The Taylor Swift Effect: How the Eras Tour Impacts the Economy

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour played its last show on Dec. 8, 2024, in Vancouver, Canada. The tour that brought us back to friendship bracelets and dressing-up closed as the largest earning tour of all time and a huge record-setter in several categories, being: 

1. Last December, the tour became the first to pass a billion dollars in revenue and that was still with a year of shows left to go. 
2. At it’s close, the tour earned over $2 billion, according to The New York Times and Pollstar. That’s not including revenue from the ticket resale market, which couldn’t handle the Eras Tour.
3. The Eras Tour concert film became the highest-grossing concert film of all time, over $260 million.  
4. Swift even set records for most shows played by a female artist in multiple iconic stadiums, including eights shows at Wembley Stadium. 

Calling the Eras Tour a success, especially in terms of the economy, is the understatement of the century. 

Not only did Swift break records, she provided $197 million in bonuses to her crew, according to Pubity. Moreover, Swift indirectly boosted local economies throughout the United States. This was dubbed, “Swiftonomics,” meaning the economic influence Swift’s tour has had, especially centering around fan travel and spending at local businesses. 

The effect has been felt in many industries. For example, with fans traveling hundreds of miles to see shows; they needed somewhere to stay. Following Swift’s June 2023 Chicago leg, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced that in part because of the Eras Tour, Chicago’s hotel revenue record was broken. May 2023, when Swift stopped in Philadelphia, it was the, “strongest month for hotel revenue in the city since the onset of the pandemic.” The tour even had the power to increase employment, as it did in Los Angeles county, adding 3,300 employment opportunities around Swift’s So-Fi stint. 

Moreover, the Eras Tour almost rivals the economic impact that the annual Super Bowl weekend has on host cities … and the Super Bowl doesn’t last for two years, spanning 23 cities across the country. 

It wasn’t just influential on large-scale businesses and the cities themselves. Small businesses saw a huge jump in income and in sales. Some small businesses had to amp-up their production, hire new employees to deal with demand, and pivot their strategies. The biggest impact was on clothing and merchandising: Fans were hungry for all things sequins, sparkles, feathers, frills, and glitz. 

Her shows in New Orleans are a fantastic case study for Swift’s impact: 200,000 tickets were sold for the three shows in the Superdome, which brought in $200 million over the weekend of the shows, rivaling the two-week Mardi Gras festivities which traditionally reign in $900 million. This is in addition to the average million dollars many concert-goers spent on their tickets, outfits, and trips. 

“I think about the musicians working at bars and restaurants that have extra gigs because this was going on. I think about the artists that sold extra pieces of art this week,” New Orleans & Co. President and CEO Walt Leger said to Fox 8.

As for fans experiences: They praised the city for going all out, in one instance draping giant friendship bracelets across the Superdome stadium for the occasion. Concerts attendees complimented friendly and nice New Orleans, exponentially adding to their experience. 

Indianapolis, IN saw a 144% increase in hotel occupancy for the Eras shows. The Index, the city’s new visitor center, took advantage of the flurry of activity and fans in the city, according to WRTV Indianapolis.

“This weekend we’ve really focused on all things Taylor Swift, we have leaned into our local economy to produce some great t-shirts, some earrings, some bracelets, candles,” Catherine Essleman, who helps run the Index and owns Cat Consulting, told WRTV.

“For small businesses it means so much just to be able to get our name out there,” Kayleigh Rayburn, manager of 8th Day Distillery in Indianapolis also told WRTV. “While they’re talking about Taylor Swift I get to talk to them about what we do here.”

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Another impact of the Eras tour, you ask? An infusion of female fans into football fandom. Swift’s very public relationship with Kansas City Chief’s tightend Travis Kelce is a direct result of his attendance of her tour in Kansas City. On his podcast, New Heights Show with his brother Jason Kelce, Travis alluded to giving Swift his number on a friendship bracelet. The rest is, as they say, history. 

But as fans watched Kelce’s relationship with Swift develop, they began tuning into his games as well, to catch a glimpse of her in his family and friends suite at the stadium. Though some football fans have complained about the Taylor Swift impact on the game, others are sharing stories of daughters suddenly sharing their interest in watching football with them.

Swift and her new-found interest of the game brought over 4 million new female football fans, including an estimated 3.4 million new fans to the Chiefs. 

The stats are telling, proving that fans want more glitter, more sparkles, and more Taylor Swift. However, here’s no telling what record she’ll break next.