Economic Impact of Taylor Swift: How much money does the Eras Tour bring in?
Written by Valeri Guevarra (W’26); Edited by Erica Edman (C’25)
She’s taken over everything lately from the stadiums, movie theaters, and Sunday football games, and newly minted billionaire Taylor Swift is not slowing down. This past Friday, Taylor re-released her 1989 album, and the Eras Tour continues its international leg to Argentina in two weeks. As Swift’s popularity only continues to grow, one has to wonder just how much of an economic impact she and her Eras Tour has and continues to make.
The Eras Tour started with a “great war”, a ticketing fiasco that got the attention of the United States Congress. For her tour, Swift, unlike some other large artists, decided to not utilize dynamic pricing and price her tickets in the range of $49-$499. Dynamic pricing is a pricing strategy where the price of the product, in this case, a concert ticket, is determined based on real-time changes in supply and demand. A recent example of Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts Tour ticket sale. She decided to implement dynamic prices, and tickets priced originally between $49.50 to $199.50 jumped to $510-$840 during the high ticket demand during her presale. There’s no bad blood between fans and Rodrigo though because she did not have this setting turned on for all the seats in each arena and those tickets indicated that the price difference was going to charity, not toward the tour’s revenue.
Even without dynamic pricing, the Eras Tour has become the highest-grossing tour of all time, surpassing Elton John’s Farewell Tour which grossed $887 million. The Eras Tour ticket sales make up a majority of the North American tour revenue at about $2.2 billion (about 73k average per stadium for 68 initial tour dates at an average ticket price of $455.78). However, Swift doesn’t get all the profits as she splits it with her tour promoter (5-15%) and receives the remaining percentage.
With the popularity of her ticket sales, it was no surprise that her tour merchandise was received with a similar fanfare. Her merch was available on-site with variations of the same items on her website. The merch-buying experience was notorious for having treacherous, hours-long lines. Her tour merchandise ranged from ponchos to sweatshirts (sadly no cardigans) ranging in price from $15 to $75. Typically, tour merchandise is marked up 200-400% and is split between the merch company, venue, and artist. According to the Washington Post, the average Swiftie spent $159 on tour merch.
Additionally, at the stadium, 78% of attendees grab a bite to eat during the show. Stadium food prices are also notoriously high with profit margins between 47–97% that often go straight back to the venue. The average Swiftie spends $106 on stadium food and drinks.
Outside spending and accommodations for the tour, many Swifties’ next step was to find gorgeous outfits perfectly styled to see Miss Americana. Attendees dressed up as the pop star’s different musical eras and famous red carpet outfits and spent, on average, $234 on the enchanted ensembles for the event of their wildest dreams. Accommodations ranged from hotel stays, transportation, and flights for those traveling from outside the local area of the stadium. The average fan spent $384. It should be noted that this number is skewed by a large range because some fans spent thousands on marked-up hotel stays and flights for the superstar’s shows while other fans spent nothing on lodging and only on parking and/or public transportation.
Two fans, one Nursing student and one Wharton student, attended the pop princess’ concerts in Philadelphia and East Rutherford, and below are their spending on the concert of their wildest dreams for perspective.
Nursing sophomore:
Ticket: $112
Concert outfit: $15
Water at Stadium: $22
Transportation (SEPTA): $10
Total: $159
Wharton sophomore:
Ticket: $225
Concert outfit: $30
Snack at Stadium: $15
Transportation (NJTransit): $10
Merch: $185
Total: $465
These two examples highlight how Eras Tour spending is highly varied by individual Swiftie.
From all of the mentioned spending, according to the Washington Post, the singer’s first 53 U.S concerts have added $4.3 billion to the country’s GDP, and this doesn’t even include the over $180 million box office of the filmed movie version of the Eras Tour and related spending with that experience (concessions, additional outfits, etc.).
With the success of the Eras Tour, Swift recently joined the ranks of other billionaire music artists like Jay-Z and Rihanna, but it’s important to note that they became billionaires thanks to the success of non-music ventures into luxury cologne and makeup respectively. Swift can contribute her billionaire moniker to her highly valued music catalog, past tours, and of course, the Eras Tour, which propels her into her own league where she’s always been.