Ariana Grande is an American singer and actress who has become one of the biggest pop stars in the world over the past decade. In 2018, she embarked on her Sweetener World Tour to support her fourth studio album Sweetener and fifth studio album Thank U, Next. The tour was highly anticipated by fans and saw huge demand for tickets.
Tour Dates and Venues
The Sweetener World Tour kicked off on March 18, 2019 in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. It continued through shows across North America, including major cities like Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington D.C. and more. Grande also performed in Europe, visiting cities like London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin.
In total, there were 101 shows scheduled for the Sweetener World Tour, spanning from March 2019 to December 2019 before the tour was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour was planned to continue into 2020 with dates in South America and Asia, but those shows ultimately had to be cancelled.
Some of the major venues Grande performed at included:
- Madison Square Garden in New York City
- Staples Center in Los Angeles
- American Airlines Arena in Miami
- United Center in Chicago
- Rogers Arena in Vancouver
- The O2 Arena in London
Ticket Prices
Ticket prices for the Sweetener World Tour varied depending on the city, venue, and seat location. Here are some example ticket prices:
| City | Venue | Seat Location | Price Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York City | Madison Square Garden | Floor/Lower Bowl | $250 – $500+ |
| Los Angeles | Staples Center | Lower Bowl | $150 – $400 |
| Chicago | United Center | Upper Bowl | $80 – $250 |
| London | The O2 Arena | Floor Seating | £195 – £500+ |
As you can see, floor seats or lower bowl seats closest to the stage commanded the highest prices, often over $250 and sometimes over $500 in major markets like New York City. The most affordable tickets were in the upper decks, usually ranging from $80-$250 depending on the city.
Premium VIP packages were also available for some shows, which included extras like merch bundles, pre-show receptions, signed memorabilia and more. These packages ran as high as $1,500-$2,000 per ticket.
Reasons for High Ticket Prices
There are several factors that contributed to the high ticket prices for Ariana Grande’s Sweetener World Tour:
High Demand
As one of the top pop stars in the world right now, Ariana Grande has an enormous fanbase with massive demand to see her live. Her popularity has grown tremendously over the past several years. Combine this with the fact that she had not toured extensively in North America since her Dangerous Woman Tour in 2017, and fans were eager to see her live show again.
Limited Tour Dates
The Sweetener World Tour only had 101 scheduled dates, primarily focused on North America and Europe. For an artist as popular as Ariana Grande, this is a relatively short tour. The limited number of opportunities to see her perform drove up demand and prices for each date.
Production Value
Grande’s live shows are known for having high production value with intricate staging, costumes, special effects and choreography. Putting on huge spectacles adds to costs and leads to higher ticket prices.
Venue Sizes
Many Sweetener World Tour stops were at major arenas with large capacities of 15,000-20,000. However, due to the short length of the tour, multiple dates were not scheduled for each city. The scarcity of tickets at large venues allowed prices to remain high.
VIP Packages
The special VIP ticket packages offered drove up the average ticket price. Only a limited number of premium packages were made available per show, adding to their exclusivity and value.
Face Value vs Resale Prices
The above ticket price ranges reflect the face value prices set by the venue and tour promoter. However, tickets frequently sold on secondary resale sites like StubHub for well above face value.
For example, floor seats at Madison Square Garden had a face value around $250-$350. Yet on StubHub, those same floor tickets were reselling for $500-$1000 each, sometimes more.
Due to the huge demand, resale prices typically far exceeded face value, sometimes by two or three times as much. Resale prices fluctuated leading up to each show date, with prices spiking right before the concert.
Sellouts
The massive demand led to rapid sellouts for most Sweetener World Tour dates. Tickets routinely sold out within minutes, or even seconds, immediately after going on sale to the general public.
Some examples of sellout shows include:
- April 18 & 19 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver – Sold out in under 30 seconds
- May 19 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul – Sold out immediately
- June 4 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto – Sold out within minutes
- July 13 at American Airlines Arena in Miami – Sold out in under 5 minutes
The instantaneous sellouts further limited supply and drove up resale ticket prices to astronomical levels for those still hoping to get tickets.
StubHub Average Resale Prices
According to data from StubHub, below are average resale ticket prices for select Sweetener World Tour dates:
| City | Venue | Average Resale Price |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Staples Center | $675 |
| Las Vegas | T-Mobile Arena | $416 |
| Chicago | United Center | $292 |
| Toronto | Scotiabank Arena | $363 |
| New York City | Madison Square Garden | $565 |
This demonstrates how prices ballooned on secondary resale sites compared to the initial face value prices. The average resale price was routinely several hundred dollars more than face value.
Conclusion
In summary, ticket prices for Ariana Grande’s Sweetener World Tour were very expensive, with face values typically ranging from $80-$500 and resale prices commonly doubling or tripling face value. The major factors driving up prices included high demand to see one of the biggest pop stars in the world on a limited tour, production costs, venue sizes, and VIP packages. The tour sold out nearly instantly across all dates, further limiting supply and leading to astronomical resale prices. While expensive, the opportunity to witness a massive global spectacle featuring Ariana Grande’s incredible vocals and iconic high ponytail was considered priceless by her legions of diehard fans.