Results of the concerts at the 2017 Illinois State Fair have been released.
Very interesting stuff:
Overall, the Grandstand’s nine shows that charged admission came out ahead, selling nearly $2.07 million in tickets while paying out $1.82 million to the artists, for a gain of nearly $246,000.
In all, a total of 59,023 Grandstand tickets were sold, which beats last year’s record by about 500 seats. This year’s ticket revenue fell just short of the record $2.08 million sold at last year’s fair.
More than two of every five Grandstand tickets sold this year were for two shows: the well-known a cappella quintet known as Pentatonix and the heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch.
Pentatonix, which has been selling out shows all over the country this summer as one of its members prepares to depart the group, was the biggest moneymaker at the Grandstand. The show sold more than $439,000 in tickets. The group and its opening act charged the fair $230,000 to perform, for a profit of more than $209,000.
Five Finger Death Punch -- whose Springfield show marked the return of frontman Ivan Moody, who was in rehab and away from the band for most of the summer -- sold the most tickets of all the concerts, 13,316. But an average lower ticket price led to sales of nearly $330,000. The fee for the metal band and its openers was $135,000, netting the fair a gain of nearly $195,000.
The only other Grandstand concert to sell more in tickets than the band charged was the legendary country group Alabama. A total of 6,590 seats were sold, raising nearly $299,000, with the group and its opener charging $270,000, for a gain of about $29,000.
And other than Alabama, country music really struck-out this year:
The biggest modern country name in the lineup, Brad Paisley, sold more than $314,000 in tickets but cost $335,000 in artists’ fees. The other country shows, headlined by Chase Rice and Montgomery Gentry, also lost money.
Read the rest of the results here:
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt