2012 Top Worldwide Tours

“Pollstar” has just released its exclusive 2012 Top 50 Worldwide Tours Chart as a preview to its full year-end research coming in early January.

This is the only concert industry chart that covers the entire calendar year. All figures have been converted to U.S. dollars and represent the total face-value gross ticket sales for all dates played. The Pollstar database includes specific sales figures for nearly 90 percent of all shows worked by the top attractions and projections were made for any of the unreported dates.

Photo: Chris McKay / WireImage.com

Philips Arena, Atlanta, Ga.

Madonna grossed $296.1 million to easily claim the No. 1 spot on the chart. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band claimed the second slot at $210.2 million. Both acts played to more than 2 million fans in 2012. Roger Waters generated $186.4 million to come in at No. 3. He is also the highest ranking hold-over from the 2011 chart where he placed No. 5 with a gross of $103.6 million. Proving there is a global diversity of attractions, only 13 artists from 2011 made this year’s Top 50. It is also worth noting that the global brand strength of Cirque du Soleil has never been greater with eight different touring shows ranking on the chart.

The Top 50 Worldwide Tours did a combined gross of $3 billion, which was down about 2 percent from $3.07 billion in 2011.

Photo: AP Photo

Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

Total tickets sold was 34.9 million which continued the decline from 35.48 million the previous year and is well off the pace from 2009 when the Top 50 sold 45.3 million. The average global ticket price was $85.93 which was down 60 cents from last year but still well above the $73.83 charged in the more robust year of 2009.

Pollstar’s full research package including the Top 200 Tours of 2012, most active venues and concert promoters, and analysis of the worldwide industry is scheduled for release on Jan. 4.

Click here for Pollstar’s Top 50 Worldwide Tours chart.