The ACM Awards show is tuning up for its May 17 return to Las Vegas. That means tickets to the live production are coming online, and soon.
Tickets to the production at the MGM Grand Garden Arena go on sale at 10 a.m. PT Friday at AXS.com. A series of presales is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The 61st installment will stream live on Prime Video.
ACM Awards week launches May 15, with “ACM Lifting Lives Country on the Green: Riley Green & Friends.” The up-close event is scheduled for Topgolf. “ACM Next Wave: Country’s Beach Bash” is set for May 16 at Mandalay Bay Beach and Wave Pool. The open-air party will feature several of the industry’s rising stars.
Go to acmcountry.com for ticketing and related intel.
This year’s host or hosts and performers are to be announced.
The ACMs were most recently staged in Las Vegas in 2022, at Allegiant Stadium, with Dolly Parton hosting. From 2023 through last year’s 60th-anniversary show, the event was staged at the Ford Center in Frisco, Texas. Reba McEntire hosted, with performances by Chris Stapleton, Backstreet Boys, Rascal Flatts, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Ella Langley, Eric Church, Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson, LeAnn Rimes, Miranda Lambert and Wynonna Judd.
Aside from its 50th anniversary show at AT&T Stadium in Dallas in 2015 and the 2020-21 show in Nashville, Tennessee, the ACMs had been held primarily in Las Vegas since 2003. Michelob Ultra Arena (formerly Mandalay Bay Events Center) hosted from 2003 to 2005, before a move to the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the next 12 years. The show played T-Mobile Arena in 2017, returning to the MGM Grand in 2018-’19.
Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside said his organization “couldn’t be more thrilled” to return to the MGM Grand, saying the venue is “a place that holds a lot of history and special memories for the Academy. It truly feels like a homecoming for us.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.