A $2bn juggernaut: Taylor Swift wraps up Eras Tour

After 149 shows, five continents, upwards of 10 million attendees and an unprecedented box office gross, Taylor Swift’s epoch-defining The Eras Tour has come to an end.

Produced by Taylor Swift Touring and promoted by AEG Presents and Messina Touring Group, the 21-month global trek launched in the US in March 2023 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona and wrapped up last night (8 December) at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada.

Citing data from the singer’s production company, the New York Times reports the outing attracted 10,168,008 fans, bringing in an astronomical US$2,077,618,725 (€1.96 billion) in ticket sales, setting a new bar for an international concert tour. Merchandise is also estimated to have generated an additional $400 million (€378m).

“We have toured the entire world,” Swift told the 60,000-strong Vancouver crowd. “We have had so many adventures. It has been the most exciting, powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.

“We’ve got to perform for over 10 million people on this tour. I want to thank every single one of you for being a part of the most thrilling chapter of my entire life to date – my beloved Eras Tour.”

Eras last year became the first tour in history to surpass $1bn in revenue, wrestling the top-grossing crown from Elton John’s 2018-23 Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour, which ended with a $939.1m haul, as per Billboard Boxscore.

Swift’s record is likely to stand considerably longer, with its nearest contender – Coldplay’s ongoing Music of the Spheres World Tour – up to $1.14bn at last count – although Coldplay lead the way in terms of overall attendance (10.3m).

“You’re talking about a genuine global superstar at the peak point of their career”

Eras has never failed to garner headlines ever since its controversial 2022 US presale, which saw a record 2.4m tickets shifted in a single day, while three Austrian dates were cancelled in August this year due to a terror threat.

The tour format featured a setlist of around 45 songs split into 10 acts representing each of Swift’s studio albums. The average ticket price was $204, with the economic benefits of staging an Eras residency for host cities even earning its own term – “Swiftonomics”.

IQ explored how Swift has captured the zeitgeist like no other artist in decades upon the conclusion of the tour’s European leg at London’s Wembley Stadium in August. The 34-year-old performed eight gigs at the London venue – more than any other city in the world.

“Essentially, you’re talking about a genuine global superstar at the peak point of their career,” Featured Artists Coalition CEO David Martin told IQ. “We’ve seen similar cultural phenomenon before with the likes of Michael Jackson, Coldplay and Beyoncé. Taylor Swift is the most popular artist in the world right now, and the level of demand and hyperbole surrounding the Eras tour is completely detached from the rest of the live music market.”

The Wembley run confirmed her as the biggest-selling female artist to ever perform at England’s national stadium, in addition to setting a new bar for the longest residency of a solo artist at Wembley and equalling the overall record set by Take That’s 2011 Progress Live.

“She has become multi-generational, appealing to fans of hers from her earlier eras, to younger fans who have discovered her music in recent years,” ” added International Artist Group’s Jarred Arfa.

Meanwhile, the 2023 concert film Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour earned $261.7m globally, according to Box Office Mojo, becoming the highest-grossing concert/documentary film in box office history.

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