By: Jordan Park and Nelson Kramer

Local Editors

Taylor Swift, one of the biggest names in the music industry, is currently on the South American leg of her iconic Eras Tour. Not only are her performances incredible, Swift’s presence impacts the economies in the cities where she performs while helping repair losses from the pandemic. Her shows are making history and have become the highest-grossing tour ever. 

On Nov.1, 2022, Swift announced the United States leg of the Eras Tour. This announcement shocked fans as it would be her most elaborate tour yet, paying homage to her past ten albums. Since Swift’s first release in 2007, she has grown an enormous fan base, making her the first female artist to have 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify. 

The Eras tour has moved from city to city, racking up an average of nine to thirteen million dollars per show. The tour has 146 scheduled dates and grossed 2.2 billion dollars from the North American leg alone. Swift’s impact is so enormous that if she “were an economy, she’d be bigger than 50 countries,” stated Dan Fleetwood, President of QuestionPro Research and Insights.

“Swifties,” the name given to Swift’s deeply committed fanbase, deal out thousands of dollars for a chance to see her live. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and other cities across the US noted that Swifties uplifted their local economies, helping boost revenue toward travel, accommodations, restaurants, and surrounding businesses when Swift was in town. Eras Tour merch and themed attractions, food, and drinks have also been quite popular and a great source of profits for any business dealing with the influx of Swifties. “The Eras Tour projects to generate close to $5 billion in consumer spending in the United States alone,” Time said in a recent article; they also noted, “Swift has been performing the equivalent of two to three Super Bowls every weekend for the past five months.” The economic impacts could potentially assist struggling businesses in recovering from the pandemic and even help prevent a recession. Thousands of Swifties don’t even make it into the stadiums every show but still travel to her concert locations in hopes of getting resale tickets. Fans who don’t get tickets still show their love and support for her music by tailgating in the stadium parking lots, where the music can still reach them. This surplus of fans adds even more to the already skyrocketing revenue of local economies.

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has been a long time coming; it has made significant economic impacts in the US and is doing the same as Swift recently started her international leg, beginning in Mexico City and then traveling through five other continents. From becoming honorary mayor of Santa Clara County to her fans literally causing earthquakes, Taylor Swift is a performer for the history books.

(Sources: CNN, CBS, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Question Pro)