Justin Bieber Concert Gamble Pays Off For White Fox India

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Justin Bieber performs on stage during opening night of the 'Purpose World Tour' at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

When young Indian entrepreneur Arjun Jain wrote two very big checks to secure the rights to stage Justin Bieber's sole concert in India during the Canadian star's Purpose world tour, it was the biggest gamble of his career.

Jain's White Fox India is spending $4 million to stage the May 10 concert at Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium, including Bieber's hefty fee negotiated by his agents at CAA.

That gamble looks like paying off with 85% of the tickets sold at the 66,000-capacity venue, ranging in price from 4,000 to 25,000 rupees ($62-$388), generating $3.2 million in revenues net of taxes.

Jain has placed some of the remaining tickets with a couple of promoters and is confident of a sell-out. So with sponsorship, merchandising and food and beverage revenues to come he is set to recoup his investment and turn a profit.

"We're looking pretty good right now," Jain, 28, told me an in interview from his New Delhi office. "We've never had a show of this level in India and where the artist has been paid such a big fee. It was a gamble because no one in India knew what the response would be. It was worth the risk because Justin is the biggest sensation in the world at the moment and his fans range in age from 12 to 60."

CAA asked for 50% of Bieber's fee when the deal was signed last year and 50% when it was announced in February. Among the sponsors are telco Reliance Jio, clothing brand Only, Kingfisher Ultra beer and spirits company Pernod Ricard. Jain's company will get 50% of the merchandising revenues from locally produced items including T-shirts, hoodies, caps and buttons.

English actress Elarica Johnson, whose credits include the TV series Death in Paradise and Cormoran Strike and director John Cameron Mitchell's upcoming movie How to Talk to Girls at Parties, which co-stars Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman and Ruth Wilson, will host the show.

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