TicketNews has released its exclusive events rankings for the week ending Sunday, December 12, and college football bowl games dominated the top ten. Three bowl games finished the week in the top ten, starting at the top with 2011 BCS National Championship Game (7.54). The game pits the Auburn Tigers against the Oregon Ducks on January 10 at the University of Phoenix Stadium.
Other bowl games joining the National Championship Game in the top ten this week were the Cotton Bowl where the Texas A&M Aggies take on the LSU Tigers on January 7, and the Sugar Bowl between Arkansas Razorbacks and the Ohio State Buckeyes on January 4, at numbers eight and ten, respectively.
Wicked finished the week at number two, power scoring a 3.83. Other theater productions in the top combined event rankings included Radio City Christmas Spectacular in this week at four (2.36), and Jersey Boys at seven (1.75).
The top musical artist to make the top ten this week was Taylor Swift, in at number three (3.75). The joint tour from Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band hit at five (2.26) this week, followed by the George Strait/Reba McEntire/Lee Ann Womack tour at six (1.94). The New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys reunion tour took number nine (1.61).
College bowl action also dominated this week’s Top Sports rankings, with the BCS National Championship taking number one, with an impressive 16.80 power score. Other bowl games in the Top Sports rankings included the Cotton Bowl at number two (3.84) and the Sugar Bowl at number three (3.23). The Chick-fil-A Bowl between the Florida State Seminoles and South Carolina Gamecocks came in at number five (2.33), followed by the Rose Bowl (TCU Horned Frogs vs. Wisconsin Badgers) at six (2.09), the Capital One Bowl (Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Michigan State Spartans) at seven (2.04), the Music City Bowl(North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Tennessee Volunteers) at eight (1.87), and the Outback Bowl (Florida Gators vs. Penn State Nittany Lions) at ten (1.75).
The only other entries in this week’s sports top ten came from the NBA, with the New York Knicks in at number four (3.05) and the Boston Celtics at nine (1.83).
Taylor Swift topped the concert rankings this week, power scoring an 11.07. Kenny Chesney & Zac Brown followed at two (6.66), with the George Strait, Reba McEntire and Lee Ann Womack tour at three (5.71) and the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys tour at four (4.76). Holiday favorites the Trans-Siberian Orchestra hit at number five (4.13), and Kid Rock finished the week at six (3.80). Pop legend James Taylor came in at number seven (3.37) this week, followed by rock legend Eric Clapton (eight, 3.19). Lady Gaga stayed strong at number nine (3.10), followed by Canadian rockers Rush (ten, 2.79), who continue their Time Machine tour in the U.S. this March.
The “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” took the number one spot in the Top Broadway rankings this week, power scoring an 18.93. “Wicked” came in a close second with a power score of 16.11, followed by The Merchant of Venice (three, 9.95). Still in previews, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, finished at number four (8.52) with “Jersey Boys” in fifth (6.28) and Cirque Du Soleil’s Wintuk at six (4.45). Lion King ended the week at seven (3.69), followed by Broadway’s movie-inspired Christmas musical, Elf (eight, 3.38). Another holiday favorite, New York City Ballet’s The Nutcracker, took number nine (2.80), with perennial favorite Phantom of the Opera at number ten (1.82).
“Wicked” and the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” switched places for this week’s Top Theater list, finishing one (18.33) and two (10.96), respectively. “Jersey Boys” came in third (8.61), followed by “The Merchant of Venice” (four, 4.13). “Lion King” hit at number six (3.71), and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” at seven (3.54). Billy Elliot made it to number nine (2.38), followed by Cirque Du Soleil’s “Wintuk” (ten, 2.26).
Vegas still belongs to Cher and Celine Dion, who hit at numbers one (49.52) and two (23.98), respectively, in this week’s Top Vegas rankings. Cirque Du Soleil continues to do well on the strip with three productions in the top ten: O at three (9.46), The Beatles: Love at four (4.72) and Ka at five (3.63).
TicketNews Exclusive Rankings and Power Scores are based on ticket sales from the TicketNetwork ExchangeTM, the world’s largest secondary market exchange. Two factors are used to calculate a power score: total ticket sales from the given event and total ticket sales within the category. Since the sum of all events’ power scores equals 100 in any given category, an individual event’s Power Score represents its category-specific significance. Top Seller Power Scores should only be used to compare sellers within a particular category, and not across categories.