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Britney Spears can't sell out dreary North Dakota town
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Britney Spears couldn't sell out a venue in a remote, dull North Dakota town, and the hosting facility lost $97,000 -- yet when all the numbers are added up, a mixed picture emerges.
North Dakota may not be ground zero in terms of Britney Spears fandom, but she did manage to draw about 13,000 concert goers, but only after the cost of the $95 floor tickets were cut to $20. There were 18,885 seats available.
The Alerus Center, owned by the city of Grand Forks, made $1.1 million from Spear's "The Circus" show-- concert goers are estimated to have spent $1.9 million town after the event, and the city realized just over $9,000 in tax revenue based on ticket and other sales.
The Alerus Center had hoped to earn $300,000 from hosting "The Circus" but called its $97,000 loss a "worst case scenario" forecast.
Interestingly, most other locations where Spear has appeared had larger populations, but attendance at most of those location was even lower than the Grand Forks turnout. What that suggests is that North Dakota has more Spears fans, per capita, than some other areas of the country.
Darrell Draken of the small town of Langdon, North Dakota, said he attended the concert not because he thinks Spears has any talent, but because she is "hot to look at."
"I guess the only reason me and my buddies went was to see (Spears) dance around half naked," Draken said. "Other than that, she can't sing. I think her music sucks. For us, it was just something to do, as long as we didn't have to pay a hundred bucks."
For a city like Grand Forks, which is fairly off the beaten track, bringing big name acts is always something of a crap shoot.
Grand Forks city officials, however, feel it's important to dabble in major entertainment politics because it brings people and tax revenue to the city -- although it's a risky bet, and a wager that's not always a winner.
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