‘Michael' Explored this Iconic Michael Jackson Tour, but Real Life Tour Was Way Worse
With many moviegoers still on a high after watching Michael Jackson's biopic Michaelin theaters during its opening weekend at the box office (despite being panned by many critics), curious viewers like me have gone down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out what the movie missed or glossed over in the timeline shown. I previously noted that Michael completely left out the iconic movie Jackson starred in, which put him on the track to form one of the most important producing partnerships in music history. Additionally, the film didn't cover the most important purchase of his life.
But beyond those two major events, I've come to realize that there was arguably a missed opportunity by Michael to really dive into the Victory Tour, the final tour he did as a member of The Jacksons. SPOLIER ALERT!
In the film, the tour is depicted as something that Michael (Jafaar Jackson) didn't want to do, but was guilted by his father Joe (Colman Domingo) into doing for the sake of Michael's brothers. Then, when his father promised the press that the tour would extend to a European leg, Michael shocked his father by announcing on stage that this was the final tour with all the original members of the Jackson 5.
However, the reality of the Victory Tour was so much worse. In real life, Michael didn't want to do the tour, it became a PR nightmare, and it even led to the New England Patriots changing ownership.
The Victory Tour Led to the Sullivan Family Losing the Patriots
As shown in Michael, Joe Jackson and the infamous boxing promoter Don King did strike up a deal for King to serve as promoter for the Victory Tour. However, the "Billie Jean" singer wasn't the biggest fan of King, and Michael eventually brought on Frank DiLeo, his manager, to manage the business of the tour.
DiLeo wound up hiring Chuck Sullivan to take over promoting duties, sidelining King but not getting rid of him entirely. Now, for those who don't know, Chuck Sullivan's father, Billy, founded the New England Patriots franchise and owned the team's old stadium.
When Chuck Sullivan became promoter, he also agreed to take on a big financial risk in backing the Jackson event. According to the Los Angeles Times, to help back the tour, he took out a $12.5 million loan from Crocker Bank. As collateral, he put up the New England Patriots, the Sullivan Stadium, and a race track that the family owned. Sullivan thought he would easily recoup his money and turn a profit. After all, the Jackson 5 had sold millions of records in their career, and the Victory Tour was happening right after Michael's massive hit Thriller album.
Unfortunately, under the original terms of the touring agreement, "King and the Jacksons would have received 83.44% of the concert proceeds while Sullivan got 16.56% and was required to pay the costs for virtually the entire tour out of his cut." While over the course of the tour, Sullivan negotiated a "better" deal for himself, it wouldn't help as the costs of the tour ballooned and sales weren't as profitable as anticipated.
The Los Angeles Times article notes that Michael's "eight-story stage" was massive and rendered many seats in venues unsellable. Plus, until he renegotiated his contract with the Jacksons, Sullivan had to pay $21 for every ticket of the Victory Tour, whether the ticket was sold or not. The article shares, "That provision alone had cost the promoter [Sullivan] more than $500,000 because at least 30,000 tickets had gone unsold during the first three months of the tour."
By the end of the tour, it's been estimated that Sullivan and his family actually lost roughly $20 million. Then, per The New York Times, this loss played into the Sullivans' selling the Patriots to Victor Kiam and the stadium going to Robert Kraft in 1988 (Kraft acquired via bankruptcy court).
Michael Jackson Wasn't Paid for the Victory Tour
When the ticket scheme for The Victory Tour was announced, it was nuanced for the time and even now. As outlined in Time, tickets were $30 each, but would-be concertgoers had to purchase four at a time, meaning they had to pay $120 (accounting for inflation, that's about $381 total). To make matters worse, they had to submit payment by mailing it.
The most shocking part of all this is that just because someone sent off the money, it didn't guarantee them a ticket. The $120 payment was really for entry into a lottery system for tickets, and lucky winners had no idea where their seats would be located. So the seats could have been up close or way up in the nosebleeds. Perhaps the only upside of this is that those who didn't win tickets eventually got a refund.
Jackson fans at the time were outraged. They balked at paying that much for tickets and saw this as greedy. Considering Michael was still riding the success of Thriller, he took a lot of hits in the media. Hoping to calm the angry voices, at the very least distance himself from that narrative, Michael held a press conference and announced he would donate the money he personally made to charity. Furthermore, he had tickets donated to some fans. The move certainly helped create the lifelong narrative that Jackson was generous. Check out his announcement below.
You can check out more on the Victory Tour and all the problems that plagued it by watching the captivating documentary on YouTube, The Jacksons: Road to Victory.
Related: At 40, Highly Decorated US Olympian is Coming Out of Retirement for the 2028 Olympics
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 27, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
2026 The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 4:34 PM.