REGIONAL PROFILES
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND & AUSTRIA POPULATION: 80.7m (DE); 8.7m (AT); 8.2m (CH) INTERNET USERS: 70.8m (DE); 7.3m (AT); 7.1m (CH) GDP/CAPITA: €43,030 (DE); €42,763 (AT); €53,029 (CH) ACTIVE SMARTPHONES: 96.3m (DE); 13.4m (AT); 11.7m (CH)
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ommanding the highest ticket prices in Europe, thanks to their strong and stable economies, it’s boom-time for arenas in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Well-connected and in a central European location, this region is attracting more international shows than ever before, and has strong and healthy domestic product too, meaning audiences are spoiled for choice. But with more product in the market and high ticket prices, what’s the impact on average attendance and how are arenas adapting to this change?
REGIONAL MAP n = Germany, Switzerland & Austria
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The arenas surveyed in these three countries sold a total of 7,355,076 tickets, worth over €380million in 2016.
Attendance
Family events make up 15% of schedules, but when they are booked, they appear to be the most popular among ticket buyers. They draw 23% of total attendance and average audiences of 8,059 people. This is well over the survey average for this genre of 5,157, and above the overall average turnout for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (5,373). Music events draw the second largest average audiences in this part of Europe. Average attendance is 7,421 compared with a survey average of 7,359, and this genre makes up 32% of the total programme. It attracts 44% of attendance compared with other genres. Many arenas are home to sports teams, and ticket buying for home games is dependent on how well the team is doing. So while sport makes up 33% of the programmes of all arenas surveyed, average attendance was 3,890 (survey average: 4,662) – considerably below the region’s overall average attendance of 5,373. Sports events account for an average 24% of all attendance at arenas surveyed. Comedy (6% of programming) attracts below-survey average figures: 3,443 (survey average: 4,848), while miscellaneous events such as exhibitions and corporate events draw an average audience of just 1,444. “This is a healthy, strong market, offering a lot of product. People are much more prepared to spend money on leisure than they were ten years ago, and if you have the right product, you can command very good ticket prices,” says Michael Brill of Germany’s König-Pilsener Arena (cap. 12,700) in Oberhausen. This rude health is being borne out in record results at Hamburg’s 16,000-capacity Barclaycard Arena, where general manager Steve Schwenkglenks says that financially, 2016 was the best year the arena