Bad Bunny Enters the Record Books With World’s Hottest Tour

Earlier this year, Bad Bunny embarked on his biggest stage tour yet, earning $116.8 million in North American arenas on El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore. It became the highest grossing Latin tour in Boxscore history and rewrote local records in more than half of the markets where he played.

Only six months later, he launched his second tour of 2022 and doubled the gross of his prior record-breaking trek – and he’s only just finished the first leg. World’s Hottest Tour wrapped its U.S. leg in stadiums, grossing $232.5 million and selling 944,000 tickets from just 21 shows.

That averages out to $11.1 million and 45,000 tickets per show. Currently, World’s Hottest Tour boasts a bigger per-show average gross than any tour by any artist in any genre, in Boxscore history (dating back to the late 1980s).

The Rolling Stones previously paced $9.4 million on the No Filter Tour (2017-21), but have been bested by the Bunny with the first tour to average more than $10 million per night. Inflation, dynamic pricing and platinum ticketing certainly give an advantage to more recent tours, but Bad Bunny’s unrelenting pace in the U.S., especially as a contemporary artist who doesn’t perform in English, makes World’s Hottest Tour one to watch, to say the least.

World’s Hottest Tour broke venue revenue records in 12 of the 15 U.S. markets that it played. Shows in Cumberland, Ga.; Miami; the Bronx; Houston; San Antonio; San Diego; and Phoenix were the highest grossing engagements in each venue’s history. Further, his shows in Orlando; Boston; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and Oakland, Calif., were all-time highs among single-night performances.

Arlington, Texas; Las Vegas; and Inglewood, Calif., are the only markets where Bad Bunny didn’t set a record, coming in second in each. In the latter two cities, he was blocked by BTS, who played four shows at each stadium, compared to Bad Bunny’s two.

Breaking the record he set earlier this year, his latest trek is now the biggest tour by a Spanish-speaking performer in Boxscore history, giving Bad Bunny the top two positions on the all-time Latin breakout. But, again, his big year goes far beyond genre distinctions, as he is the only artist to ever launch two separate $100 million tours in the same calendar year.

Combined, and including three Puerto Rican shows in July that were not officially part of either tour, Bad Bunny has earned $353.2 million and sold 1.6 million tickets in 2022, all in North America. World’s Hottest Tour resumes on Oct. 21 in Santo Domingo, kicking off a 22-show run in Latin America before closing in Mexico City on Dec. 10.