The most talked about concert tour in recent history ends its historic, record-breaking run with staggering figures.
The era of The Eras Tour has officially ended. It seemed like only yesterday when it all started in Glendale, Arizona, on March 17, 2023. Fast forward to almost 21 months later, it concluded in Vancouver, British Columbia, on December 8, 2024.
In between, Swift broke up with Joe Alwyn, got into a relationship with Travis Kelce, released an album, two re-records, a tour movie, and a tour book. In the span of a year and nine months a Swiftie died of heat exhaustion in Brazil, tour dates canceled over a terrorist plot in Austria, and fans around the world exchanged thousands of friendship bracelets.
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So much has happened and changed in the span of time Taylor Swift toured the world for The Eras Tour. Imagine, on the first night of the tour Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan hadn’t even met yet. Fast forward to today, the Espresso hitmaker is now a star in her own right and has reportedly broken up with the Saltburn actor.
Fan or not, we can all agree that The Eras Tour was in itself an era of immense cultural influence, the shockwaves of which were felt not only in the music industry but also in tourism, economics, and even geopolitics. So immense was its impact that it stirred debates on climate change and policy making.
$2.2 billion in ticket sales
The Eras Tour racked up over US$2 billion in ticket sales, the New York Times reported on December 9—$2,077,618,725 to be exact. The figure is almost double the gross of its closest competitor: $1 billion in ticket sales for Coldplay’s 156-date Music of the Spheres World Tour.
More than just ticket sales, The Eras Tour boosted economies, giving rise to terms such as “Swiftonomics” and “The Taylor Swift Effect.” In the US alone, Swifties were estimated to have spent about $5 billion and could even exceed $10 billion when factoring in indirect spending and when non-ticket holders make purchases outside of the venue, per CNN.
Beyond Swift’s home country, hotels in tour stops reported breaking occupancy records, even at higher rates due to surge in demand, according to a separate CNN report. Many of the stops also incorporated unique Swift-centric promotions, events, and activations to further boost consumption among fans.
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And because many Swifties from cities and countries that were not part of the schedule opted to travel to new locations, The Eras Tour also boosted travel and tourism across the globe. No wonder even world leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau practically begged for Swift to tour in their countries. Also remember when Southeast Asian Swifties hated on Singapore for a time when it struck a deal to secure exclusive access to The Eras Tour?
The Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Book, which was released on Black Friday, Nov. 29, sold a reported 814,000 copies in its first two days, making it the biggest publishing launch of 2024, the Associated Press reports. This success catapults her to the rare and esteemed company of former US President Barack Obama. The only bigger nonfiction launch was the first volume of Obama’s presidential memoirs, A Promised Land, which sold 816,000 copies its first week on shelves in 2020.
Unsurprisingly, The Eras Tour has seen Swift enter her billionaire era. According to Bloomberg, the 34-year-old became a billionaire seven months into the tour. She now joins the ranks of other billion-dollar musicians like Jay-Z and Rihanna and singer-actress Selena Gomez, but unlike them, Swift hasn’t invested in business outside of her music—at least, not yet.
But it’s not only Swift who has financially gained from the huge success of The Eras Tour. People reported she gave a mind-blowing $197 million in bonuses to her crew—from her band members and dancers to her physical therapists and caterers—over the run of the tour. This amount is on top of their salaries. God bless you even more, Ms. Swift!
152 concerts, 51 cities, 10 million concertgoers
For almost two years, Swift performed in over 150 shows across 51 cities in five continents and to over 10 million adoring fans.
The Eras Tour saw the multi-Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter traveling to almost all corners of the world, except Africa and, erm, Antarctica. Swift enthralled her devoted fans from the US to Mexico, Japan to Portugal, Singapore to Poland. She has traveled so much over the course of the tour that her regular travels in private jets have also invited scrutiny, with people pointing out the planet-warming emissions of carbon dioxide released with every flight.
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Among those 10 million concertgoers are notable personalities like Prince William and his kids, Canadian PM Trudeau and his family, Serena Williams, and a slew of Hollywood A-listers including Tom Cruise, Hugh Grant, Cameron Diaz, and a whole lot more (you may check this link for a more complete list).
What’s next for Taylor Swift?
It goes without saying that Swift is looking to end the year on a stratospheric high. The Eras Tour concludes just as she celebrates yet another win, with “The Tortured Poets Department” returning to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for a 16th week, which is by far the biggest-selling album of the year.
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She is also up for six awards at the Grammys in February, including album of the year for “Tortured Poets” and both record and song of the year for one of its singles, “Fortnight.”
More than the numbers combined, Taylor Swift’s many achievements cannot be quantified, her influence immeasurable and boundless. She’s still young, immensely talented and charming, and buoyed by a legion of the most devoted of fans. There’s so much left for her to achieve, records to break, and stadiums to conquer.
For now, we can only wait and wonder what her next era will be.
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