Bad Bunny’s year is young, but it’s already one for the books.
Consider, in the first quarter the superstar Puerto Rican artist has smashed records, filled stadiums, collected awards. And there’s a sense he’s still very much on the rise.
During his historic streak, Bunny’s DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS became the first Spanish-language album, and more broadly, the first album not recorded in English, to win album of the year at the Grammy Awards. He headlined the Super Bowl LX, for what is reportedly the most-watched halftime show of all-time (with 4.157 billion worldwide views). And the rapper landed a record-busting 29 simultaneous titles on the Hot Latin Songs chart, including the entire top 25, while topping the Billboard Hot 100 with “DtMF.”
With all that action and drama, it’s easy to overlook one of his outstanding feats. Bad Bunny set a venue record on the other side of the globe, when his world tour visited Sydney’s ENGIE Stadium (also known as Sydney Showground Stadium) on Feb. 28 and March 1.
According to Live Nation, which is producing Benito’s ongoing world tour, close to 90,000 fans packed his first Australian concert, a new record. Not bad for an artist who had never made a top 10 appearance on Australia’s official ARIA Charts. That changed on the eve of his shows, as DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS finally crashed the top tier, more than a year after its release.
The shows “reflected was how global and culturally embedded the fandom has become,” Hans Schafer, senior VP global touring at Live Nation, tells Billboard.com. “Australia is a long way away from Latin America, and the market is smaller, but the engagement was incredibly strong.”
Those two Sydney dates welcomed visitors from across Australia and further afield. Some 10% were international visitors, most of them coming over from New Zealand, Schafer explains.
He can now claim to be the first and only Latin act to sell out a stadium in the country, and the biggest-selling Latin act ever in these parts.
As Bunny’s DeBí TiRAR MáS FOToS tour gears up for the European summer, Schafer reflects on how the Reggaeton star set stadium records in Australia.
Hans Schafer, Senior Vice President Global Touring at Live Nation
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Billboard: Congrats on your part in Bad Bunny’s record-breaking success here. Those marks don’t just grow on trees. When Australia was penciled-in on the tour itinerary, Benito hadn’t had hits here. What were your initial hopes?
Hans Schafer: When we confirmed the tour we were confident on selling out the stadium, and the first date sold out in less than an hour. Since then, streaming, social engagement and global visibility kept building momentum and so his profile kept growing. Then in the last month it just exploded, the whole world now knows who he is. We were very fortunate this all happened just before the Australian dates, and we ended up selling every single ticket. The shows actually ended up breaking the venue attendance records.
Did you see an uptick from his Super Bowl and Grammys successes?
The Grammys and the Super Bowl amplified the demand and final tickets sold through quickly after those moments. That is what happens when an artist steps onto the biggest stage in the world and does it on his own terms. It accelerates familiarity and concentrates global attention very quickly.
It’s rare for a touring act to visit Australia to play just one city. How do you approach routing a global tour of this scale when working within tight international schedules and unprecedented demand?
Global tours at this scale run on very tight international windows, so a lot depends on venue and infrastructure availability, as well as travel and freight timings. In this case Sydney was where everything came together to deliver the shows at the level it needed to be.
What did you learn from the Sydney experience and the concert-goers? How many travelled interstate?
Just over half of ticket transactions came from New South Wales. The remainder travelled from interstate. Roughly 10% were international fans, most of them coming over from New Zealand. This sets Australia apart from many other markets in the world, which have a much bigger catchment. However these stadiums were filled with Australian fans.
Any other insights you’re able to share on this record-setting feat? Did Bunny enjoy his time in Australia?
What this really reflected was how global and culturally embedded the fandom has become. Australia is a long way away from Latin America, and the market is smaller, but the engagement was incredibly strong.
Fans travelled from all across the country and New Zealand, and they showed up with intention. The atmosphere in the stadium reflected that. It was more than a concert, it was a huge cultural moment.
It extended beyond the stadium and into the city, where Latin culture was celebrated across the weekend. As seen in the flags, the fashion, the many pre- and after parties, community events and Spanish was spoken all over town. That kind of presence tells you this is not niche. It is central.
And Benito and his team felt it. When the audience meets you with that level of pride, appreciation and energy, it travels both ways. They enjoyed Australia because Australia showed up.
