Adele ticket sales breaks records in NZ

Similar to Australia, where Adele has sold 400,000 records, ticket sales in New Zealand are also setting new records as the tour becomes the fastest-selling of all time.

She is playing Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium on March 23, 25 and 26. All three shows sold out in the one day, shifting 120,000 tickets in eight hours. This is particularly impressive for a country witha population of just 4.7 million.

Presale tickets disappeared in 15 minutes with the first two shows selling out in 23 minutes, setting a new record for NZ. The third, which opened at 12.30 pm, hit capacity in less than an hour.

Promoter Live Nation has said it wouldn’t “speculate at this stage” of a fourth show being added. The comment has been seized by fans as a distinct possibility.

Annoyed fans took to Twitter to complain of 20-minute queues.

The NZ Herald reported that the British singer has rewritten history books once again by performing the most amount of shows by an artist in one tour at Mt Smart Stadium, whose current capacity for concerts is 47,000.

The previous record was set by Dire Straits in 1986, who played to 102,000 people over two nights.

While scalpers in Australia are demanding $5,000 for Adele tickets, her NZ tickets have already entered the secondary market, despite being limited to four a person. Local auction site TradeMe has taken down listings for the three shows, as the tickets won’t actually be available until February 24. To offer anything on the site, the seller must have the item in their possession.

VIP packages are the only options left for desperate fans, but these range from $475 to $799.90 a pop.

A source estimated to the Herald that total ticket sales would be around $25 million, with the singer set to pocket $18 million once production costs and taxes were distracted, and provided she was on a 75% deal.