Inside Ed Sheeran’s “Mathematics” Run In India With BookMyShow’s Naman Pugalia
Ed Sheeran and BookMyShow Live, the local partner of global tour promoter AEG Presents, made history in India earlier this year, when Sheeran performed the first fully-fledged Indian tour by an international artist: a proper run that included several markets, not just main tourist hubs like Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru.
The idea to go deep into the country came after Sheeran’s successful show in Mumbai at the Mahalakshmi Racecourse in 2024, “one of the largest live music events India had seen, according to Naman Pugalia, chief business offices, live events, at BookMyShow, who said “everything – from the scale of production to the energy in the crowd – the experience left a lasting impression on Ed.”
Ed Sheeran, an artists, who’s not only appreciative of the Indian culture, but also very motivated to visit his fans in far-flung places, was the perfect partner to work with. “He was genuinely moved by how enthusiastic and welcoming the Indian audience was and that experience made him want to return, this time reaching fans in more cities across the country,” said Pugalia.
Artists like, he explained, view India “very strategically, and have built their fanbase through multiple emotional touch points which means each time they return, they are rewarded with fan love that only grows stronger with time. India is not only a location for a show as part of their global touring circuit, but also a very deep embedding of their musical goals with the country’s cultural richness and vibrancy.”
It’s also a country that is “poised to become the largest English-speaking market, home to the highest number of connected devices and possibly the biggest fanbase for them as artists over the next decade,” Pugalia explained.
BookMyShow Live, the live entertainment experiential division of BookMyShow launched in 2017, has been producing and promoting live experiences across music, comedy, theatricals and more, on every scale since launching in 2017. The business is part of Big Tree Entertainment, which has been building the entertainment ecosystem in India for the last 25 years.
Pugalia and his team observe a steady rise in demand for live entertainment at all scales, from small shows to large-scale concerts, and not just in metropolitan regions. “Tier 2 and 3 cities have shown remarkable appetite and evolution, becoming thriving hubs for out-of-home entertainment,” said Pugalia, adding, “we’re at a point where international artists aren’t just stopping in Mumbai or Delhi – they’re looking to do full-fledged India tours.”
Ed Sheeran’s six-city run is a the most impressive international example of that shift so far.
Data played a significant role in deciding which cities to include in the tour. To describe the database BookMyShow has an amassed over the years extensive is an understatement. The business sells more than 20 million tickets per month, a lot of them to young audiences with high disposable incomes, living in emerging cultural hubs that are becoming “the next boomtowns for live entertainment,” as Pugalia put it, citing Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Shillong, Delhi-NCR, and Bengaluru as examples.
The local authorities in these cities embraced the opportunity to host Ed Sheeran’s concerts, appreciating their economic and cultural impact, from boosting tourism and hospitality to creating local jobs and supporting peripheral industries.
Ed Sheeran’s Indian leg of his “+ – = ÷ x” Tour was “a signal that India is ready for bigger, more widespread experiences,” said Pugalia.
The venues Sheeran visited were exclusively in the open air, a mix of stadia and open grounds, identified through “extensive planning and in-depth research,” Pugalia continued, “given that some of the markets we were targeting had never hosted a tour of this caliber, ensuring the right venue was paramount to the success of the event.”
As producer and promoter of the concerts, BookMyShow Live handled every aspect of the production, from the conceptualisation and design of the event to its execution on the ground. “Our extensive experience in managing large-scale international events allowed us to coordinate all aspects of the tour, from the technical production and logistics to talent management and audience engagement,” said Pugalia.
While it was hard to pick a highlight from Ed Sheeran’s Indian concerts, seeing that “each location had its own magic,” Pugalia talked about some stand-out moments: “Ed Sheeran’s Feb. 12 set in Shillong was undeniably magical. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the hills, the open-air venue offered crisp, cool weather and clear skies – perfect for a night under the stars with music that moved people to tears.”
His two performances in Bengaluru, Feb. 8-9, showed “the city’s deep-rooted love for live music”; in Chennai, Sheeran brought Indian star composer and singer A.R. Rahman on stage. Together, they performed a mashup of “Shape of You” and the iconic “Urvasi Urvasi” – “a true East-meets-West moment,” according to Pugalia.
In Hyderabad, Ed teamed up with Armaan Malik, who opened the concert, and joined him on stage later, performing “2Step” and Armaan’s hit “Butta Bomma”.
“Every city added its own hue to the tour’s canvas,” Pugalia concluded, “from Delhi-NCR’s pulsating energy to Pune’s passionate crowd, each show reaffirmed that India’s appetite for world-class live entertainment is real, diverse, and growing fast. The Ed Sheeran + – = ÷ x Tour was proof that live music in India is not only evolving—it’s flourishing, with audiences ready to embrace and celebrate these global moments right at home.”
Pollstar subscribers can head here to access our full Q&A with Naman Pugalia, which includes many more fascinating insights into Ed Sheeran’s 2025 Indian leg of his “+ – = ÷ x” tour.
FREE
Daily Pulse
Subscribe
Daily Pulse
Subscribe