Throughout the 2000s, there were no one-year percentage increases in revenue that even approached the 64% increase generated from the new stadiumeffect.
I'm not expert enough to know the reasons why, but architect Lord Foster's Wembley design has helped to provide an outdoor venue where the effect as Michael's vocals bounced around the stadium was rather like that of being in a modern surround-sound cinema.
In an attempt to minimize the effect that bandwagon fans and frontrunners could have on the results, two years of data were used for stadium attendance, merchandise sales and TV ratings.