Newark’s Prudential Center ranked one of Top 5 venues in the world

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Prudential Center pulled in a record $85.2 million in box office sales over the past year, helping the Newark sports and entertainment venue earn a spot on Pollstar Magazine’s list of top five arenas in the world for 2022.

Like most other arenas, this year marked Prudential Center’s return to a more regular schedule for ticketed events following pandemic-era shutdowns and capacity restrictions. And thanks to a mix of several high-profile touring acts – as well as the continued success of the NJ Devils hockey team – fans filled the seats at the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment-operated property over the past 12 months.

As a result, Prudential Center was named No. 5 on Pollstar’s annual list of 200 arenas, behind Madison Square Garden in New York City; Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.; T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nev.; and The O2 in London.

Between Oct. 30, 2021, and Oct. 30, 2022, ticket sales totaled $241,181,848 at Madison Square Garden, $166,285,754 at Kia Forum, $96,984,814 at T-Mobile Arena and $86,139,498 at The O2.

YEAR-END SPECIAL: Congratulations to all the venues that appeared on the Top Worldwide Arenas chart!@TheGarden @thekiaforum @TMobileArena @TheO2 @PruCenter @AACenter @BrdgstoneArena @FTXArena @ClimateArena @MoodyCenterATX pic.twitter.com/OA0tNvxLcN

— Pollstar (@Pollstar) December 12, 2022

For Prudential Center, Pollstar’s latest ranking is the arena’s highest ever since it opened in October 2007.

Over the past 15 years, the venue has been recognized as one of the premier options for music, sports and entertainment events, hosting over 2,500 programs and welcoming more than 20 million guests.

The Prudential Center, which is home to NHL’s New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall University’s NCCA Division I men’s basketball team, has also consistently been named among the Top 10 arenas nationally by Pollstar, Billboard and Venues Today.

Sean Saadeh, the arena’s executive vice president of entertainment, told NJBIZ, “It cements the fact that Prudential Center is a must-play for Pop, Latin, K-Pop, Legacy Acts, Hip-Hop, R&B, and so much more. This will result in us continuing to be a big part of tour routing for the foreseeable future. It is not limited to the concert business as we have seen tremendous growth in our family shows and sports properties business as well.”

This year, several sold-out tours made stops at Prudential Center, including Elton John, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, My Chemical Romance, Kevin Hart and Chris Rock, Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish.

And, for the second time since 2019, the venue saw the return of the MTV Video Music Awards, a star-studded event that brought out big names like Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, Lizzo and Snoop Dogg to The Rock.

Saadeh credited the hard work of Prudential Center’s booking team, saying he was “very proud” of them for responding “so effectively coming out of the pandemic.”

“We were ready to go and worked hard to plan for the return of live events, as we were met with a sprint not a jog right out of the gates. It was very important to us to ensure that once things got back up and running, that all our partners had a great experience across our venue,” he said.

While acts have many options to stop in the competitive New York City market, Saadeh noted that Prudential Center “has really become a must play for all genres of music and events, no matter the size of the entertainment venue.”

“It proves that we are not only providing content, but content that people are coming out and supporting in the masses. The more support that we get from the great fans of New Jersey results in the more shows we are able to book,” said Saadeh, adding, “We pride ourselves on being Jersey’s home for entertainment and will continue to put on the biggest and best events possible.”

Looking ahead to 2023 and beyond, Saadeh expects touring and live events “will continue to be very strong.”

“There truly is nothing like a live event and with New Jersey having some of the most passionate fans, it always makes for one of the best stops on each and every tour,” he said. “We look forward to hosting many more exciting shows in 2023 with the likes of The Boss – Bruce Springsteen, Marc Anthony, Carrie Underwood, Ana Gabriel, Anita Baker, and many more already confirmed to hit our stage this coming year.”