Travis Scott reportedly earns $1 million in London show merch sales, outsells previous record set by BTS

Travis Scott has reportedly set a merch sales record for the UK, following his pair of shows at London’s O2 Arena over the weekend.

• READ MORE: The new Beatlemania – the best fan reactions to BTS’ show-stopping London debut

According to TMZ, sources close to Scott confirmed on Wednesday (August 10) that the rapper earned over $1 million USD (£820,681) from merchandise sold at the two concerts, which marked his first major headline appearances since the Astroworld tragedy late last year.

O2 MERCH PRICES pic.twitter.com/ouBk3e7NmZ

— TRAVIS SCOTT FAN PAGE RodeoTheAlbum (@RodeoTheAlbum) August 6, 2022

Achieving the figure from hoodie and t-shirt sales, which range between $45 (£36.80) and $150 (£122.66), the million-dollar haul bested the previous merch record set by BTS. In October of 2018, the K-pop group also performed at O2 Arena during the UK leg of their Love Yourself world tour, but reportedly fetched just shy of the million-dollar mark.

In addition to setting the merch sales record at the time, BTS’ 2018 O2 show was notable as the group’s first-ever UK performance, and was almost cancelled following an injury to bandmate Jungkook’s heel. NME’s Tom Connick reported at the time that the band’s merchandise had sold-out by 7pm, and more broadly surmised that the show represented “the new Beatlemania”.

Scott, meanwhile, sold out both nights at the 20,000-capacity venue, and opened his O2 Arena shows with a performance of ‘Hold That Heat’. The rapper’s setlist also included the debut of unreleased songs ‘God’s Country’ (featuring Kanye West) and ‘Lost Forever’, both of which are expected to form part of his upcoming fourth studio album, ‘Utopia’.

Prior to Scott’s headline London show, the Astroworld Festival founder had largely withdrawn from the public eye, following the deaths of 10 people due to a crowd surge during his headline set at the Houston event. In March, he performed a private set at a pre-Oscars party, before a more recent public appearance as a performer at this year’s Billboard Music Awards.

In the time between, the ‘Sicko Mode’ rapper reportedly performed at a Coachella afterparty, in addition to a Miami nightclub appearance in May. More recently, Scott last month joined Future on stage at Rolling Loud music festival.

Earlier this month, Scott announced a seven-night residency at the Zouk nightclub in Las Vegas titled ‘Road to Utopia’.

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