The announcement of Taylor Swift's Eras tour came at a time when the U.S. economy was struggling with inflation and the personal savings of the average household had taken a hit.
Yet the record-setting tour was attended by an estimated 10 million spectators and brought a post-pandemic boost to many hosting cities, with upswings in hotel and restaurant bookings, ride-sharing demand and increases in temporary jobs.
The Eras Tour opened in Glendale, Arizona on March 17, 2023 and, after 21 months across five continents, wrapped up with its 149th and final show in Vancouver on December 8, 2024. The tour's final tally of over $2 billion in tickets smashed the record previously held by Elton John's pandemic-interrupted Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which sold about $939 million in tickets.
According to Pollstar's recent analysis, Swift's tour grossed $2.2 billion on 10.055 million tickets sold with per-show average of 67,487, breaking the 13-year-old record of U2's "360 Tour." The tour's gross represents almost 11% of the overall gross for the top 100 artists in 2024.
"We are witnessing history," said Andy Gensler, Pollstar editor-in-chief. "What Taylor Swift and 'The Eras Tour' accomplished in 21 months across five continents for more than 10 million fans is extraordinary and unprecedented."
"Swifties" attending the Eras Tour created local economic impact comparable to the spending of football fans during a Super Bowl, with fans willing to spend thousands of dollars on tickets, lodging, outfits and merchandise. A study by online survey company QuestionPro found that consumer spending for the North American leg of the Eras Tour in 2024 is projected to generate an average of $1.7 billion.
"We've just witnessed and experienced perhaps the single most impressive display of stardom in the history of entertainment," said Dan Fleetwood, President of QuestionPro Research and Insights. "The economic impact alone is unlikely to be matched by any single individual ever again, until perhaps she tours again."
When Taylor Swift's Eras tour began in Glendale last year, the city was officially renamed "Swift City" for two days. Over 150,000 fans attended the initial shows, more than twice the number of visitors the city hosted for the Super Bowl a month earlier. As the tour continued, so did its economic impact on the hosting cities and the industries that catered to the event. City officials hosting the tour went all out to welcome the star: Vegas illuminated its Gateway Arches, Houston was renamed NRG Stadium to "NRG Stadium (Taylor's Version)," and Tampa presented Swift with keys to the city, inviting the singer to reign as mayor for a day.
Swift's concerts in Cincinnati were estimated to have brought around $92 million in net new local expenditure. The two shows in Denver provided an economic gain of around $140 million across Colorado. The Eras Tour six-show run in Los Angeles generated an estimated economic impact of $320 million and 3,300 jobs created. Eras Tour stops in Pittsburgh and Nashville reportedly saw their hotel room revenue double from June through early August last year. In May 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia noted in its Beige Book that Swift's Eras Tour stop was a boon for the city's tourism industry and May was the strongest month for hotel revenue in the city.
Lyft (LYFT-2.59%) generated a report on how the Eras Tour was impacting its ride-sharing demand around the hotels near the venues where Swift performed and found that rides were up by an average of 8.2% in cities hosting the concert, with New Orleans seeing a 31% surge in demand.
The Eras Tour's impact wasn't limited to the U.S. At Swift's first international stop in Paris, La Défense Arena increased its seating capacity to accommodate the surge in demand, setting a new attendance record of 45,000. In London, Swift became the first solo artist to play Wembley Stadium eight times in a single tour, breaking Michael Jackson's record. Across the U.K., Swift performed in Edinburgh in Scotland, Cardiff in Wales and Dublin in Ireland, boosting the U.K. economy by $1.26 billion, according to an Action Network analysis first reported by Newsweek.
After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted last year requesting that Swift add stops in Canada, the artist obliged and announced that she is would add three shows in Vancouver in December 2024. Swift became the first artist ever to perform six nights at Rogers Centre in Toronto in a single tour. The Eras tour expected to generate $282 million in economic impact for Toronto. Of that, $152 million will come from direct spending, with 93% coming from non-residents, according to Destination Toronto. In Japan, the Eras tour estimated to have pumped $228 million into the country, while in Australia, Swift was estimated to sell $66 million worth of merchandise.
During the Eras Tour, Swift released "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" concert film in October 2023 directly to theaters, which became the all-time highest grossing concert film, earning $261.6 million globally by January of this year. It became the first movie in its category to breach the $100 million mark at the global box office. Swift also reportedly sold 814,000 copies of "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Book" in the first two days, making it the most successful publishing launch of the year. In addition, Spotify recently announced that Swift was the top-streamed artist of 2024.
As the Eras Tour comes to a close, it will be remembered as more than just a musical tour -- it was an economic phenomenon that pushed boundaries of entertainment, revitalized local economies and broke global records in the process.