Taylor Swift sets record as Eras Tour is first to gross over $1 billion, Pollstar says

It’s been a good year for Taylor Swift. 

Swift’s Eras Tour is the first tour to cross the billion-dollar mark, according to Pollstar’s 2023 year-end charts. 

The announcement comes just days after the 33-year-old artist was named 2023 Person of the Year by TIME magazine, beating out a host of finalists who over the last 12 months dominated politics, entertainment and more. 

Not only was Swift’s landmark Eras Tour the No. 1 tour both worldwide and in North America, but she also brought in a whopping $1.04 billion with 4.35 million tickets sold across 60 tour dates, the concert trade publication found.

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Pollstar data is pulled from box office reports, venue capacity estimates, historical Pollstar venue ticket sales data, and other undefined research, collected from Nov. 17, 2022 to Nov. 15, 2023.

Representatives for the publication did not immediately clarify if they adjusted past tour data to match 2023 inflation in naming Swift the first to break the billion-dollar threshold.

Pollstar also found that Swift brought in approximately $200 million in merch sales and her blockbuster film adaptation of the tour, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” has reportedly earned approximately $250 million in sales, making it the highest-grossing concert film of all time.

According to their estimates, Pollstar predicts a big 2024 for Swift as well. The magazine projects the Eras Tour will once again reach $1 billion within their eligibility window, meaning Swift is likely to bring in over $2 billion over the span of the tour.

Record speed

Also unprecedented is the speed at which Swift’s Eras Tour had surpassed a billion in sales, according to the Pollstar report. Kicking off on March 17 at State Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and ending on November 11 at Estadio Más Monumental in Buenos Aires. 

Worldwide, Swift’s tour was followed by Beyoncé in second, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band in third, Coldplay in fourth, Harry Styles in fifth, and Morgan Wallen, Ed Sheeran, Pink, The Weeknd and Drake.

In North America, there was a similar top 10: Swift, followed by Beyoncé, Morgan Wallen, Drake, P!nk, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Ed Sheeran, George Strait, Karol G, and RBD.

Beyond the Swift of it all, 2023 was a landmark year for concert sales: worldwide, the top 100 tours of the year saw a 46% jump from last year, bringing in $9.17 billion compared to 2022’s $6.28 billion.

In North America, that number jumped from $4.77 billion last year to $6.63 billion.

Last month, Apple Music named Swift its artist of the year; Spotify Wrapped revealed Wednesday that Swift was the most-streamed artist globally in 2023, checking in with more than 26.1 billion streams since January 1 and beating out Bad Bunny who had the most streams on the platform for the past three consecutive years.

Swift’s songs “Cruel Summer” and “Anti-Hero” came in as the sixth and 10th most-streamed songs globally, respectively. Her album “Lover,” was the seventh most streamed album.