Despite the NBA still being mired in lockout turmoil, the upcoming NHL season helped to displace NFL stadiums in TicketNews’ exclusive venues rankings for the week ending Sunday, September 25.
The NBA lockout, which began on July 1, hasn’t moved much closer to an agreement and recently the league postponed training camp and cancelled preseason games through October 15. The NHL on the other hand kicked off their preseason last week, undoubtedly helping move indoor arenas up the rankings.
Madison Square Garden (MSG), in at No. 2, was the highest ranking such venue and is home to the popular New York Rangers and the also-popular but currently locked out New York Knicks. Summer renovations at the venue have pushed the Rangers home opener back to October 27 and have also contributed to some hefty price increases for both teams, with Knicks tickets jumping an average of 49 percent and Rangers tickets priced 23 percent higher this season. Also certainly boosting MSG’s numbers this week is a scheduled December visit from Bob Seger, whose ticket sales took the rock legend to No. 1 in this week’s Top Concert rankings.
Other indoor sports venues to make the Top 10 this week were the Bridgestone Arena at No. 6 in Nashville, TN, home ice to the NHL’s Nashville Predators; the Pepsi Center at No. 7 in Denver, CO, which hosts both the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche; and the Air Canada Centre at No. 10 in Toronto, ON, where the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors call home.
The sole football stadium to appear in this week’s venues top ten was Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX in at No. 4. Contributing to the venue’s success this week were stronger secondary ticket sales for the 2-1 Dallas Cowboys, boosting the team once again to No. 1 in TicketNews’ Top Sports Events rankings.
As for the top of the rankings, the Eugene O’Neill Theatre still seems unbeatable, ranking No. 1 for 12 of the past 13 weeks. The Eugene O’Neill is home to the blockbuster musical “The Book of Mormon,” whose weekly receipts have kept the show at No. 1 in TicketNews’ Top Broadway rankings virtually since its opening in March of this year.
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 | Eugene Oneill Theatre Tickets | 3.08 |
| 2 | Madison Square Garden Tickets | 2.10 |
| 3 | MGM Grand Garden Arena Tickets | 2.04 |
| 4 | Dallas Cowboys Stadium Tickets | 1.85 |
| 5 | Caesars Palace – Colosseum Tickets | 1.43 |
| 6 | Bridgestone Arena (Formerly Sommet Center) Tickets | 1.29 |
| 7 | Pepsi Center Tickets | 1.16 |
| 8 | Gershwin Theatre Tickets | 1.15 |
| 9 | Fabulous Fox Theatre – GA Tickets | 1.14 |
| 10 | Air Canada Centre Tickets | 1.13 |
| 11 | Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center Tickets | 0.98 |
| 12 | MetLife Stadium (Formerly Meadowlands Stadium) Tickets | 0.97 |
| 13 | TD Garden (Fleet Center) Tickets | 0.92 |
| 14 | Yankee Stadium Tickets | 0.92 |
| 15 | Radio City Music Hall Tickets | 0.91 |
| 16 | Soldier Field Stadium Tickets | 0.91 |
| 17 | Pantages Theatre – CA Tickets | 0.86 |
| 18 | Fedex Field Tickets | 0.80 |
| 19 | Qualcomm Stadium Tickets | 0.80 |
| 20 | Heinz Field Tickets | 0.76 |