‘Bigger for us than the Super Bowl’: Some American small business owners say the $2B Taylor Swift Eras Tour significantly improved their bottom lines. Was this really the people's tour?

The Eras effect

Throughout the tour, much has been said about Taylor Swift’s effect on local economies. Destination Toronto, for instance, estimated that her six sold-out shows in Toronto would bring $282 million into the local economy in 2024, with $152 million coming from spending on hotels, dining and other services.

Even for the shows held in 2023, The Washington Post reported that a survey by QuestionPro found concertgoers spent an average of $93 million per show total — not just on tickets, but on merchandise, travel, hotels, food and even carefully curated outfits.

As a result, $5.7 billion was generated in the U.S. alone because of that additional spending.

That spending extended to Susie Cakes in California where $50,000 worth of Swift-themed cupcakes were sold. And, according to the California Center for Jobs and the Economy, Swift’s shows had longer-term effects on the job market as a whole, including an estimated revenue increase capable of funding 3,300 new jobs in Los Angeles.

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The true cost of hosting

There’s no denying that major events like the Eras Tour bring significant benefits to local economies. With the amount of ticketholders that travelled to see a certain Swift show, you could even compare the tour to something more grand like the Olympics. However, the economic impact of big events like these are often overstated when weighed against the cost of hosting.

For example, Beijing’s 2008 Summer Olympics brought in $3.6 billion in revenue but cost over $40 billion. Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Games also generated $5.8 billion in revenue, falling short of the $13 billion it cost to host the event.

The Eras Tour, on the other hand, stands out. Unlike the Olympics, it didn’t demand expensive new infrastructure or massive public investment. Cities didn’t have to build new stadiums or upgrade transportation systems.

While some cities went all out with fanfare — putting up signage and even temporarily renaming one street “Taylor Swift Way” in Toronto, Canada — these are small-scale efforts that didn’t burden taxpayers with long-term financial burdens.

This relatively low-cost setup allowed cities to enjoy the economic boost from tourism, hospitality and local spending without the lingering costs of hosting a global event. Taken together, the Eras Tour was an example of a cultural movement that helped some local economies globally while avoiding the financial burden that can often overshadow large events.