Pro Football Ticket Sales Surge as NFL Enters Preseason
By Stacey Willets
TicketNews.com
While the Atlanta Falcons aren’t in this week’s exclusive TicketNews Top Tens, many other NFL teams are. Grab your helmets and read on for a look at this week’s hot events.
August is quickly approaching, and with it will come harbingers of the change of seasons. They are cropping up already: swimsuits heading towards the clearance racks, emergency rooms treating fewer fireworks-related injuries, Saturday morning cartoons soured by back to school commercials, and pro football taking command of the Top Sports chart.
Unable to be contained by the Top Sports chart alone, the Dallas Cowboys break into the Overall Top Events chart. The NFL powerhouse is the big mover this week, rushing the rankings to debut in the number three spot, easily charging past the big summer concerts and Major League Baseball. However, despite their strength and strategy, the Cowboys are no match for Broadway. Wicked maintains the number one ranking with Jersey Boys below at number two.
What the Cowboys could not do to musical theatre, they unleash upon Major League Baseball. After eleven weeks in the number one spot, holding firm to the ranking through the Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Playoffs, the Boston Red Sox are successfully tackled by the NFL. The top spot is wrested away by Dallas, who advances five positions this week from number six to the coveted number one. The Red Sox descend to number two, followed by the New York Yankees at three and the Chicago Cubs at four . . .
The Detroit Tigers, who drop four spots to number eight this week, and the Baltimore Orioles, who lose two positions to rank ninth, make up the rest of the Major League Baseball representatives. Though MLB still claims half of the rankings, their numbers are beginning to dwindle as the NFL storms the chart to occupy the other half. The Denver Broncos take number five this week, the Miami Dolphins move up from ten to six, the San Diego Chargers debut at seven, and the Kansas City Chiefs appear at ten.
It’s been a busy week for theatre as well. Grease drops slightly from the number three spot to number four on the Top Theatre and Top New York City Theatre charts although the revival, currently in previews, is already drawing a crowd. The popularity of the television reality series that asked viewers to choose the production’s Danny and Sandy is drawing a young, lively demographic of theatergoers, seemingly displaced from outside MTV’s TRL studio.
With tickets now available to the public, Young Frankenstein debuts at number five on the Top Theatre chart and number eight in the Top NYC Theatre rankings. Radio City Christmas Spectacular drops a spot on each chart but appears to be rooted in the rankings for the long haul. With a remake of the 1988 film out in movie theaters, Hairspray enjoys a boost that puts it back on the Top Theatre chart at number nine and nudges it up one spot to number seven on the Top NYC Theatre chart.
Dave Matthews Band tops the Concert chart just as they prepare to kick off their annual summer tour, bumping Rascal Flatts from the top spot to number three. Kenny Chesney squeezes between them to take the number two ranking this week. Toby Keith contributes a little more country with his return to the chart at number five. Beyoncé takes a fall in the rankings from number five to number seven. While gravity has not been friendly to the artist as of late, YouTube has proved to be more compassionate. Videos of her tumble have been pulled from the web site due to claims of “copyright violations.” On the subject of material leaked to the Internet, a collaboration between Madonna and this week’s number ten, Justin Timberlake, briefly made its rounds on the World Wide Web.
Bette is back in the Vegas top ten. Ms. Midler returns to the chart at the number five spot, ranking below Celine Dion, Elton John, “O,” and LOVE. David Copperfield levitates from ten to six, Toni Braxton reappears at number seven, Blue Man Group moves to number eight, KÀ drops back to number nine, and Lance Burton joins the group at number ten.
To see this week’s rankings, check out the press release in the Daily Buzz section of TicketNews.com.
