season 7 was way ahead of season 6(again just opinion).
    I wish Taylor had gotten one tenth of the promo and assistance from TPTB that Jordan seems to get. But I guess he was older and nowhere near as willing to be told what to do as Jordan probably is. Not signing with 19 obviously would make a huge difference too.

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