Nate Bargatze Breaks Records at AAC

Comedian Nate Bargatze Breaks Massive Attendance Records at American Airlines Center in Dallas

DALLAS, TX — October 18— Grammy and Emmy-nominated comedian, actor, author, podcaster, director and producer Nate Bargatze made history in Dallas, Texas, breaking records as highest attended shows by a comedian at American Airlines Center during his three performances on October 17 and 18. With 18,664 in attendance at his Friday evening performance and over 35,045 anticipated across two Saturday shows, Bargatze’s Big Dumb Eyes World Tour set records for most tickets sold by a comedian, highest consecutive comedy shows, as well as highest grossing revenue by a comedian at AAC. 

“We strive to bring the biggest acts and a variety of live entertainment to American Airlines Center,” states Dave Brown, General Manager. “We’re honored to have Nate Bargatze in Dallas on his Big Dumb Eyes Tour, and proud of the records set with special thanks to Outback Presents.” states Dave Brown, General Manager. “We’re honored to have Nate Bargatze in Dallas on his Big Dumb Eyes Tour, and proud of the records set with special thanks to Outback Presents.” 

Comedy continues to set precedence in Dallas, with Leanne Morgan’s Just Getting Started Tour breaking records as highest grossing female comic to headline American Airlines Center slightly over a month before. Later this fall, comedian Bert Kreischer returns to AAC with his Permission to Party Tour. 

Nate Bargatze continues to climb, hailed as “The Nicest Man in Stand-Up” by The Atlantic Magazine. After breaking a total of 20 arena records in 2024, Bargatze’s Big Dumb Eyes Tour continues to set and even break records set by his previous tours. 

ABOUT NATE BARGATZE Hailed as “The Nicest Man in Stand-Up,” by The Atlantic Magazine, and “One of the Funniest People,” by CBS Mornings, Grammy & Emmy-nominated comedian, NY Times #1 bestselling author, podcaster, director and producer Nate Bargatze is selling out shows and breaking venue attendance records with more than 1.2 million tickets sold in 2024. He is currently the #1 earning comedian in the world according to Pollstar’s recent report, and #12 in overall live tour tickets sales, putting him in the company of Coldplay, Madonna and U2. Billboard recently announced that Bargatze set a new record for the biggest one-year gross by a comedy performer in history.  He is currently on his 2025 Big Dumb Eyes World Tour and continuing to break venue attendance and ticket records. Most recently, Nate hosted the 77^th Primetime Emmy Awards on CBS, which was the highest rated Emmy’s show in the last 4 years.

Bargatze recently published his highly anticipated first book, Big Dumb Eyes: Stories From A Simpler Mind, from Grand Central Publishing which instantly became the New York Times #1 best-selling book. It remained on the New York Times Best-Sellers list for 11  weeks.

Bargatze hosted Saturday Night Live for the second time last fall, to rave reviews, with Vulture.com asking the question, "Has Nate Bargatze Cracked The SNL code?" Last December, Nate co-produced a holiday variety special, Nate Bargatze’s Nashville Christmas, with Lorne Michaels for CBS. 

On the silver screen, Bargatze will soon star in the family-friendly comedy, The Breadwinner, for TriStar Pictures which he co-wrote with Dan Lagana. He will also serve as an executive producer. The film will co-star Mandy Moore, Colin Jost, Will Forte, and Kumail Nanjiani and will be directed by Emmy winner Eric Appel. 

In 2023, Bargatze broke the attendance record at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The next month, he also broke the record for tickets sold at The Delta Center in Salt Lake City – the highest amount ever sold by a comedian at the venue. In 2024 he broke 20 total arena records. He also recently performed two sold-out shows at The Hollywood Bowl with Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, and Sebastian Maniscalco.  

Nate’s first solo one-hour Netflix special, The Tennessee Kid, premiered globally with rave reviews in 2019. In 2021, he released his critically acclaimed second Netflix special, The Greatest Average American, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. In 2023, Nate released his third one-hour special, Nate Bargatze: Hello World, on Amazon Prime which now holds the record as Amazon’s most-streamed original comedy special in its first 28 days of viewership. 

In 2024, it was announced that Bargatze will return to Netflix with a two stand-up special deal. The first of the two specials, Your Friend, Nate Bargatze, premiered globally on Netflix December 24^th, 2024, and was in the top 10 most watched shows globally for two weeks. Continuing into spring 2025, it was the most watched standup special on Netflix in the past 52 weeks. His previous Netflix specials, The Tennessee Kid (2019) and The Greatest Average American (2021) were listed at #16 and #14 on the 52-week chart, even though they premiered 6 and 4 years ago, respectively.

Bargatze was recently signed to Universal Music Group Nashville as their flagship comedian under their new Capitol Comedy label. 

Bargatze’s comedy is both clean and relatable, evident in his 15 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the most appearances by any comedian. He also appeared on Conan four times and has appeared on Seth Meyers and James Corden’s respective late-night shows. 

When he hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time in 2023, he earned rave reviews and secured high ratings for the program, with Vanity Fair calling him, “A Great Saturday Night Live Host,” and Entertainment Weekly exclaiming, “A frighteningly funny Halloween episode.”

In 2023, Bargatze unveiled Nateland Entertainment, a family-friendly content company where he produces standup comedy specials, showcases, sketches, and scripted episodic content for film, television, podcasts, music and more.  

For more information and tickets go to: natebargatze.com.

ABOUT OUTBACK PRESENTS Outback Presents is the leading independent, full-service promoter of live entertainment. Based in Nashville, Outback Presents produces thousands of music and comedy shows, tours, and festivals annually across North America and connects its diverse roster of artists with their fans. For more information, visit outbackpresents.com.

ABOUT AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER Designed by architectural wizard David M. Schwarz and Dallas based HKS, Inc., American Airlines Center is considered one of the nation's top arenas. Since opening its doors in 2001, the Center has been setting the precedent for sporting and live entertainment events. Bringing in a wide variety of big name shows as well as being home of both the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, American Airlines Center consistently displays its unique versatility.

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