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Why did MJ prefer stadiums as opposed to arenas?

Gatesy2006

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Mike seemed to love stadiums, especially big European football stadiums, to perform in. Why was this? Was it simply because he could fit in more fans, or was it for monetary reasons? Why didn't he like performing in arenas for his solo tours?
 
I'll be honest I think you answered your own question. More money, more fans and it's such a better atmosphere. I've always wondered this too though

I'm always kind of proud that Michael filled stadiums, over here especially, rather than do small scale arena tours. Michael was such a huge artist he needed to do stadium tours.
Take This Is It, that would have been 50 shows and in the DVD extras of the film, someone said there was still another 800 thousand people or something like that (can't remember the exact figure) waiting in the pre sale, which would have easily filled out another 50 shows.

Plus I think it added to the spectacle of Michael Jackson, in that everything he did was an event. If he would have just done arena tours, I doubt it would have the impact as stadium tours.
 
Because stadiums tend to have a large capacity of 60,000+ people and Michael was someone who could fill out these stadiums a dozen times and then some. Also, the money factor was the key too. I’m sure Michael’s record company also didn’t want him performing in small scale arenas in front of 5,000 people. I actually wish that Michael had performed more in small arenas in front of a small crowd, because I feel the experience is more intimate in a small arena as opposed to a large stadium. The crowd are more involved.
 
I think it's also important to remember the length and breadth of Michael's reach in popularity. Michael's tours were long when playing stadiums because he was established and successful just about everywhere. Can you imagine how much longer they'd be if he was just playing arenas...or conversely how many fans would have to miss out?
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
I'll be honest I think you answered your own question. More money, more fans and it's such a better atmosphere. I've always wondered this too though

I'm always kind of proud that Michael filled stadiums, over here especially, rather than do small scale arena tours. Michael was such a huge artist he needed to do stadium tours.
Take This Is It, that would have been 50 shows and in the DVD extras of the film, someone said there was still another 800 thousand people or something like that (can't remember the exact figure) waiting in the pre sale, which would have easily filled out another 50 shows.

Plus I think it added to the spectacle of Michael Jackson, in that everything he did was an event. If he would have just done arena tours, I doubt it would have the impact as stadium tours.
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I never agreed with the 02 Arena for MJs comeback. Should have been a much much larger venue and less than half the shows.
 
Gatesy2006 said:
Are there any quotes from Michael about his love for playing stadiums?
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I think he talks about it in Private Home Movies, around the I love to tour bit, on the Oprah interview briefly around the Who Is It bit and I think he mentions it in the 87 interview with Frank but I think that's more about touring rather than stadiums
 
Logical supply and demand and costs and Because then you end up with an 02 senario of a stupid amount of shows been done in one location
 
Michael was such a large name and a larger-than-life performer that it made sense to perform in huge stadiums. He had the performance power and charisma to fill those stadiums up for months at a time if he had decided that while on tour.
 
Agree with what people have already posted above.

More fans could enjoy him, more money - but also I think because he wanted everything big. He loved records and being larger-than-life. So to be able to sell out stadiums all around the world was great for his legacy and his own thoughts about the artist he wanted to be/thought he was.

So it makes sense. - Imagine the HIStory tour - 82 shows - 4.5 million fans saw him. Had he only performed 02 size arenas he should have performed 225 concerts. (4.5 million fans - 02 capacity 20000 each night.) That would be impossible - or a tour spanning 4 years.
 
I think it was also a financial issue. Playing to massive crowds made a lot more sense when you consider the expenses involved in Michael 'flying' out of the stadium on a jet pack for one tour. They also gave a lot more people the chance to see him. Smaller venues would have meant he'd have to do a lot more concerts, it would have been never ending. Smaller venues would also have meant less spectacular set ups imagine using a real tank in a theatre or smaller place.
 
He did world tours and for everyone this was THE chance to see him.. The demand was too large to put him in an arena.. putting him in an arena of 16,000 people would leave 30-50 thousand fans in the area out and disappointed... You multiply that by the number of shows, we are talking millions of people over the years.. and if millions of people can't go, imagine the earning potential lost. we are talking billion + with ticket costs, merchandise etc. over the collection of tours he did.


While I think it would have been great to do an arena for This Is It, to give everyone a chance to actually see him.. (You know those people in the middle of those large stadium crowds didn't see Mike.. they just end up watching the screen.. BUT in a stadium, it would have allowed him do 1/4 the amount of concerts.
 
dam2040;4229956 said:
I never agreed with the 02 Arena for MJs comeback. Should have been a much much larger venue and less than half the shows.
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With an indoor arena, they didn't have to worry about weather issues.
02 arena is pretty big for what it is.

Nite Line;4229949 said:
Because stadiums tend to have a large capacity of 60,000+ people and Michael was someone who could fill out these stadiums a dozen times and then some. Also, the money factor was the key too. I’m sure Michael’s record company also didn’t want him performing in small scale arenas in front of 5,000 people. I actually wish that Michael had performed more in small arenas in front of a small crowd, because I feel the experience is more intimate in a small arena as opposed to a large stadium. The crowd are more involved.
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He wouldn't be playing in 5,000 seat arenas...

The Bad Tour U.S. leg was arenas, rather than stadiums, and most of the cities were done in 3 night blocks.

Weather may have played a part in that decision (no one wants to go to an outdoor concert in colder cities when he was playing there).
 
The outdoor shows were done in the summer months.certainly not a certainty of good weather in northern europe but very few had really bad weather during previous tours.

I doubt AEG cared about the weather. Connections to the arena owners the venue been as famous as it was at the time. Far cheaper to hold a huge amount of shows at areana venue interms of the cost of staging etc.money to be made of ticket resale. End of the day when you perform to a huge amount of ppl its common sense to find a bigger venue as poss interms of money made and the venue costs
 
No arena venue would have satisfied the huge tickets demand for his solo tours.

Also, the costs (for staging those concerts) were very high, so they had to recoup those expenses by using stadiums of bigger capacity for his shows, especially for the Dangerous Tour but more importantly for the HIStory Tour.

The required costs for the theatrical concept of the HIStory Tour were too high.

Paul Gongaware, for example, testified that the HIStory Tour was very expensive in its staging to the point where it did not make a profit, despite the sold-out stadiums back then.

Imagine what would have happened (in terms of losses) if MJ performed in small arenas during the HIStory tour.

Additionally, there was another reason that explained the use of huge stadiums (instead of arenas) for his shows.

MJ wanted to set new attendance records on many countries in which he performed during his solo tours.

For example, MJ & Wembley Stadium made history together on July 17th (1997) when the ‘one million’ ticket was sold.

Also, the two HIStory shows in Aloha set a new record there surpassing even previous attendance records coming from Rolling Stones or The Eagles who performed there before him (according to local tour promoter Tom Moffatt).
 
mj_frenzy;4230127 said:
No arena venue would have satisfied the huge tickets demand for his solo tours.

Also, the costs (for staging those concerts) were very high, so they had to recoup those expenses by using stadiums of bigger capacity for his shows, especially for the Dangerous Tour but more importantly for the HIStory Tour.

The required costs for the theatrical concept of the HIStory Tour were too high.

Paul Gongaware, for example, testified that the HIStory Tour was very expensive in its staging to the point where it did not make a profit, despite the sold-out stadiums back then.

Imagine what would have happened (in terms of losses) if MJ performed in small arenas during the HIStory tour.

Additionally, there was another reason that explained the use of huge stadiums (instead of arenas) for his shows.

MJ wanted to set new attendance records on many countries in which he performed during his solo tours.

For example, MJ & Wembley Stadium made history together on July 17th (1997) when the ‘one million’ ticket was sold.

Also, the two HIStory shows in Aloha set a new record there surpassing even previous attendance records coming from Rolling Stones or The Eagles who performed there before him (according to local tour promoter Tom Moffatt).
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Gongaware said the HIStory tour barely broke even. The DWT was a financial loss.
 
To be fair staging an arena show costs less as you dont have to build a stage from scratch ona grass area for example and its far smaller than an stadium one. But then you have to perform more shows to make the money that a stadium tour does.so then you have the extra rental/staff costs. swings and roundabouts
 
Just on the subject of weather, bands (who have the potential to fill stadiums) have already sussed out how it works. Australia gets visited during November/December....that's when it's Summer there. Europe Stadium shows tend to be June/July. Malaysia (and I think 2 other countries) never gets cold throughout the year (I went to Malaysia in November 2007, I was Roasted
bigsmile.gif
) so you can pick whatever date you want to play there.

So in terms of weather, most performers (and promotors) know how it works.

I've always said (within the last 10 years)....if it was Live Nation who approached MJ (and not AEG) with a deal to do 10 shows at Wembley Stadium instead of the initial 31 dates for The O2, MJ would still be alive today.

Yes, it was Murray that killed MJ, but the preparations for the shows must've played a part in it.......
 
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Idk why it's a debate.. when the demand is large enough artists do stadiums. It's obviously more money..

Side note. We all know Mike loved showing the world the attendance and fan craze he got. In an arena it's not the same
 
There’s that story about MJ only being interested in super bowl once he knew viewership would be global in places he never performed.
MJ obviously cared about as many ppl as possible going to shows - look at victory protest with that stupid 4 ticket lottery
 
dam2040 said:
Gongaware said the HIStory tour barely broke even.
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According to Paul Gongaware, the HIStory Tour (both legs) recouped its costs without making any profits (because of its huge production costs), which is the exact same thing as breaking even.

dam2040 said:
The DWT was a financial loss.
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Who said that?

The Dangerous Tour was not a financial loss because it recouped its costs even before the unexpected cancellations that took place in 1993.

The costs of those cancelled shows were covered by insurance companies, while all the profits were donated to charities (as the contract specified).
 
dam2040;4230174 said:
There’s that story about MJ only being interested in super bowl once he knew viewership would be global in places he never performed.
MJ obviously cared about as many ppl as possible going to shows - look at victory protest with that stupid 4 ticket lottery
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This story is hard to believe consider football in the big scheme of things is not that big.. let's say compared to the world cup!!!

American football (especially in the early 90s was not so global).. Michael was more global than the halftime show. Black or white video had 4 times the amount of viewers during its debute as his superbowl performance and at the time his superbowl performance was the highest rated halftime
 
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KOPV;4230287 said:
This story is hard to believe consider football in the big scheme of things is not that big.. let's say compared to the world cup!!!

American football (especially in the early 90s was not so global).. Michael was more global than the halftime show. Black or white video had 4 times the amount of viewers during its debute as his superbowl performance and at the time his superbowl performance was the highest rated halftime
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I don’t know. The Super Bowl is huge. Michael Jackson was arguably on the verge of being bigger than he was at Thriller era at the time. It was without a doubt going to attract huge huge attention, which it did.
 
^ Well yes, it was the first superbowl that reached the 100 million mark.. I was just stating that while I am sure the platform played a roll in chosing to do it. I was just putting perspective on how much attention Michael got at the time. his BOW video getting 500 million viewers apposed to 100 million for superbowl speaks lowdly.. The Superbowl did not reach everywhere while his videos reached further.

The biggest platform Michael could have (as I mentioned) would be the World Cup! Which I remember in 2007-2009 timeframe there were rumors.. I am curious how that would have been considering that it gets 700 million + viewers without Michael.. Imagine if it hit a billion? haha
 
stadiums = more money less dates. not to mention he's Michael Jackson
 
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