CELEBRITY
EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Swift massive paycheck is also set to expand as the Eras Tour film hits theaters this weekend, which raked in over $80 million in advanced sales before even landing on the big screen.
Taylor Swift’s lucrative Eras Tour is set to net the star a staggering $4.1 billion – the most an artist has ever made from a single tour in history. The singer’s earnings solely from her worldwide tour are the equivalent of the economic output of 42 nations, according to estimates over her wealth from Peter Cohan, an associate professor of management at Babson College, cited by the Washington Post.
Swift’s record-breaking tour has also poured billions more into the US economy, with the huge production leading to extensive travel, ticket sales and merchandising opportunities for her legions of ‘Swifties.’ Swift’s windfall is primarily thanks to her share of the revenue from her tour, which is estimated to be the industry-standard 85 percent. Average ticket prices stand at around $450, a hefty sum that has fueled a record-earning run for the 33-year-old as she packs out stadiums across the globe.
Ticket sales may make up the lions share of the revenue, but the impact on the wider economy has also been tallied at around $93 million per show. The figure was determined by software company QuestionPro, with answers from online surveys combined with concert attendance numbers. An expensive mix of tickets alongside merchandise, travel, food, hotels and specialized Era-outfits have seen the army of Swifties flood the economy with cash.
In total, the Eras Tour is estimated to have created a $5.7 billion boost to the US economy, enough to hand out $20 to every person in the country. Swift is not the only one to take home a big payday thanks to the tour, with ticket resale sites such as SeatGeek able to inflate the prices of the tickets by several times thanks to the fervent mania of her fan base. ‘Swift and her ‘Eras’ tour have redefined entertainment economics,’ Chris Leyden, director of growth marketing at SeatGeek, told the Washington Post.
Ticketmaster notoriously crashed after the tickets were first put up for sale in November – at a much-diminished $49 – as millions of fans scrambled to land a seat. The average ticket resale price on SeatGeek stands at $1,611. Her economy-driving concerts were even noted by city leaders across America, who lauded her for adding hundreds of millions to their local finances.
In her home state of Pennsylvania, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia cited her in a financial report after they saw a significant surge in hotel revenue back in May. Cincinnati saw a $48 million boost, according to the Cincinnati Regional Chamber’s Center for Research and Data, while Los Angeles estimated an additional $320 million thanks to the six shows she performed in the city. And when she stopped in Kansas City in July – the site of her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Chiefs football team – the tourism board said the city received $48 million.