Singer Taylor Swift is in the midst of a world tour that could smash every record in the book.
Swift‘s tour includes visits to 106 global shows across America, South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
While the popular entertainer’s financial team hasn’t released nightly concert grosses, an analysis of the tour’s financials by The Wall Street Journal estimates Swift’s “Eras Tour” could rake in a cool $1 billion when it ends on August 16-17, 2024, with two shows at Wembley Stadium in London.
The current record for the top-grossing concert tour is Elton John and his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour,” which ends this year. Gross receipts estimate the tour’s gross earnings stand at $887 million, with only seven gigs left before John ends the tour in Stockholm, Sweden on July 8.
The analysis cites higher ticket prices as the biggest reason the Swift Eras Tour is stacking so much cash. Tickets for Swift’s upcoming Kansas City, MO Show on July 8 clock in at $1,282.00 each for Section 106 seats on StubHub – and those seats are basically behind the stage.
Meanwhile, floor seats at the Kansas City show are going for more than $3,500 on StubHub. On the low end of the scale, so-called “skyscraper” tickets in the highest arena seating charts can be had for a significantly lower price of $215 or $225 per ticket.
(It’s worth noting that third-party ticket sales include fees that go to the ticket seller and not to the artist. Those numbers aren’t included in Swift’s ticket sales.)
Even so, demand for Swift tickets is sky-high as big concert shows represent a “bucket list” vibe among live music consumers.
If American ticket sales for the Eras Tour hold steady (they’re typically much higher than abroad, ticket cost-wise), then the tour has a real shot at hitting the $1 billion mark.
Swift’s not there yet, as the analysis also points to profit variables from the tour’s various revenue streams, including ticket sales, merchandise, the tour’s partnership with Capital One, and the money earned on Swift’s songbook during the tour period. Shortfalls in any one area could threaten the singer’s ascendency to concert tour history.
Yet the fact that concert industry insiders are talking about the $1 billion figure at all shows how Taylor Swift is in uncharted territory right now.
After all, who’s going to bet against her?
