The Circus Starring Britney Spears - Commercial Response

Commercial Response

A week after The Circus Britney Spears was announced, 400,000 tickets were purchased for the North American shows, which prompted promoters to add seven more dates in Los Angeles, Toronto, New Jersey, Chicago, Long Island, Anaheim and Montreal. Due to demand in the UK, six more shows were added to the initial two, selling more than 100,000 tickets in a week. Spears performance at the American Airlines Arena broke the attendance record previously held by Celine Dion, with a crowd of 18,644 people. The first North American leg, which was sold out, resulted in an average of 20,498 tickets per show and a gross of $61.6 million, becoming the highest grossing tour of the first semester of 2009 in the continent. In addition, the tour grossed $13 million from the London, Manchester and Dublin shows, with a total gross of $74.6 million, ranking as the third highest grossing tour worldwide. The Copenhagen show at Parken gathered 40,000 people, Spears's largest audience since her 2002 concerts in Mexico City. The second North American leg was also sold out, with a gross of $21.4 million and it was reported that the tour had grossed $94 million. Her first three shows in Melbourne were also sold out. The four shows at Acer Arena in Sydney sold 66,247 tickets, making Spears the highest selling act ever in the arena. The tour was ranked at number seven on Billboard's Top 25 Tours of 2009, with a previously reported gross of $94 million. However, only 70 of the 97 shows were counted. The Circus Starring Britney Spears also made Spears rank at number twenty one on the Top Touring Artists of the Decade, becoming the youngest artist in the list and also the fourth female artist, behind Madonna, Celine Dion and Cher. The tour was also ranked as the fourth highest grossing tour of the year in North America, becoming the highest grossing tour of the year by a solo artist. In February 2010, Pollstar released their Top 50 Worldwide Concert Tours of 2009. The tour ranked as the fifth highest-grossing tour, worldwide, of the year, with a gross of $131.8 million. In May 2010, Hollyscoop ranked the tour at the fifth position in their 15 Most Profitable Female Tours Ever list.