Beyonce & JAY-Z's On the Run II Tour Finishes with More Than $250 Million
10/23/2018 by Eric Frankenberg
Beyonce and Jay-Z performs in concert during 'On The Run II Tour' on Aug. 8, 2018 in Minneapolis.
They say it’s a marathon, not a sprint. But for Beyoncé and JAY-Z, it was both. Their sprawling On the Run II Tour finished with $253.5 million in the bank, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
The trek wrapped Oct. 4 at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, the last of the 48 stadium dates they played, after beginning June 6 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. From there, the dynamic duo played 18 shows throughout Europe, peaking at London Stadium’s two-night engagement with $11 million grossed and more than 125,000 tickets sold. After a few final shows in France, including their debut performance of “APESHIT” in Paris, they crossed the pond for 30 North American shows, with doubles in Landover, Md.; East Rutherford, N.J.; Chicago; Atlanta; Houston; and Pasadena, Calif. The biggest earner of the tour was the Aug. 25-26 engagement at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, grossing $14.1 million.
On the Run II is the sequel to 2014’s On the Run Tour, a massive success in its own right. Billboard named it the Top R&B/Hip-Hop tour of the year, coming in at No. 8 on 2014's overall Top Tours list, with three appearances on the year-end Top Boxscores ranking. The original trek grossed $109.6 million from 980,000 tickets sold.
But despite the high bar set four years ago, On the Run II expanded The Carters’ worldwide reach. The $253.5 million haul of this year’s run represents a 132 percent increase over the original’s gross. While one might worry that expanding from 21 sold-out stadium dates to 48 would be spreading oneself thin, Beyoncé and JAY-Z were still able to increase their average per-show gross, maintaining a pace of $5.28 million each night.
Following the biggest headlining tours of each of their legendary careers, Beyoncé and JAY-Z’s team effort for the On the Run II Tour combined their talents and fan bases for an epic team effort. Just 10 days after opening night, they released the collaborative Everything Is Love album. The nine-track set was met with widespread critical acclaim and commercial success, earning 123,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, despite being released on a Saturday evening. Already a nominee at the Billboard Live Music Awards (Top World Tour, Top U.S. Tour, Top Draw), On the Run II caps a stellar year for The Carters.
Live Nation promoted the tour, featuring additional support from DJ Khaled and Chloe x Halle.
See below for On the Run: By the Numbers.
On the Run: $109.6 million
On the Run II: $253.5 million
On the Run: 980,000 tickets sold
On the Run II: 2,177,000 tickets sold
On the Run: 21 shows (2 in Europe; 19 in North America)
On the Run II: 48 shows (18 in Europe; 30 in North America)
On the Run: $5,219,533 average gross
On the Run II: $5,281,562 average gross
On the Run: 3 Boxscores over $10 million (peaks: $13.6 million at Stade de France in Paris)
On the Run II: 8 Boxscores over $10 million (peak: $14.1 million at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta)
On the Run Series
$363,125,181 gross
3,156,830 tickets sold
69 sold-out shows
11 Boxscores over $10 million