Concert Pulse: Taylor Swift Takes Top As Ed Sheeran Plays North America; Billy Joel, Britney Spears, DMB Debut

Kristian Sickinger – Ed Sheeran plays Hamburg
FKP Scorpio says the Hamburg show in front of some 80,000 spectators was Sheeran

Ed Sheeran continues his multi-year mammoth trek with his latest North American excursion taking him to stadiums across the continent. However, his perch on Pollstar’s Global Concert Pulse has seemingly come to an end as his U.S./Canada touring just can’t beat Taylor Swift, whose massive grosses have landed her back on top of the chart with just less then $11 million grossed per market compared to just more than $10 million for Sheeran.

Sheeran’s astronomical UK and European grosses had him near $14 million per market at one point, with many four-show stadium engagements at venues including Principality Stadium in Wales ($21.2 million grossed), Wembley Stadium in London ($28.7 million) and Etihad Stadium in Manchester ($19.8 million).

However, his U.S. business has had him doing mostly one- and two-night stadium shows, which, while still leagues above all but a handful of touring artists, still bring him back down to Earth somewhat.

Recent reports submitted to Pollstar include Gillette Stadium Sept. 14-15, which sold 110,238 tickets and grossed $9.83 million, Ford Field in Detroit Sept. 8 (47,804, $4.48 million), Busch Stadium in St. Louis Sept. 6 (41,522, $3.72 million) and two shows at Rogers Centre in Toronto, which sold 98,461 tickets and grossed $8.45 million Aug. 30-31.

Sheeran is still tops in ticket sales, with an average of 111,008 per market at a modest average ticket price of $91.72.

Swift’s average gross has come down slightly as well in recent weeks, as much of the remainder of her Reputation Stadium Tour is single-night shows in smaller markets rather than the three-night stadium runs she did back to back at Gillette Stadium and MetLife Stadium, which both grossed around $22 million each.

(Photo by Mike Colucci) – Billy Joel
He’s Got a Way: Billy Joel performing at Madison Square Garden on August 20, 2015 in New York City, the 20th of his ongoing residency at the New York City Arena.

New to the chart this week and still very much near the top of the business at No. 8 is Billy Joel, who, while making headlines for his 100th performance at Madison Square Garden in New York City, has also become a mainstay at baseball stadiums. 

His latest such shows include Aug. 10 at Fenway Park, which sold 36,455 tickets and grossed $4.77 million, and the Phillies’ home grass at Citizen’s Bank Park July 27, where he surely cheered up some of the toughest fans in sports with 40,381 tickets sold and $4.65 million grossed. His 100th show at Madison Square Garden, by the way, was of course a sellout with 18,758 tickets sold and $2.35 million grossed.

Britney Spears is back with some of her first headlining since 2013 as she’s mostly done residency dates at the Zappos Theatre at Planet Hollywood since 2013.  

AP Photo / Ying-ying – Britney Spears
Britney Spears performs her biggest hits at TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, June 13.

Recent headline reports include two nights at Radio City Music Hall In New York City July 23-24, which sold 11,887 tickets and grossed $2.7 million, three shows at Hard Rock Live at the Event center in Hollywood, Fla., July 27-29 (9,756, $1.98 million), and Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., July 15, which sold 6,998 tickets and grossed $946,100. She just wrapped an 18-date European tour leg that included Aug. 15 at Antwerps Sportpaleis in Belgium, which sold out 16,787 tickets and grossed $1.4 million. Her recent touring has her at an average gross of $1.63 million on 12,611 tickets sold per market. 

Also new on the chart at No. 29 is Dave Matthews Band, which just announced 10 arena plays for late fall. DMB is grossing an average $823,314 on 11,689 tickets per night, with outdoor North American gigs including at The Wharf Amphitheatre in Orange Beach, Ala., Bank of NH Pavilion in Gilford, N.H., and Brandon Amphitheatre in Brandon, Miss.