Ed Sheeran’s Last Tour Was His Biggest of All Time — His Latest Was Even Bigger

Earlier in September, Ed Sheeran wrapped his gargantuan four-year stadium tour. The +-=÷x Tour (The Mathematics Tour) launched in 2022 after the release of the previous year’s = (Equals) and continued through the releases of 2023’s – (Subtract) and Autumn Variations. Over three album eras and 188 shows across four continents, Sheeran grossed $875.7 million and sold 8.8 million tickets according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. That makes it the highest grossing tour of his career and thus, one of the biggest tours of all time.

Sheeran has only been a global touring figure for less than 15 years, but mounting his most successful tour yet was no easy feat. His previous trek, The ÷ Tour (The Divide Tour), ran from 2017 to 2019 and set records in its final stretch as the highest grossing and bestselling tour in history. More shows in a shorter timeframe, The Divide Tour grossed $776.4 million and sold 8.9 million tickets, breaking U2’s longstanding records in both metrics for the U2 360° Tour ($736.4 million and 7.3 million tickets in 2009-11).

On the other side of the pandemic, Sheeran was surpassed as the biggest earner, first by Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour ($939.1 million) and then by Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour ($2.1 billion) and Coldplay’s ongoing Music of the Spheres World Tour ($1.5 billion through Aug. 31). In terms of attendance, both Coldplay and Swift surpassed 10 million tickets, with the former now up to 12.8 million and counting.

The Mathematics Tour finishes fourth all-time in gross (behind Swift, Coldplay and John) and attendance (Coldplay, Swift, The Divide Tour). Like his prior tour, this one took Sheeran around the world and back with five legs in the U.K. and Europe, two in Asia, 25 shows in North America and 15 in Oceania.

Europe and the U.K. were the obvious standouts for the British singer, accounting for 59% of the tour’s total gross and 63% of its attendance. Combined, the five legs grossed $517.1 million and sold 5.5 million tickets over 117 shows. Next was North America with $170.7 million and 1.6 million tickets. Asia’s 31 shows earned $102.4 million and sold 753,000 tickets. The one leg of dates in Oceania added $85.5 million and 810,000 tickets.

The expanse of The Mathematics Tour includes various warm-up shows in the weeks leading up to its stadium launch, plus a Subtract promo breakout in 2023, putting Sheeran in relatively intimate arenas in the U.K. and Ireland to specifically promote his then-new record. It does not, however, include The Subtract Tour in North America, which hit U.S. theaters in the same cities of some of his Mathematics stadium shows. Also outside of the proper tour, there was an isolated date at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on May 22, 2024, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of x (Multiply). From Dublin’s Whelans (357 capacity) to four nights at London’s Wembley Stadium (420,000 tickets), Sheeran adapted his live show to maximize his tour’s reach.

But that’s not all! Sheeran released Play last week (Sept. 12) and is already plotting a tour to follow. He announced the Loop Tour, which will commence before the year is even over. Five arena shows are set in December across Paris, Munich and Dublin, plus two in England. Then, it’ll be 17 stadium dates in Australia and New Zealand in the early months of 2026. While no dates have been officially announced, he teased a leg of U.S. concerts next year during a live performance on TikTok.

Dating back to Sheeran’s first reported concert at QPAC Concert Hall in Brisbane, Australia (July 31, 2012 – $101K; 1,488 tickets), he has grossed over $1.7 billion from 18.9 million tickets sold. He is one of the 10 highest grossing and bestselling acts in Boxscore history.