Stadiums’ 2020 calendars have dried up, but it doesn’t mean those spaces will stay empty. From June 4-7, Texas Rangers and Rev Entertainment hosted the Concert in Your Car Series in Lot B of the Globe Life Park parking lot in Arlington, Texas.
Country acts Eli Young Band (June 4), Whiskey Myers (June 5), Pat Green (June 6), and Josh Abbott Band & Kevin Fowler (June 7) played two shows each (5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.) to sold-out crowds of parked cars.
Sellable capacity was marked at 408 cars per show. All four artists sold out their two shows, playing to a total of 816 cars, likely reaching about 2,000 people. Tickets were set at $40 for general admission with select VIP tickets closer to the front at $80. From two shows, each artist grossed $40,680 ($20,340 per show) according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. In all, the drive-in concert series earned $162,720 from 3,264 paid admissions (one ticket per vehicle).
Of course, despite selling out to maximum capacity, these events do not come within striking distance of the financial returns for concerts inside the Globe Life Park in Arlington. Recent shows include Paul McCartney on June 14, 2019 ($6.3 million; 45,024 tickets), Jason Aldean on Oct. 11, 2019 ($2.9 million; 35,792 tickets), and Billy Joel ($5.4 million; 43,626 tickets).
Compared to each of these artists’ reported Boxscore history since 2015, the attendance count of 816 is low – but not incredibly so. On average, Josh Abbot Band has sold 916 ticket per night, 1,054 for Whiskey Myers, 1,411 for Pat Green, and 2,028 for Eli Young Band. But without an exact count on the number of people per car or at each show, the attendance at Concert in Your Car may fall closer to Eli Young’s average 2,000-plus attendance.
The $40 general admission ticket (not to mention the $80 VIP price) handily topples each artist’s historical ticket price. Pat Green’s headline shows have averaged $34.17, while the other three performers average $24.48 (Eli Young Band), $23.57 (Whiskey Myers), and $23.20 (Josh Abbott Band).
Balancing fans’ hunger for live entertainment with the confines and restrictions of social distancing, the show gross of $40,680 amounts to more than 80% of the average gross for Eli Young Band ($49,660) and Pat Green ($48,205) and is close to double the historical average gross for Whiskey Myers ($24,852) and Josh Abbott Band ($21,242).
While the experience of a drive-in concert is a new one, Pat Green commented to Billboard, “It was great to be back on stage again! Fun crowd! Now we’re even more excited to get back out on the road!” A date for “getting back out on the road” is still to-be-determined but the sold-out reaction to this outdoor concert series is a promising one for an industry that’s been on pause for months.
