Seattle Culture
What Did the Eras Tour Mean for Seattle?
Taylor Swift’s sold-out shows brought millions to the city
By Sarah Stackhouse December 11, 2024
The Eras Tour is over.
Taylor Swift’s 21-month world tour came to a close last Sunday after six nights in Vancouver, B.C. Along the way, it added a staggering $4.3 billion to the U.S. GDP — a number on par with the Super Bowl and the Olympics. But Seattle had its own economic moment when Swift stopped at Lumen Field in July 2023.
Her two sold-out shows brought record-breaking revenue to downtown hotels, with $7.4 million reported for that weekend — $2 million more than the Major League Baseball All-Star Game earlier that month. Restaurants, bars, and shops also cashed in as tens of thousands of Swifties flooded the city, with Swift-themed menus and events popping up.
Friendship bracelets, a popular trend among fans during the Eras Tour, were so in demand that Beadworld in Maple Leaf nearly ran out of beads. Even the Space Needle posted a photo of an oversized friendship bracelet reading, “In My Seattle Era #SwiftNeedle.”
The weekend didn’t just break revenue records — it broke seismic ones too. The noise and movement during the concerts caused seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3-magnitude earthquake, dubbed the “Swift Quake.” The vibrations outpaced the 2011 “Beast Quake,” when former Seahawk Marshawn Lynch’s touchdown against the New Orleans Saints sent fans into a frenzy.
On Instagram, Swift shared her love for the Seattle shows, which included a surprise appearance from Haim and Gracie Abrams. “Seattle, that was genuinely one of my favorite weekends ever,” she wrote. “Thank you for everything. All the cheering, screaming, jumping, dancing, singing at the top of your lungs.” Eddie Vedder and Simu Liu were also spotted at Lumen Field that weekend.
The Eras Tour began in Arizona in March 2023 and included 149 shows across more than 50 cities on five continents. Each performance lasted more than three hours. Swift’s tour sold more than $2 billion in tickets — double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history.
While I didn’t attend the concert, my daughters and I are fans. When the Eras Tour concert video came out, we watched it together, and I couldn’t help but be impressed. Swift’s energy, her stage presence, and the fact that she performed for more than three hours each night are truly remarkable.
Looking ahead, Seattle will host six FIFA World Cup matches in 2026, projected to bring in nearly $929 million and create almost 21,000 jobs. Could FIFA World Cup matches rival the “Swift Quake” — or will fans start a new trend entirely?
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