NewSong’s Winter Jam 2014 Tour Spectacular has wrapped the biggest and most innovative season in its 19-year history, reigning once again as the world’s largest first quarter tour, according to Pollstar.
For the fourth consecutive year, Winter Jam tops Pollstar's First Quarter Year To Date Worldwide Ticket Sales chart - Top 100 Tours, surpassing all other 2014 first quarter tours, including Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Beyoncé, Michael Bublé, Imagine Dragons and Justin Timberlake. Hitting major arenas around the country from January through March, Winter Jam saw 34 sellouts this year, with a combined total audience of more than 550,000 people—the tour's largest attendance in history.
Founded and hosted by GRAMMY®-nominated NewSong and headlined by multi GRAMMY®-nominated Newsboys and GRAMMY®-winning rap/hip-hop recording artist Lecrae, this year’s all-star line-up also featured Tenth Avenue North, Thousand Foot Krutch, Plumb and Colton Dixon, as well as a message from leading young evangelist Nick Hall. In addition, the iDisciple App Pre-Jam Party featured Love & The Outcome, Everfound and Derek Minor.
"God continues to blow us away with His faithfulness," says Winter Jam creator and NewSong founding member Eddie Carswell. "We are keenly aware that this is His tour and He is to receive all the glory. We pray daily to be good stewards of His message and are deeply humbled to see countless lives changed throughout the ministry of Winter Jam."
"It's been 19 years of continued growth for Winter Jam," says Roy Morgan, co-owner, Premier Productions, Winter Jam promoter. "It's amazing to look back and see how God has orchestrated the smallest of details to grow and use this tour to deliver His message of love and Hope to literally millions of people."
NewSong’s Winter Jam 2014 Tour Spectacular was highlighted by multiple industry-leading innovations and Christian music firsts:
The Winter Jam 2014 Dome Spectacular
More than 30,000 people attended the tour’s February stop at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, marking the biggest single event in Winter Jam’s 19-year history. Featuring Guinness World Record-holding high wire artist Nik Wallenda’s tightrope walk across the Dome, the event also included appearances from Reed Robertson of "Duck Dynasty," GRAMMY®-nominated multi Dove Award winner David Crowder and University of Georgia head football coach Mark Richt. (photo: Mary Caroline Mann)
JAM ZONE Presented by KIA
Held in conjunction with the Dome Spectacular, the free, first-of-its-kind daylong JAM ZONE event included more than 85 local business and exhibitor booths and drew an estimated 7,500 people at the World Congress Center.
Winter Jam App
An industry-leading innovation developed by Nashville-based Aloompa and powered by TheOverflow.com, the Winter Jam App launched in tandem with this year’s tour and shattered expectations with more than 100,000 downloads. The App offers industry-first geofencing technology, allowing Winter Jam to engage users based on their exact location, as well as interactive fan features, including a customized streaming radio channel and newsfeed. The Winter Jam App also features a merchandise store, social media integration and exclusive contests.
Despite record-breaking inclement weather around the country, causing the cancellation of one of the tour’s 48 slated shows, Winter Jam played to capacity crowds at Chicago’s Sears Centre Arena; Houston’s Toyota Center; Scottrade Center in St. Louis; Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena; and Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, among numerous other sold-out events.
NewSong’s groundbreaking $10-at-the-door concept and the success of the Winter Jam 2014 Tour Spectacular is largely attributed to key strategic partnerships. In addition to multiple local and regional sponsors, this year's national sponsors included Holt International,
God's Not Dead the movie, Pepsi, University of Mobile and the K-LOVE Fan Awards.
Since creating Winter Jam in 1995, NewSong hosts and continues to oversee the exponential growth of Christian music's largest annual tour. Through the years the Winter Jam Tour Spectacular has featured such defining artists as TobyMac, Skillet, Steven Curtis Chapman, Francesca Battistelli, Third Day, Jeremy Camp, Kari Jobe and David Crowder Band, among many others, and provides a powerful platform for the Gospel message across the country.
