With the start of tournament play at the U.S. Open Tennis Championship this week, the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Corona, NY took top honors in TicketNews’ exclusive venues rankings for the week ending Sunday, August 29. Holding at number four for the previous two weeks, the stadium finished strong this week on solid sales for the tournament, which began on August 30 and runs through September 12. The Arthur Ashe Stadium power scored a 3.06 this week.
After two weeks in the top spot, Dallas Cowboys Stadium was knocked back to number two in this week’s venues rankings. Power scoring a 2.61, the Arlington, TX venue is home field to the Dallas Cowboys, whose strong preseason ticket sales returned them to number one in this week in TicketNews’ Top Sports Events rankings.
Up two spots to number three this week was the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, CA. The venue, hosting traveling companies of top Broadway shows, sees the end of its current run of Wicked on September 5 and opens a production of West Side Story on October 27. The Orpheum Theatre power scored a 2.45 this week.
Continuing a downward trend, New Yankee Stadium dropped one to take the number four spot this week. Ticket sales from the New York Yankees along with strong sales for September’s joint concerts by Jay Z and Eminem helped keep the Stadium in the top ten this week. The New Yankee Stadium power scored a 2.14 this week.
Next, Madison Square Garden (MSG) showed upward mobility this week, up three to take the number five spot. Home to both the New York Rangers and New York Knicks, MSG also has a blockbuster schedule of musical performers this season, including tonight’s appearance by Justin Bieber. Shakira arrives next month, and Roger Waters plays the venue for two dates in October. MSG power scored a 1.91 this week.
The Gershwin Theatre spent yet another week in the bottom half of the top ten, holding steady in the number six position and power scoring a 1.48. The theater’s long running production of “Wicked” continues to sell well, once again taking number one in this week’s Top Broadway Events rankings along with its domination of the Top Theater and Top Combined Events rankings.
With numbers bolstered by Brett Favre’s mid-August decision to return for another season with the Minnesota Vikings, the Metrodome made a strong seasonal debut in the rankings last week, landing in the number two spot. Faltering a bit this week, the venue dropped to the number seven position, finishing the week with a still-respectable power score of 1.47.
Down one to number eight was the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. This season the Stadium opens as the new home to the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets. The New Meadowlands Stadium power scored a 1.22 this week.
Reliant Stadium, home to the Houston Texans, returned to the top ten for the first time in four weeks, arriving at number nine and power scoring a 1.20. The college football powerhouse Texas Longhorns play the Rice Owls at the stadium on September 4.
Lambeau Field made its seasonal debut in the top ten this week, taking number ten and power scoring a 1.19. Likely aided by former quarterback and current rival Favre’s return to play, Lambeau’s Green Bay Packers have ranked above ten in the Top Sports list for three of the last four weeks, this week finishing at number three.
As fall approaches, football stadiums are taking over the top ten, occupying a full half of the list this week. In an unusual switch, the Gershwin is not the highest ranking theater in the top ten this week, well outranked by the Orpheum.
TicketNews Exclusive Rankings and Power Scores are based on ticket sales for venues from the TicketNetwork Exchange™, the world’s largest secondary market exchange. A Power Score illustrates a given venue’s category-specific significance. Two factors are used to calculate a power score: total ticket sales for a venue, and total ticket sales within the category. As such, power scores should only be used to compare venues within a particular category.
| Venue | Score | |
| 1 | Arthur Ashe Stadium Tickets | 3.06 |
| 2 | Dallas Cowboys Stadium Tickets | 2.61 |
| 3 | Orpheum Theatre – San Francisco Tickets | 2.45 |
| 4 | New Yankee Stadium Tickets | 2.14 |
| 5 | Madison Square Garden Tickets | 1.91 |
| 6 | Gershwin Theatre Tickets | 1.48 |
| 7 | Metrodome Tickets | 1.47 |
| 8 | New Meadowlands Stadium Tickets | 1.22 |
| 9 | Reliant Stadium Tickets | 1.20 |
| 10 | Lambeau Field Tickets | 1.19 |
| 11 | Boston Opera House Tickets | 1.14 |
| 12 | United Spirit Arena Tickets | 1.06 |
| 13 | Wells Fargo Arena – IA Tickets | 1.06 |
| 14 | TD Garden (Fleet Center) Tickets | 0.99 |
| 15 | Gillette Stadium Tickets | 0.99 |
| 16 | Sun Life Stadium (Formerly Dolphin Stadium) Tickets | 0.97 |
| 17 | Heinz Field Tickets | 0.95 |
| 18 | Louisiana Superdome Tickets | 0.93 |
| 19 | Consol Energy Center Tickets | 0.91 |
| 20 | Fenway Park Tickets | 0.89 |
