Garth Brooks is one of the most successful and best-selling artists in music history. He has sold over 170 million records worldwide, making him the best-selling solo artist in the United States. Brooks is known for his high-energy concerts and elaborate stage productions. But how much does he actually make from one of his concerts? In this article, we’ll take a look at Garth Brooks’ concert earnings and how he makes his money.
How Are Concert Tickets Priced?
For major artists like Garth Brooks, concert tickets are priced based on demand. His managers likely use dynamic pricing models to price tickets. This means ticket prices will be higher in markets where demand is high and lower in markets with less demand. The production costs are relatively fixed, so the goal is to maximize revenue by charging what the market will bear in each location.
Garth Brooks’ tickets typically range from $50 to $250. He plays very large venues, often stadiums, that can hold 50,000 to 70,000 fans. By playing larger venues, he can sell more tickets and make more money than he could in smaller arenas.
Average Ticket Price and Attendance
According to reports, the average ticket price for a Garth Brooks concert is around $105. Of course, this varies by market and venue. But across his tour dates, the overall average is estimated to be around $105 per ticket.
Garth Brooks routinely sells out his concerts. In recent tours, he has been averaging around 60,000 fans per show. So for a venue that holds 60,000 people, if we assume an average price of $105 per ticket, that equals about $6.3 million in revenue from ticket sales alone.
Estimated Ticket Revenue
Average Ticket Price | $105 |
Average Attendance | 60,000 |
Total Ticket Revenue | $6,300,000 |
This estimated revenue from tickets provides a ballpark figure, but it represents just one stream of concert income for Garth Brooks.
Other Revenue Streams
Beyond ticket sales, Garth Brooks brings in revenue from various other channels:
Merchandise Sales
On his recent Stadium Tour, Garth Brooks made around $1 million per show in merchandise sales. This included selling items like t-shirts, hoodies, hats, belts buckles, and bandanas. With high attendance numbers, he can sell a high volume of merch and generate lots of additional revenue from his concerts.
Food and Beverage Sales
Large concert venues make a good portion of their revenue from food and drink sales. While Garth doesn’t directly profit from these sales, he likely gets a percentage of the total food and beverage revenue as part of his stadium contract. This could mean several hundred thousand dollars per show from concessions.
Sponsorships
Major concert tours often have corporate sponsors. Garth Brooks has had sponsorships from companies like Amazon Music, Google Pixel, Duracell, and more. Having large brands sponsor his tour can bring in a few million dollars depending on the deals. The sponsors see it as a marketing opportunity to align with such a popular artist.
Ticket Resales
Garth Brooks tickets are in such high demand that ticket resale sites like StubHub do brisk business for his shows. For popular shows, the prices on resale sites can be many times the face value. Garth likely gets a percentage of these inflated resale tickets as part of his contract with the venues. This can mean hundreds of thousands in additional income per show from scalped tickets.
Estimated Total Concert Earnings
When we add up the different revenue sources from ticket sales, merchandise, food and beverage sales, sponsorships, and ticket resales, it’s estimated that Garth Brooks could make between $9 million and $12 million per concert date.
This varies by venue and market demand. But with an average ticket price of $105 and strong attendance averaging 60,000 fans, Garth can quickly gross over $6 million just from ticket revenue. Then when we factor in merch sales, food sales percentage, sponsors, and a cut of resold tickets, his total earnings per show soar even higher.
It’s an incredible amount that demonstrates just how profitable music concerts continue to be for top-tier artists like Garth Brooks. Fans are willing to pay hundreds of dollars just to see Garth perform live. And with his unmatched career success, he can command massive payouts per show that very few other artists can reach.
How Much Has Garth Brooks Made on Tour?
According to various reports, Garth Brooks has grossed over $1 billion in ticket sales alone from his live performances over the past 25+ years. That’s not even factoring in merch, sponsorships, or other revenue streams – just raw ticket sales.
Here’s a quick estimate of how much he has made on some of his biggest concert tours:
The Garth Brooks World Tour (1993-94)
– 69 concerts
– Over 4.3 million tickets sold
– Estimated gross: $120 million
The Garth Brooks World Tour (1996-98)
– 120+ concerts
– Over 5.5 million tickets sold
– Estimated gross: $190 million
Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood (2014-17)
– 390+ concerts
– Over 6.3 million tickets sold
– Estimated gross: $1 billion
The Stadium Tour (2019-2022)
– Stadium concerts across North America
– Over 6 million tickets sold so far
– Estimated gross so far: $650+ million
The numbers are simply staggering. When you account for all of Brooks’ tours over the decades, he has likely grossed over $2 billion in concert revenue over his career. That explains how he has become the highest-paid country music star and top-selling solo artist ever.
How Garth Brooks Spends His Concert Earnings
With the huge income Garth Brooks has earned over his career from concerts and records sales, how does he spend that fortune?
Real Estate Investments
Garth has invested some of his millions in various real estate holdings. He owns a 4,000 acre ranch in Tulsa, Oklahoma that serves as a getaway for his family. He also bought a Malibu mansion for $7 million in 2017.
Business Investments
The country star has made smart investments in companies he believes in. He invested $10 million into the parent company that owns Domino’s Pizza. He also owns a minority stake in the NFL’s Tennessee Titans team.
Charity Support
Brooks is very philanthropic and supports various charitable foundations. He donated $500,000 to Notre Dame High School in 1999 to fund a new arts center. He also launched The Teammates for Kids Foundation in 1999, which has donated over $100 million to charities for kids.
Friends and Family
Having earned so much, Brooks spreads the wealth among his inner circle. He gifted his wife Trisha Yearwood a Ferrari car for her birthday one year. He also treats his band and crew very generously through bonuses and gifts as a thank you for their hard work.
Tax Implications
With such massive earnings, Garth Brooks has certainly paid a lot in taxes over the years. It’s estimated he was paying over 50% in income tax throughout the 1990s at the height of his career. This includes both Federal and state income taxes he’s had to pay.
While territories like Ireland and Canada have special tax laws for touring performers that can exempt a lot of their income, Brooks has often had to pay full income tax rates in the U.S. The exact amount he’s paid to the IRS over the years is not known, but it’s likely in the hundreds of millions.
How His Concert Income Compares to Other Artists
Very few music artists reach the stratospheric level of concert income as Garth Brooks. However, there are a handful of legends who can match or possibly exceed Brooks in per-show earnings:
The Rolling Stones
Like Brooks, the Stones still charge over $100 per ticket on average and play to huge crowds in stadiums. They can likely gross $10 million per show, especially if they schedule multiple nights in major markets. Their sponsorship deals and merch sales also boost income.
U2
U2’s 360° Tour from 2009-2011 grossed a whopping $736 million. While they don’t tour as frequently now, U2 can still likely gross between $5-10 million per show depending on the city.
Ed Sheeran
As one of the world’s most popular music artists right now, Sheeran can average around $10 million gross per concert in large venues. His Divide Tour (2017-2019) grossed over $775 million.
Taylor Swift
Swift set the record for the highest-grossing U.S. tour of all time with her Reputation Stadium Tour (2018) grossing $266 million from just 38 shows. She can easily clear $10 million gross for major market concerts.
Beyoncé
Queen Bey’s Formation World Tour (2016) grossed over $250 million from 49 concerts. She commands up to $10 million per show for her rare but hugely popular stadium concerts.
Garth Brooks is certainly in an elite group of touring artists who can generate tens of millions per tour stop. His incredible popularity and loyal fanbase has allowed him to become the highest-paid country artist ever and top touring act across all genres over his decades of success.
Conclusion
In summary, Garth Brooks has amassed a huge personal fortune from his decades of record-breaking tours. While exact numbers fluctuate, it’s estimated he can earn between $9 million to $12 million gross revenue per concert date thanks to a combination of factors:
– High ticket prices and large venue capacity results in strong gross ticket sales of around $6 million per show.
– Lucrative merchandise sales, food/beverage sales percentages, sponsorships and ticket resales can all add a few million more per date.
When looking across his entire touring career spanning over 25 years, Brooks has likely grossed over $2 billion in revenue just from live performances. Even after paying his staff, band expenses and income taxes, his net worth still sits at an estimated $400 million.
Garth Brooks has parlayed his success as the best-selling solo artist in U.S. history into an unprecedented touring career with earnings unmatched by most other artists. His concerts continue to generate excitement and huge revenues wherever he takes the stage. Fans may grumble about the high ticket prices, but they still clearly think Garth is worth every penny.