Justin Bieber holds the second spot on TicketNews’ exclusive events rankings as of June 17, but British-Irish boy band One Direction is quickly becoming a fixture, holding the No. 4 position in TicketNews’ top concert and combined events rankings list.
Tickets for Bieber’s 2012 Believe tour sold out in under an hour, according to Billboard. The singer will perform for 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden on two back-to-back nights (for a total of 40,000 concertgoers) with tickets for the November shows selling out in 30 seconds.
Mirroring the ticket sales success of the Bieber tour, One Direction’s 2012 tour dates sold out within hours of the public onsale. As recently reported by TicketNews, the group’s performance at Madison Square Garden on December 3 sold out in less than ten minutes. Fans who were unable to secure tickets the first time around are now turning to the secondary market where tickets are selling for double and triple the face value.
Amy Carpenter, VP of Marketing for TicketCity, recently told TicketNews via email that the average selling price of Bieber tickets is $272 while the average price of One Direction tickets sold is $263. Bieber’s stop in San Antonio, TX has had the highest number of sales and the Louisville, KY date has seen the highest average ticket price. When it comes to One Direction’s dates, Woodlands, TX has had the most ticket sales and the two 2013 Toronto, ON shows have had the highest average ticket price.
Bieber’s Believe tour will kickoff September 29 at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ and will play its last show January 27, 2013 at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, FL. One Direction’s 2012 dates began May 22 in Uncasville, CT at Mohegan Sun Arena and will end December 3 at Madison Square Garden. On April 12, the band announced that they would headline their first World Tour in 2013 that will kickoff February 22 with four shows at the O2 Arena in London. The U.S. portion of the tour will begin June 13, 2013 with a show at the Bank Atlantic Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
According to their official website, One Direction recently added dates to their 2012 and 2013 lineup including an additional stop at Mohegan Sun Arena on November 1 and December 30, 2012.The band also added an additional date in Las Vegas, NV on August 3, 2013 at Mandalay Bay and due to such high demand, it is likely that more dates will be added.
Prior to their solo tour, One Direction served as the opening act for Big Time Rush during the final ten shows of their Better With U tour earlier this year. While One Direction hasn’t been on the music scene as long as Bieber, they are quickly catching up to their competition in terms of popularity. The band was formed and competed on the seventh season of The X Factor before being signed to Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Records. The group released their debut album “Up All Night” in November 2011 in the UK and Ireland and it eventually became the fastest selling debut album in the UK last year. The album was then released in March 2012 in the US and debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts.
“Bieber Fever” has been in full swing ever since the Canadian-born Pop/R&B singer released his first single “One Time” in 2009. The single went on to reach No. 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 charts during its first week of release, and hit No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Since then, Bieber has earned numerous awards and has the second most popular celebrity Twitter account behind Lady Gaga.
While Bieber and One Direction seem to be pretty evenly matched in terms of ticket prices, according to Carpenter, sales for One Direction have seen seven percent more total sales than Bieber, but have also been on sale longer.
Bieber released his third album “Believe” on June 19 for which he will begin touring in the fall. According to a Reuters review, the singer’s latest project reveals “an edgier, grown-up side to the young star” and mixes “electronic dance music with R&B,” said Piya Sinha-Roy. The album’s first single “Boyfriend” was released March 23 and is currently ranked No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching as high as No. 2 in April. One Direction’s “Up All Night” is currently ranked No. 6 on the Billboard 200 charts.
