Taylor Swift’s record-breaking ‘Eras Tour’ has become the first tour in history to generate gross revenues of over $1 billion.
That’s according to Pollstar, which, citing box office reports, said on Friday (December 8) that Swift took in an estimated ticket gross of $1.04 billion, with 4.35 million tickets sold from 60 shows that took place during the eligible period.
Pollstar explains that its annual ranking of the concert industry’s top-performing artists is tabulated for all shows worked between November 17, 2022, and November 15, 2023.
All ticket sales figures are calculated in US dollars, and according to Pollstar, “are based on reported information and extensive research by Pollstar”.
Beyond ticket revenues, Pollstar estimates “Eras Tour” merchandise sales at approximately $200 million during the same period.
Today’s news tops off a blockbuster year for Swift.
The artist saw significant success with her rerecorded album releases and blockbuster concert film, as well as this week being named Time’s Person of the Year for 2023.
Taylor Swift was also this year’s most-streamed artist globally on Spotify, achieving more than 26.1 billion global streams on the platform since January 1.
The Eras Tour concert movie, meanwhile, is reported to have crossed the $250 million mark in worldwide ticket sales, making it the highest-grossing concert movie of all time.
Additionally, Pollstar projects that “Eras Tour” ticket sales for the next eligibility box office year will again hit $1 billion, taking the tour’s total to more than $2 billion.
In addition to Taylor Swift, Pollstar’s Top 10 rankings on 2023’s Worldwide Tours are Beyoncé (No. 2), Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (No. 3), Coldplay (No. 4), Harry Styles (No. 5), Morgan Wallen (No. 6), Ed Sheeran (No. 7), P!nk (No. 8), The Weeknd (No. 9), and Drake (No. 10).
Pollstar reports that 2023 was “another unprecedented year” for the concert industry, with total gross revenues for the Worldwide Top 100 Tours up 46% to a record-breaking $9.17 billion (2022’s total was $6.28bn). Attendance was up 18.38% in total tickets sold to 70.1 million (versus 59.2m in 2022).
In addition to Taylor Swift, charting in the Top 10 of the North American Tours are Beyoncé (No. 2), Morgan Wallen (No. 3), Drake (No. 4), P!nk (No. 5), Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (No. 6), Ed Sheeran (No. 7), George Strait (No. 8), Karol G (No. 9), and RBD (No. 10).
In 2023, the Top 100 North American Tours also set a gross record with an estimated $6.63 billion (versus $4.77 bn in 2022), according to Pollstar.
“This has been the Year of the Blockbuster, none earning that title more than Taylor Swift’s cultural takeover in Eras, Pollstar’s first-ever billion-dollar tour.”
Ray Waddell, Oak View Group
“This has been the Year of the Blockbuster, none earning that title more than Taylor Swift’s cultural takeover in Eras, Pollstar’s first-ever billion-dollar tour,” said Ray Waddell, president of Oak View Group’s Media & Conferences Division, which oversees Pollstar and sister publication VenuesNow.
“The live entertainment industry remains in the midst of a record-breaking Golden Era, marked by innovation and creativity, artist development, and a paradigm shift in fan experience, as defined by the Sphere in Las Vegas and U2’s amazing run.”
