Philips Arena, the downtown facility that hosts the Atlanta Hawks and the Atlanta Thrashers, was No. 3 among concert and events venues in the United States in 2007, according to Pollstar magazine, an industry publication. The ranking is up from No. 6 a year earlier. It is based on attendance figures of arenas around the country.

The top two venues in 2007 were New York's Madison Square Garden and San Jose's arena.

Among some of the acts that came to Philips last year were: Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, Josh Groban, Beyonce, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, the Police, Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban, John Mayer and Jimmy Buffet.

All those concerts and the other events also gave Philips Arena the No. 8 ranking internationally in 2007. The Atlanta Spirit owns the operating rights to Philips Arena, and it also owns the Hawks basketball team and the Thrashers hockey team.