Watch the Throne tickets boost MSG to top venue

Despite the fact that the New York Knicks have yet to take the court this season due to the lengthy NBA lockout, Madison Square Garden (MSG) topped TicketNews’ exclusive Top Venues Rankings for this past week.

While this Knicks may not be playing anytime soon, MSG still has sales for the New York Rangers to rely on, while also benefiting from some star concert attractions such as Kanye West and Jay Z in their Watch The Throne Tour playing two nights this week. Taylor Swift also arrives to perform this month, and Bob Seger takes the stage in December.

Smaller theater venues performed well this week, with the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in at No. 2 and the Gershwin Theatre hitting at No. 4. The O’Neill plays host to the blockbuster musical “The Book of Mormon,” which takes weekly claim to the top spot in TicketNews’ Top Broadway rankings. The Gershwin is home to perennial favorite “Wicked,” which again took top honors in TicketNews’ Theater and Combined Events rankings.

More live theater venues also made the cut this week, with Radio City Music Hall, flagship theater for the holiday favorite “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” in at three, and Los Angeles’ Pantages Theatre taking No. 7. The Pantages, known for bringing Broadway caliber productions to the west coast, will also be one of the few venues to host this season’s highly anticipated retrospective from The Cure, legendary British alternative rockers who will perform their first three albums at each show.

The MGM Grand Garden Arena is prepping for this weekend’s long awaited match between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Márquez, finished the week at No. 6. Sun Life Stadium and Dallas Cowboys Stadium represented the only two NFL stadiums in this week’s rankings.

TicketNews Exclusive Rankings and Power Scores are based on ticket sales for venues from the TicketNetwork Exchange™, the world’s largest secondary market exchange. A Power Score illustrates a given venue’s category-specific significance. Two factors are used to calculate a power score: total ticket sales for a venue, and total ticket sales within the category. As such, power scores should only be used to compare venues within a particular category.

Top Venues

Week Ending 11/06/2011