StubHub, the world’s largest event marketplace, today announced the top-touring acts of the fall in the U.S., including the highest-selling acts and the best-selling shows, as well as ticket trends showing that Elton John’s farewell tour is the biggest draw this fall with BTS bringing the K-pop phenomenon into the states.

Highlights include:

• Elton John’s farewell tour outsells any other tour
• BTS breaks through with the most dates on the list of top-10 selling shows this fall
• The list is heavily dominated by male icons from today and yesteryear

“Elton John: I’m Still Standing – A GRAMMY® Salute”, the two-hour primetime special celebrating the extraordinary career of this five-time GRAMMY® Award-winner. (PRNewsfoto/Alfred Haber, Inc.)

2018 Best-Selling Acts – Full Tour
Based on total ticket sales on StubHub for U.S. tour dates from Labor Day to Thanksgiving 2018

1. Elton John
2. Ed Sheeran
3. BTS
4. Bruno Mars
5. Drake and Migos
6. Taylor Swift
7. Eagles
8. Phil Collins
9. Maroon 5
10. Justin Timberlake

2018 Best-Selling Acts – Per-Show Average
Based on average sales per show for U.S. tour dates on StubHub from Labor Day to Thanksgiving 2018

1. BTS
2. Pearl Jam
3. Ed Sheeran
4. Taylor Swift
5. Eric Clapton
6. Elton John
7. Billy Joel
8. Bruno Mars
9. Dave Matthews Band
10. Phil Collins

ELTON JOHN’S FAREWELL TOUR TAKES THE LEAD
Elton John’s farewell tour takes the #1 position over Ed Sheeran, who had the highest demand per show just this summer on StubHub’s Summer Tour Preview.

• Elton John’s Boston date at TD Garden on October 6 is his most popular date, followed by a Madison Square Garden Appearance (10/19) and a show at United Center in Chicago (10/27).
• On a per-show basis, however, Elton John comes in at #6, indicating that he is one of the more affordable acts on the top-ten list to get out and see.

K-POP HAS OFFICIALLY TAKEN OVER THE U.S.
K-pop sensation BTS moves into a top-three position, signaling a tipping point for the undeniable phenomenon from Korea.

• The act also leads on a per-show average, outselling Pearl Jam with the #2 highest average sales per show by over 20 percent and Ed Sheeran in the #3 highest-selling average sales per show position by nearly 30 percent per-show.
• The group’s date at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA is their #1 selling tour date.
• BTS is the #4 highest-selling on-sale on StubHub in 2018 in terms of ticket sales for the initial 14 North America dates put on sale.

“As we see one legend wrap up a remarkable career with Elton John taking the number one spot, it is fascinating to watch the rapid rise of an entire genre in North America as BTS represented our fourth highest on-sale for a tour this year,” said Jeff Poirier, General Manager of Music & Theatre for StubHub. “In both cases, there’s a chance for fans to get out and experience history this fall, providing stories to share for a lifetime.”

BATTLE OF THE MALE POP ICONS – TODAY AND YESTERYEAR
With an overwhelmingly male-dominated list, this fall we see iconic male superstars shoulder to shoulder with some of today’s hottest male pop stars.

• Today’s pop acts Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars are the only two acts on the list to return from the 2017 list.
• Today’s male leads (Ed Sheeran, BTS, Bruno Mars, Drake and Migos, Maroon 5 and Justin Timberlake) have 130 dates among them this fall, while male legends Elton John, Eagles and Phil Collins have only 54 dates.
• The legends beat out their modern pop counterparts by 15 percent more on a per-show basis
• Ed Sheeran’s MetLife Stadium show in New Jersey on September 22is the highest-selling show date this fall across all acts.
  • BTS show at Oracle Arena comes in as the second highest-selling show this fall.
  • On the top-ten highest-selling dates, Ed Sheeran and BTS account for nine of the dates.

Data for all trends is based on sales for U.S. tour dates on StubHub that take place from Labor Day through Thanksgiving.

ABOUT STUBHUB
At StubHub, our mission is simple: bring the joy of live to fans globally. We connect fans with their favorite teams, shows and artists and introduce them to the ones they’ll love next. As the largest ticket marketplace in the world, we enable fans to buy and sell tickets to tens of thousands of events, whenever they want, through our desktop and mobile experiences, including our StubHub app for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Android. Offering a superior fan experience at its core, StubHub reinvented the ticket resale market in 2000 and continues to lead through innovation. Our industry firsts include the introduction of the first ticketing application, the first interactive seat mapping tool, and the first live entertainment rewards program. Our business partners include more than 130 properties in MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS and NCAA, plus AEG, AXS and Paciolan, and now the Tessitura Network. StubHub provides the total end-to-end event going experience throughout the world. StubHub is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY). For more information on StubHub, visit StubHub.com or follow @StubHub on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or YouTube.com/StubHub.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ —  StubHub