U2 wrapped the first leg of the U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere residency on Nov. 4 with unprecedented box-office results. According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, U2’s 17 Sphere shows in Las Vegas grossed $109.8 million and sold 281,000 tickets.
Opening night at Sphere was Sept. 29. U2 played another show the next night, 12 more in October and three in the first week of November. The gross and attendance figures average out to $6.5 million and 16,500 tickets per show. The average ticket price across all shows was $390.97.
Ticket prices have surged in the last few years across the board, especially for arena and stadium artists such as U2. Still, the highest average price among the top 100 Boxscore acts of 2023 was $282.15 for Singaporean singer JJ Lin, 28% discounted from U2’s recent run.
Vegas residencies tend to charge higher prices due to high demand to see A-list acts in smaller theaters. But even though U2’s residency placed them in a full-sized arena, its average ticket towers over recent high-ticket theater runs by Lady Gaga ($290.15) and Bruno Mars ($285.30).
Sphere’s high capacity and U2’s soaring demand add up to a gargantuan total gross for such a short run of shows. The only Vegas residencies that have grossed more than U2’s ran for anywhere from 189 shows (Elton John’s The Million Dollar Piano; 2011-18; $131.2 million) to 714 (Celine Dion’s A New Day…; 2003-07; $385.1 million). It goes without saying that the U2:UV residency is the fastest grossing residency in Boxscore history.
The reveal of Sphere made headlines, from its floor-to-ceiling graphics to its surround-sound-on-steroids audio, to say nothing of its $2.3 billion cost. U2’s opening shows, and the nine-figure grosses that followed, are fitting, but not the end of the story.
U2 is scheduled to play eight more shows in December, kicking off on Friday night. There are 11 more dates lined up between Jan. 26 and Feb. 18. The 19 shows on the books could generate another $120 million, pushing the residency to about $330 million in less than five months. Only Dion’s A New Day… would remain ahead in terms of all residencies in Boxscore history.
