The Capital One Arena can be rented for about $170,000 per night, which includes box office staff, security, use of the building, the dressing rooms (although not the dressing rooms of the Wizards or the Capitals). Stagehands are extra as most major tours bring in their own stage hands and don’t ask for this assistance. If the capacity of the Verizon Center is 18,000 seats, how many seats will you have to sell at what price to break even if your Artist (think Beyoncé or Arcade Fire) travels with seven tractor trailers worth of gear, three buses full of crew and band with a daily cost of around $300,000.
What was the average price of a Beyoncé ticket on her most recent tour? If she sold out the Capital One Arena’s 18,000 seats at that price, what would the Gross Ticket Sales be?