Addison O’Grady #44 of the Iowa Hawkeyes rebounds towards LaDazhia Williams #0 of the LSU Lady Tigers in the course of the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament National Championship at American Airlines Center on April 2, 2023 in Dallas, Texas.
C. Morgan Engel | Ncaa Photos | Getty Images
Women’s sports activities had a banner year in 2023, in response to a new report launched by StubHub on Wednesday.
Ticket gross sales for girls’s sports activities on the platform boomed to report development, in response to the resale website’s Year in Live Experiences report.
Nowhere was that extra true than in school sports activities. Demand for girls’s basketball Final Four tickets on StubHub was larger than it was for males’s basketball Final Four seats for the primary time, because the LSU Lady Tigers went on to win their first NCAA championship. Total gross sales had been six instances larger than in final year’s girls’s match, and ticket costs had been 15% larger than in the 2023 males’s Final Four.
Football usually dominates the U.S. sports activities panorama, however do not inform that to Nebraska. The Nebraska Cornhuskers girls’s volleyball workforce fetched a 60% larger common ticket value on StubHub than Cornhuskers soccer did this year.
Nebraska’s matchup towards the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks on Aug. 30 set the world record for women’s sports attendance with 92,003 followers. Stubhub stated it was the positioning’s bestselling volleyball recreation ever.
“It would not matter what sport, school sports activities have seen a huge uptick in demand throughout all reside occasions, and actually on the ladies’s facet,” stated Adam Budelli, a StubHub spokesperson.
The WNBA additionally scored big in 2023, as attendance rose 16% and viewership jumped 21% year over year, the league’s most-watched season in 21 years. Trends on StubHub mirrored the league’s broader success.
StubHub stated total ticket gross sales for the 2023 WNBA season greater than doubled from the prior year. Sales for the Las Vegas Aces’ WNBA Finals victory over the New York Liberty had been StubHub’s highest ever for the league’s championship collection, tripling from the earlier season.
Women’s soccer was additionally on a roll. As the National Women’s Soccer League breaks new milestones in areas from attendance to viewership and workforce valuations, Stubhub stated ticket gross sales for the season doubled these from 2022. Angel City FC, the workforce owned by celebrities resembling Natalie Portman and Serena Williams, was the highest-selling membership on the platform, as gross sales spiked 62% in contrast with 2022.
Finally, gross sales for girls’s tennis jumped 30% versus 2022, because the variety of tickets offered climbed 42%. Once Coco Gauff secured her spot in the U.S. Open finals, complete gross sales elevated 20% in a single day, StubHub stated.
StubHub noticed a number of different key traits emerge in what it referred to as a sturdy year for sports activities ticket gross sales.
The Messi impact is actual
Inter Miami ahead Lionel Messi (10) celebrates after scoring a purpose towards Orlando City in the primary half of a Leagues Cup Round of 32 match at DRV PNK Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service through Getty Images)
Matias J. Ocner | Miami Herald | Getty Images
Lionel Messi’s U.S. debut captured the world’s consideration — and ticket consumers’ wallets. Stubhub noticed common ticket costs for Inter Miami video games practically triple after the celebrity signed with the workforce in June.
Not surprisingly, Inter Miami rose to grow to be the bestselling membership, outselling the No. 2 workforce, LAFC, by 85%.
Messi wasn’t simply good for Miami. He additionally helped drive ticket gross sales on the street. For instance, LAFC averaged about $145 per ticket on StubHub for the season — when the workforce hosted Inter Miami, the typical value rose to greater than $800.
Budelli stated StubHub expects MLS gross sales will improve once more subsequent year, significantly amongst worldwide followers.
The NFL (Taylor’s Version)
Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes react throughout a recreation between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 22, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri.
David Eulitt | Getty Images
Taylor Swift’s affect on the NFL season — to not point out her dominance of the music world — confirmed in StubHub’s information.
“Taylor Swift is actually the story of 2023 whether or not it is her personal tour or the joy she introduced the NFL,” Budelli stated.
The pop singer’s relationship with tight finish Travis Kelce meant America’s sweetheart was a frequent visitor at Kansas City Chiefs video games. The “Blank Space” singer not solely helped TV scores, but in addition ticket gross sales.
After Swift’s first look on the Sept. 24 Chiefs recreation, StubHub noticed gross sales for Chiefs house video games greater than triple.
Off the soccer discipline, Swift’s Eras Tour was the most important in StubHub’s historical past. She was additionally probably the most searched act in 2023.
Looking forward to 2024, StubHub is banking on one other sturdy year of Swift gross sales, as U.S. consumers account for over half of tickets bought for Swift’s worldwide exhibits in 2024 on StubHub and viagogo, one other platform StubHub owns.
Vegas in the highlight
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain drives previous the Sphere in the course of the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday, November 18, 2023 on the Las Vegas Street Circuit in Las Vegas, NV.
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images
The ticketing firm stated it’s paying shut consideration in 2024 to Las Vegas, which can maintain its first Super Bowl subsequent year.
Sin City vaulted into the sports activities scene in current years, and ticket demand is intently following swimsuit. The Stanley Cup-winning Vegas Golden Knights are the bestselling NHL workforce in 2023 on StubHub, with tickets gross sales practically triple these of final year. The NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders are the third-highest promoting workforce in that league.
StubHub can also be watching Formula 1 intently, because the races made up practically 40% of its prime occasions in 2023.
In November, the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix introduced in followers from everywhere in the world, making it the third hottest U.S. occasion for worldwide consumers on StubHub.
Budelli additionally stated the Vegas Sphere, the immersive live performance and occasion venue that opened in September, has rapidly grow to be a big worldwide draw. StubHub expects it would proceed to spice up ticket gross sales.
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