New York, NY. (Top40 Charts/
Live Nation) -
Live Nation announced that Nickelback's 2009 tour is off to an exceptional start with over 210,000 tickets sold to date, representing 70% of available tickets sold, with the first date not until February, 2009. Ticket sales in like markets are tracking 20% ahead of the 2007 tour with a 62% increase in ticket revenue.
Nickelback became the fourth global superstar to sign a long-term, unified rights deal with Live Nation earlier this year.
The tour, the first under that agreement, is expected to drive a broad range of revenue streams, spanning merchandise, VIP packages, fan club, tour sponsorship and secondary ticketing, as well as additional rights including recorded music, clothing, licensing and other retail merchandise, non-tour sponsorship and endorsements, DVD and broadcast rights, website and literary rights.
"Ticket sales for 2009 concerts are continuing to pace ahead of historic trends despite the global economic slowdown," said Jason Garner, CEO of Live Nation Global Music. "Nickelback sales being 20% ahead of their last tour is consistent with what we are seeing from many of the tours currently on sale. While we continue to monitor the effect of the economy on our business, all of our data indicates that we are one of the only consumer businesses resilient to the economic downturn."
Nickelback, one of the most successful rock bands of the decade, kicks off their North American tour February 25th, at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The DARK HORSE tour will continue globally throughout 2009 with the first set of international dates beginning May 22, 2009, in Manchester, England. The band will return to the U.S. for a summer tour performing at amphitheaters throughout the country. Additional Nickelback dates to be announced soon. Nickelback's previous tours have grossed in excess of $100 million in ticket sales and have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their latest release, DARK HORSE, is currently No 4 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.
