The House that Jay-Z built is the new king of New York — Brooklyn’s Barclays Center has passed Madison Square Garden to become the highest-grossing venue in the United States for concerts and family shows.
The Nets’ new home, which opened in September, raked in $46.9 million in ticket revenue for top acts such as the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Justin Bieber, according to Billboard magazine.
That cash haul topped the $39.5 million in event-ticket sales for the nation’s No. 2 venue, Madison Square Garden, Billboard said.
The magazine tracked sales between Nov. 1, 2012, and May 31, 2013, and did not count sports tickets in the figures.
Barclays Center not only beat the Garden, but its ticket haul has made it the No. 2 highest-grossing venue in the world, behind only London’s O2 Arena, which grossed $119 million.
One expert attributed Barclays’ revenue ranking to its novelty and to its location among the hipsters in Brooklyn.
“The demographics of Brooklyn have worked very well for Barclays. Whoever is booking the shows there is booking acts that fit well for that young demographic,” said Chris Matcovich, VP of secondary-ticket tracker TiqIQ.
But he wondered if Barclays can keep up the torrid pace.
“I think the novelty will wear off,”he said.
He also noted that the Garden has been under renovation, which may have affected it’s revenue.
An MSG rep vowed that the Garden would soon be back on top.
“The transformation affected us for two months — that’s more than a quarter of the time we’re talking about [in the rankings]. We were shut down. That’s a big factor, the rep said.
Whatever the reason for the jump to the top, the operators of Barclays Center — of which Jay-Z owns a small percentage — celebrated their success as if they had just won a freestyle rap battle.
“Brooklyn has become a unique market and destination,” said Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark.
“The belief was that there’s a honeymoon — if you build it, they’ll come. But . . . you got to earn it.”
In a separate report, Pollstar found that Barclays sold 657,423 entertainment tickets in the first half of this year, putting it third in the world.
The Garden sold 194,237, putting it in 29th place.