Ed Sheeran’s Last Tour Was His Biggest of All Time — His Latest Was Even Bigger

Earlier successful September, Ed Sheeran wrapped his gargantuan four-year stadium tour. The +-=÷x Tour (The Mathematics Tour) launched successful 2022 aft the merchandise of the erstwhile year’s = (Equals) and continued done the releases of 2023’s – (Subtract) and Autumn Variations. Over 3 medium eras and 188 shows crossed 4 continents, Sheeran grossed $875.7 cardinal and sold 8.8 cardinal tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. That makes it the highest grossing circuit of his vocation and thus, 1 of the biggest tours of each time.

Sheeran has lone been a planetary touring fig for little than 15 years, but mounting his astir palmy circuit yet was nary casual feat. His erstwhile trek, The ÷ Tour (The Divide Tour), ran from 2017 to 2019 and acceptable records successful its last agelong arsenic the highest grossing and bestselling circuit successful history. More shows successful a shorter timeframe, The Divide Tour grossed $776.4 cardinal and sold 8.9 cardinal tickets, breaking U2’s longstanding records successful some metrics for the U2 360° Tour ($736.4 cardinal and 7.3 cardinal tickets successful 2009-11).

On the different broadside of the pandemic, Sheeran was surpassed arsenic the biggest earner, archetypal by Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour ($939.1 million) and past by Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour ($2.1 billion) and Coldplay’s ongoing Music of the Spheres World Tour ($1.5 cardinal done Aug. 31). In presumption of attendance, some Coldplay and Swift surpassed 10 cardinal tickets, with the erstwhile present up to 12.8 cardinal and counting.

The Mathematics Tour finishes 4th all-time successful gross (behind Swift, Coldplay and John) and attendance (Coldplay, Swift, The Divide Tour). Like his anterior tour, this 1 took Sheeran astir the satellite and backmost with 5 legs successful the U.K. and Europe, 2 successful Asia, 25 shows successful North America and 15 successful Oceania.

Europe and the U.K. were the evident standouts for the British singer, accounting for 59% of the tour’s full gross and 63% of its attendance. Combined, the 5 legs grossed $517.1 cardinal and sold 5.5 cardinal tickets implicit 117 shows. Next was North America with $170.7 cardinal and 1.6 cardinal tickets. Asia’s 31 shows earned $102.4 cardinal and sold 753,000 tickets. The 1 limb of dates successful Oceania added $85.5 cardinal and 810,000 tickets.

The expanse of The Mathematics Tour includes assorted warm-up shows successful the weeks starring up to its stadium launch, positive a Subtract promo breakout successful 2023, putting Sheeran successful comparatively intimate arenas successful the U.K. and Ireland to specifically beforehand his then-new record. It does not, however, see The Subtract Tour successful North America, which deed U.S. theaters successful the aforesaid cities of immoderate of his Mathematics stadium shows. Also extracurricular of the due tour, determination was an isolated day astatine Brooklyn’s Barclays Center connected May 22, 2024, to observe the 10-year day of x (Multiply). From Dublin’s Whelans (357 capacity) to 4 nights astatine London’s Wembley Stadium (420,000 tickets), Sheeran adapted his unrecorded amusement to maximize his tour’s reach.

But that’s not all! Sheeran released Play past week (Sept. 12) and is already plotting a circuit to follow. He announced the Loop Tour, which volition commence earlier the twelvemonth is adjacent over. Five arena shows are acceptable successful December crossed Paris, Mun...