Nominees By The Numbers: Major Tour Of The Year

While Swifties, Sheerios and members of the Beyhive can debate on socials which of their favorite artists had the best tour of 2023, Pollstar subscribers will get the chance to have their say when it comes to crowning the winner of the Major Tour Of The Year. The nominations for the 35th annual Pollstar Awards were unveiled last week, with nods in over 40 categories honoring the top tours, venues, live music executives, agencies, production companies and more.

Along with Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” Ed Sheeran’s “The Mathematics Tour” and Beyoncé’s “Renaissance World Tour,” the nominees for Major Tour Of The Year include Drake’s “It’s All A Blur Tour,” Eagles’ “The Long Goodbye,” Luke Combs’ “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour” and Morgan Wallen’s “One Night At A Time World Tour.”

Swift, Sheeran and Bey all dominated stadiums in 2023, with Drake and Eagles each sticking to arenas, and Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen playing a mix of large venues.

“The Eras Tour” – which takes fans on “a journey through the musical eras of [her] career,” from her self-titled 2006 debut to 10th studio album, 2022’s Midnights – will be hard to beat as Swift’s dominated the zeitgeist of 2023 and is on track to set the record for the highest grossing tour of all time. Swift has grossed an estimated $848,449,632 from 3,344,091 tickets sold at 60 shows during Pollstar’s (Nov. 17, 2022 through Nov. 15, 2023).

The trek, which launched with two nights at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, is currently playing South America. She is managed by 13 Management’s Robert Allen.

Sheeran’s “Mathematics Tour” (otherwise known as +–=÷× Tour) is in support of his fifth studio album, 2021’s Equals (=) and sixth studio album, 2023’s Subtract (−). He kicked things off with two shows in April 2022 at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, that sold 140,487 tickets and grossed nearly $12.8 million. In 2024 the tour continues to the Middle East, Asia and Europe. This year he’s grossed $259,469,546 from 2,482,246 tickets sold at 51 shows. He’s managed by Grumpy Old Management’s Stuart Camp, with dates booked by Wasserman Music’s Ash Mowry and Marty Diamond, along with One Fiinix Live’s Jon Ollier and Emma Davis.

Beyoncé’s “Renaissance World Tour,” in support of her seventh studio album of the same name, represents her first solo headlining tour in seven years since “The Formation World Tour.” The outing began with two shows at Stockholm, Sweden’s Friends Arena May 10-11 (grossing $9.8 million from 90,169 tickets) and concluded Oct. 1 at Kansas City, Missouri’s GEHA Field At Arrowhead Stadium. The trek has grossed $579,813,546 from 2,776,854 tickets sold at 56 shows. She’s booked by CAA’s Rob Light.

Eagles – who were honored with the Milestone Award at the Pollstar Awards in February – started bidding adieu to fans with the kick-off of their final tour, “The Long Goodbye,” at New York’s Madison Square Garden Sept. 7-8 ($6.8 million grossed and 26,806 ticketssold). When the tour was first announced the band promised to perform as many shows in each market as their audience demands, with dates expected to continue into 2025. So far, the tour has grossed $76,595,959 from 308,710 tickets sold at 26 shows. The band is managed by Full Stop Management and booked by CAA’s Rick Roskin.

Drake has been busy playing major arenas on his “It’s All A Blur Tour,” marking his first North American trek in five years since “Aubrey & the Three Migos Tour.” He was joined by 21 Savage as the two supported their collaborative album, 2022’s Her Loss, with J. Cole and Travis Scott filling in for a couple gigs. Drake’s most recent solo studio album is his eight full length, 2023’s For All the Dogs. He’s grossed $112,201,204 from 425,551 tickets sold at 26 shows. Brent Smith of Wasserman Music represents Drake worldwide.

Morgan Wallen – who was also nominated for Major Tour of the Year in 2022 – started off his “One Night At A Time World Tour” in support of his third studio album March 15 at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, grossing nearly $1.1 million and selling 9,785 tickets. The trek includes arena, amphitheater and festival stops and more than a dozen stadium gigs. Wallen, who is managed by Big Loud’s Seth England and booked by The Neal Agency’s Austin Neal, has grossed $270,577,828 from 1,372,194 tickets at 47 shows.

Luke Combs’ massive 2023 trek spanned three continents and 16 countries, including 21 stadium shows in North America. He grossed $126,052,948 from 1,308,259 tickets sold at36 shows. Combs, who is supporting his third studio album, 2023’s Gettin’ Old, is managed by Make Wake Artists and booked by WME’s Aaron Tannenbaum.

Pollstar subscribers can vote by logging into Pollstar.com to access your ballot. Voting is open now through Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET and winners will be announced at the Pollstar Awards on Feb. 7 in Los Angeles during the three-day Pollstar Live! Conference.