Concerts earn One Direction €84m

New figures show that Niall Horan’s all-conquering One Direction grossed concert box office receipts totalling $114m (€83.78m) last year.

The figures from trade industry journal, Pollstar show that the teen idols are ranked 10th in Pollstar’s top 100 worldwide touring artists beating off the likes of The Rolling Stones, Jay Z, Elton John and Paul McCartney.

The detailed figures relating to the Mullingar man’s band show the group played to 1.8m fans last year with each concert grossing an average $1.46m. (€1.07m).

Pop stars who did better than One Direction in box office receipts last year include Rihanna, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi — who topped the rankings with $259.5m in receipts.

With U2 not touring last year, the figures show that the only Irish band to make the top 100 in terms of worldwide grossing tours was The Script, led by Danny O’Donoghue, from Dublin.

The figures show the band’s concerts generated $15.1m at the box office with a total of 294,404 paying to see the group at 28 concerts in 23 cities that included three sold-out gigs at Dublin’s O2.

The band — ranked 97 in the top 100 grossing tours — generated box office receipts of $656,522 per gig.

The figures show that One Direction had the cheapest tickets of the top 10 touring groups at $63.29 — almost half the $111 punters paid to see Beyonce.

The rankings show One Direction played 136 gigs in 78 cities with the average attendance at each concert standing at 23,094.

The band is to further add to its coffers this year with a stadium tour that includes three sold-out gigs at Croke Park in May.

The Where We Are tour begins in April and the boy band is to stage 65 stadium shows that will generate an estimated $225m in box office receipts based on the average ticket price of $63.

The band’s spiralling wealth prompted Forbes magazine to include it in its ‘30 under 30’ list earlier this month.