Big Name Artists Coming To Oklahoma City In 2020

The Chesapeake Energy Arena announced it will be a stop on Pearl Jam’s world tour. 

The Rock and Roll Hall of famers are just the latest in an increasingly popular music line up making its way to Oklahoma City.

“Growing up here as a kid, you could not have imagined hosting the greatest musical artist in the world here in Oklahoma City,” Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said.

Pearl Jam adds to this year's high-profile lineup including Elton John, Cher, Michael Bublé and Maroon 5.

“We think the success of a show like Pearl Jam will bring other opportunities to Chesapeake Arena,” the venue’s general manager Chris Semrau said.

Oklahoma City joins cities like Amsterdam, Paris, London, L.A. and Oakland in hosting Pearl Jam, even beating out Dallas.

Holt attributes the success to the facility built and improved by MAPS tax revenue as well as new management at the ‘Peake.

“They brought in a new management team in the middle of 2018,” Holt said. “They have made a dramatic change in the level of entertainment, in the number of shows we are seeing here in Oklahoma City.”

“We’ve ramped up staffing and our approach to procuring shows for the market,” Semrau said. “We are not waiting for the phone to ring. We are going out there and trying to sell Oklahoma City.”

The city hosted 11 top 50 tours last year, more than five times the two hosted in 2018.

“I think that’s what people really notice,” Holt said. “People don’t really care like how many shows you have. They want to know how many quality shows you have.”

In 2018, nearly $7 million in tickets were sold at the Chesapeake Arena. Last year the gross revenue was nearly $20 million.

“I think you’ll see a similar amount of shows in 2020,” Semrau said. “We are trying to sustain that high level of quality that comes to the venue and diversify the content so that it’s not just one genre.”