State Farm Arena top 5 globally in box office — behind only Sphere, MSG in U.S.

The $76.2 million is the highest the venue has grossed midyear since reopening after a $200 million renovation in 2018. And though the ranking is certainly not the first accolade the arena has received from Billboard, it comes amid a time of shaky consumer conference, inflation and a volatile stock market — a pattern that typically leads to declining discretionary spending.

But a number of large artists were and are still touring this year, including Usher, Pink, Tyler, the Creator and, though not included in the Billboard numbers, Metallica and Beyoncé.

Credit: Ryan Fleisher

Credit: Ryan Fleisher

Other venues in Atlanta charted on the Billboard report. The Fox Theatre took the top spot of the highest-grossing venues with a 2,501-5,000 capacity. It brought in $34.6 million across 115 shows with a total attendance of 428,000. One of the top 10 grossing tours was also from an Atlanta artist. Usher ranked No. 7 with $88.9 million across 38 shows.

Steve Koonin, the CEO of State Farm Arena and the Atlanta Hawks, said the box office performance is the culmination of several factors. The city is at a nexus point in the Southeast — it’s difficult for artists to pass through the region without setting up shop in Atlanta for at least one night. Plus, the city’s diversity make it the right location to host events within niche genres, like K-pop, Latin music or comedy.

Others have to do with investments made during the arena’s renovation. For one, it overhauled its acoustics. State Farm brought in Jon Bon Jovi’s sound team to ensure the building was the “best-sounding building in the world,” Koonin said. The venue installed sound absorptive material behind slotted wood paneling in the bowl and absorptive panels on all flat surfaces on the downstage side of the building.

Artists want to play to a full building with great sound, Koonin said, and fans want the best quality they can get.

Credit: Bob Andres

Credit: Bob Andres

“We wanted to be the best in Atlanta, and I can easily and happily say we are, yeah,” Koonin said.

The arena has spent the last few years growing the number of non-Hawks events on its calendar. Between 2021 and 2024, non-NBA events have grown by about 160%. So far in 2025, the venue has about 90 scheduled, but the venue is still booking.

The goal is to get to 365, or one event per day, each year, said Trey Feazell, State Farm’s executive vice president of arena programming.

There are still opportunities for growth. State Farm would like to begin hosting what it calls “mini-residencies” — a series of back-to-back shows at the arena, such as Usher’s six-night stop in October. One stadium show could equal three or four plays at an arena, Feazell said. This could benefit the artists and the overall touring operation, because they’re not having to load in and out every night or hop on airplanes from city to city.

Credit: Ryan Fleisher

Credit: Ryan Fleisher

State Farm also would like to add more shows across several different genres, including EDM, Latin and country music. The venue welcomed country music singer and rapper Jelly Roll in October, and Koonin said it was one of the best concerts they’ve ever had.

Country musicians and groups tend to play outdoors in the summer, but as the temperatures creep up to 100 in Georgia, they may think otherwise to protect their fans, Koonin said.

K-pop, or Korean pop, is another genre ripe for expansion. When the venue held its first K-pop show in 2022, Koonin said his team was surprised to see fans show up to the venue more than six hours before the show started. Even though many of their seats were already reserved on their tickets, they were there to socialize and to get first grabs at the merchandise. Fans bought about a million dollars worth of merchandise that night, Koonin said, while the concessions were virtually empty.

The next time they held a K-pop show, the venue brought in tables for sign-making, held dance contests and brought in DJs. They wanted to make the fans feel like the venue understood the artist and gave them more than just a seat for the show, Koonin said.

In a presentation to executives made to the arena’s ownership in June during their annual meeting, one of the slides was “an event for everyone,” said Amanda Mann, State Farm’s chief facilities officer.

“It’s true. From K-pop to Latin to hip-hop to R&B to country, family shows, Hawks games,” Mann said. “I mean, if you live here, you’re probably coming here at least once a year.”