Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to be a boon for the secondary market

Jess Jones

TICKETS for Taylor Swift’s European tour are set to go on sale this week, with predictions of sky-high prices on the secondary market.

The star’s highly anticipated “Eras Tour” is expected to make a significant impact as it heads to Europe, with projections it will become the highestgrossing tour of all time, surpassing $1.5bn (£1.17bn) in box office takings. As tickets go on pre-sale for European dates this week, demand is expected to far exceed supply, leading to long virtual queues and, later on, a subsequent surge in resale prices on platforms like Viagogo.

Boss of Viagogo, Cris Millar, has said it is “unlike anything” he has ever seen. He believes lessons must be learned from the US leg of the tour, after it experienced overwhelming demand, resulting in website crashes, long wait times, and a cancelled public sale.

“We believe the industry must do more to put fans first,” Millar said.

Fans and lawmakers expressed outrage, calling for increased competition in the ticketing industry and a reevaluation of the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger.

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is already on track to earn a cool $1bn (£779m) in sales, potentially making it the highestgrossing tour in history, overtaking Elton John’s farewell tour.

However, with additional concerts and global dates, industry experts at concert data tracker Pollstar suggest that the total gross revenue could reach $1.4bn (£1.1bn).

The high prices charged by secondary markets will no doubt come under scrutiny from politicians and others.

The ‘Love story’ and ‘Shake it off’ singer’s next live show has become one of the most coveted tickets of the year as devoted fans, known as ‘Swifties’, have already endured hourslong virtual queues just for a chance to secure tickets to her shows.

The stakes are high for the 33-year-old’s return to European stages, as this marks her first tour in the region since 2018 before the pandemic disrupted live events.

Last year, Swift’s ‘Midnights’ album propelled her to the top of Forbes’ list as the highest-paid female entertainer globally, as she pocketed a jammy $92m (£72m).

AYLOR SWIFT’s Eras tour is expected to be the highest grossing of all time. She’s bigger than The Beatles. Demand will far outstrip supply when tickets are released, with millions of people joining virtual queues for hours on end, themselves doing little for worker productivity.

As the world’s leading ticket marketplace, we anticipate large numbers of tickets will then be listed for resale on our Viagogo platform. Sellers, who set the price they’re looking for, will likely pitch high values at this peak moment for the hottest ticket in recent times.

But in a market, prices change and often reduce over time. We recommend fans wait for demand to settle and see if a listing meets their budget.

The lack of information quickly becomes the greatest contributor to the ticket buying hysteria.

We believe the industry must do more to put fans first.

Fans Need Flexibility

Often we don’t know how many dates an artist might add, the number of tickets actually available to the public in the first place, and when and how they will be released. Event-goers need more transparency from the businesses in control.

No fan should ever have to reach into a black market alleyway. It should be our collective responsibility to provide safe options to attend The Eras Tour, with the flexibility to purchase on a platform that you choose and trust.

Fans also need to be given the flexibility to let another Swiftie attend and not be out of pocket if their plans change. We try to provide a regulated and compliant platform for legitimate exchange to take place.

The record-breaking US leg of Swift’s tour highlighted these lessons. We’ll be doing everything in our power to make sure it’s not a Cruel Summer for Swifties in the UK and the world.