By: Gabby Soltis '24
The United States leg of Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” resulted in local economic boosts within the 20 cities in which Swift performed. The highly expensive ticket prices did not hold people back, for each show drew in an estimated total of 72,459 fans from both in and outside of the affected cities.
Individual fans spent an average of $1,300 per show on travel expenses such as tickets, outfits, hotels, and food. This ends up boosting the economies of cities by hundreds of millions of dollars within two to three days.
The added revenue benefits small and local businesses, and helps certain areas gain publicity which brings in more tourists even when Swift is not set to perform.
Swift’s opening show at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona brought in even more revenue from local businesses than Super Bowl LVII, which took place at the same location just a few months prior. Ever since Swift’s first Arizona performance, the city of Glendale has been referred to as “Swift City.” This nickname put the Arizona city on the map for the fact that Taylor Swift has been there.
“Pittsburg… you broke the all-time attendance record and we got to be the first tour to play your stadium twice. Thank you so much for everything this weekend,” Swift said.
Las Vegas celebrated its share of Eras Tour shows by decorating its archway with graphics of all of her album covers. Tampa, Florida made Swift their honorary mayor for a day, and Nashville made a park bench dedicated to her song lyrics in “Invisible String” off of Swift’s album Folklore.
Almost every city included in the Eras Tour has done something extravagant to both celebrate Swift’s arrival and remember her time there. New Jersey named their state sandwich after her. These little commemorations help to associate locations with Taylor Swift even when she is not performing there.
“I went to the Eras Tour with a group of friends. Even though we were able to get tickets for a lower price, we spent a fair amount of money on a hotel room, outfits, food, and merchandise at the stadium,” Newtown High School senior Ava Mitchell said.
Mitchell represents the millions of people who turned a singular concert into a weekend-long event.
In addition to the record-breaking number of people who attended Swift’s concerts, thousands of fans who could not afford the tickets made the trip and extra purchases to listen to the music from outside many of the stadiums. This was an extreme factor that set the revenue brought in from “The Eras Tour” apart from other tours and shows.
“When considering hotels, food, or even an Uber; all of these prices were increased when she [Taylor Swift] came to a particular city,” NHS Economics teacher Bob Pattison said.
Swift brought in swarms of tourists, and businesses were very much aware of that. When prices are inflated on necessary things such as public transportation and food products, it not only brings in more money from tourists but from the local residents of cities as well.
“Although it is currently hard to tell if the Eras Tour will leave a lasting impact on America’s economy as a whole, it is definitely boosting local economies and small businesses,” Pattison said.
In addition to the local revenue, Swift recently gave generously large bonuses to her security guards, drivers, and other people on her team who do not have a very high salary. Swift was reported to have given $100,000 bonuses to fifty of her truck drivers and provided her other employees with bonuses totaling to 55 million dollars. This increased salary did not affect the overall unemployment in America, but it has given employees without a stable or ‘official’ job a foundation to grow financially.
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