Melbourne’s favourite arena ranks the second busiest venue in the country and 21st internationally, in Pollstar’s Top 200 Arena Venues chart, with 586,506 ticket sales during 2018.

A feat made even more impressive for being achieved while simultaneously undergoing phenomenal renovation, as part of the $338 million second stage of the Melbourne Park redevelopment.

Melbourne Arena also came in at 13th place domestically and 157th worldwide, with 83,774 ticket sales.

Australian venues rank highly in the growing 2018 international concert business earnings.

The ongoing growth of the global live entertainment industry this year saw gross revenue surpass US$2 billion from the Top 10 tours for the first time, with Ed Sheeran attaining the highest gross ever recorded for a touring artist in a single year.

P!NK’s Rod Laver Arena performances in July and August earned $27.3 million (US$20.2 million) to rank fifth.

Sheeran and the nine other acts included in the Top 10 on Pollstar’s annual Top 100 Worldwide Tours chart all topped $100 million in sales during the year.

Sheeran, along with other Top 10 acts Taylor Swift, Pink, Bruno Mars and Roger Waters, each toured Australasia.

Pollstar’s list of the world’s top performing concert venues saw New York’s Madison Square Garden replace London’s O2 arena as the top performing venue with 1,115,480 ticket sales.