Theater returned to the top of TicketNews’ exclusive Top Events rankings for the week ending October 30, with an especially strong showing by this season’s holiday-themed shows.
Broadway’s long-running hit musical “Wicked” took the No. 1 spot in the combined event rankings this week. “Wicked” was followed closely by its primary competition on the Great White Way, “The Book of Mormon,” which concluded the week ending October 30 in second place overall.
Though Broadway’s top performers battle it out each week atop the rankings, they were not the only theater entries in the October 30 combined rankings. In fact, live theater took five slots in the week’s Top 10, with perennial favorites “Jersey Boys” and “The Lion King” earning eighth and ninth place, respectively.
Holiday-themed theater also performed well on the secondary market last week, with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular ranking high at No. 3. The show not only plays every year to sell out crowds at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, but also takes its festivities on the road with a touring company. The production visits audiences across the country each holiday season, and includes markets like Boston, MA, and Nashville, TN, on its 2011 itinerary.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) and its holiday-themed concerts also continue to draw audiences, this week finishing at No. 5 in the rankings. To date, over eight million fans have seen the progressive rock group’s Winter Tour, which is performed by two separate touring companies each holiday season.
A surprisingly low number of sports entries made it to the list this week, with only two breaking through to finish in the Top 10. The higher ranking of the two, World Series tickets for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers, came in at No. 7. The Cards ultimately won the Commissioner’s Trophy on October 28 after a nail-biting, seven-game series.
With anticipation building for Manny Pacquiao‘s November 12 bout with Juan Manuel Márquez, ticket sales for the eight-division world champ took the event to No. 10 in this week’s combined rankings.
The two have met twice before, with controversy surrounding their 2004 draw in the face of three knockdowns by Pacquiao. Their last match in 2008 ended in a split decision favoring Pacquiao, who scored one knockdown on Márquez in that fight. The MGM Grand Garden Arena hosts the upcoming match, though Mandalay Bay will offer closed-circuit viewing of the event.
TicketNews Exclusive Rankings and Power Scores are based on ticket sales from the TicketNetwork 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.
