Chesney Leads Country Tour Rankings

Kenny Chesney onstage in Columbus, Ohio in late June.

The touring industry is rebounding following the 2010 slump according to Pollstar’s Mid-Year report. Gross box office receipts and ticket sales are on the rise, despite an increase in ticket prices.

The report tracks data from Jan. 1-June 30, 2011. It shows a 10.2 percent hike in the average ticket price in North America, which climbed $6.25 to a record high of $67.02.

Total ticket sales for the first half of the year equal 16.7 million, a 5.3 percent jump over a year ago.

Concerts have grossed $1.12 billion, an increase of $157 million (16.2 percent).

Nashville’s own Bridgestone Arena ranks ninth in the United States and 23rd in the world for concert attendance, based strictly on tickets sold to music events. Last year, Bridgestone ranked 23rd in the U.S. and 48th in the world.

Country on Pollstar’s Top North American Tours list
(gross in millions, 1/1/11- 6/30/11)

No. 4—Kenny Chesney, 46.7 million
No. 6—Taylor Swift, 29.5
No. 15—George Strait, Reba, Lee Ann Womack 18.4
No. 27—Brad Paisley, 11.9
No. 28—Jason Aldean, 11.8
No. 33—Sugarland, 10.1
No. 39—Rascal Flatts, 9.2
No. 49—Tim McGraw, 7.3
No. 50—Zac Brown Band, 6.7

* Culled from the list’s Top 50 tours. See report for full list, including each tour’s average ticket price, average number of tickets sold, total tickets, average gorss, number of cities and number of shows.