Tacoma Dome among Top 25 worldwide in concert attendance, Billboard says
The Tacoma Dome drew nearly 600,000 people to its music shows last year, earning a place for the first time on the list of highest attended concert venues in the world.
Gross ticket sales topped $38 million and more than 550,000 people attended performances, Dome officials said.
Billboard magazine, which publishes the top 25 attended venues worldwide, showed the Tacoma Dome earned $45 million in gross ticket sales and nearly 600,000 people bought tickets.
That earned the Dome a ranking of 15th in the United States and 20th in the world.
This is the first time the Tacoma Dome made the magazine’s list for venues with at least 15,000 capacity. Sporting and community events are not included.
Madison Square Garden in New York topped the list, followed by the O2 Arena in London and The Forum in Inglewood, California.
Kim Bedier, the Tacoma Dome’s venues and events director, said consistently selling out shows and drawing performers like Elton John and Queen helped land Tacoma on the list.
“These charts put Tacoma on the map in the music industry alongside markets like Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and Philadelphia,” Bedier said.
In 2019, there were 32 live-music shows at the Tacoma Dome, and a spokeswoman said it was one of the busiest years in the venue’s history.
The Tacoma Dome also worked its way back onto a similar list by Pollstar.
On that list, the Dome ranked 19th in the United States and 33rd in the world.
It’s been three years since the Tacoma Dome landed on Pollstar’s venue list, and it shot up several spots.
In 2016, Pollstar ranked the Dome 36th in the United States and 72nd internationally.
“On top of the notable ticket sales, tours have been really impressed with the backstage renovations, and all of this bodes well for Tacoma to continue to attract the top tours,” Bedier said.
A $31 million renovation project took place in 2018, including new seating and concessions and improvements to backstage rooms and loading docks for artists. The outside of the building was spruced up with new lighting and signs.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 2:13 PM.
