TicketNews has released its exclusive venues rankings for the week ending Sunday, April 10, and this week Madison Square Garden (MSG) once again took number one after four weeks out of the top position. MSG's popular sports teams, the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, are playing well this season, both having clinched playoff berths in their divisions.

By Alfred Branch, Jr.

Concert promoters and ticket brokers still think Rod Stewart is sexy.

With CD sales slowing, more artists are looking at touring to generate revenue, and the driving force continues to be more established acts. Five of Pollstar’s top 10 highest-grossing tours so far this year are older acts, such as Stewart, Eric Clapton and the Police. Stewart was followed in the top three by Justin Timberlake and the Police, who are expected to dominate the year-end totals because most of their shows are in stadiums and are scheduled for the second half of the year.

In Stewart’s case, the 62-year-old British superstar is laying claim to the highest grossing U.S. tour at the halfway point by amassing $48.1 million, according to Pollstar. Average ticket prices for his shows was $76.93. . .

By Christine Paluf

LOS ANGELES -- On March 20th, eight ticket holders with front row seats were prepping for the Rod Stewart Center at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Luckily, they checked their email before they left.

“I just stumbled across the email,” said ticket purchaser Brad Shy. “They must have backdated it to say it came across the day before. But I would have seen it.”