As any Swiftie (or internet-using individual in the year 2024) will tell you, securing tickets to see Taylor Swift on “The Eras Tour” is no easy feat. As the record-shattering global trek continues, fans have an additional snag to consider; this month, Swift updated the setlist for “The Eras Tour” with new cuts from her most recent LP, The Tortured Poets Department, meaning even those who caught the first leg of the tour stateside are now facing down some serious FOMO.
For many Swifties, waiting for the tour to resume stateside in the fall is not a solution, thanks to exorbitant pricing on the secondhand ticket market — the laws of supply and demand are in full swing. For those who have the means, the more economical option just might be flying across the ocean to see “The Eras Tour” on its current leg through Europe and the UK.
While it might be a bit of an eyebrow-raising strategy on first glance, members of the Beyhive laid some groundwork during Beyoncé’s “RENAISSANCE Tour,” and numbers compiled from viagogo are encouraging. Consider the stop in Stockholm, Sweden this coming weekend, where, as of May 15th, the cheapest ticket for “The Eras Tour” landed at $70 USD, with the more coveted seats up front ranging from $190 – $300. Compare that to the October “Eras Tour” stop in Miami, Florida, where the cheapest ticket in the entire Hard Rock Stadium sits at a whopping $2,248.
The numbers are similar across Europe and the UK — tickets in Madrid, Spain are available for as low as $180, while Warsaw, Poland’s cheapest seat is currently $270. Sure, these costs don’t account for travel and accommodations, but they feel astronomically more manageable when compared to the shows in New Orleans and Indianapolis this fall, where the least expensive nosebleed seats are going for $1665 and $2080, respectively. For those who don’t live in those cities, travel and accommodations costs would still be remaining on top of that ticket cost. (That’s not to mention travel promotions to take advantage of; Booking.com, for example, offers up to 15% off of on travel and lodging.)
Tickets for “The Eras Tour” in the US caused such a frenzy that an antitrust panel reached the Senate, and fans attempted to sue Ticketmaster. By contrast, in Poland, for-profit ticket resale is outright banned.
Two years ago, the European Parliament passed the Digital Services Act, which included specific regulations around sale and resale of concert and event tickets. While this legislation didn’t fully eliminate the possibility of making a profit in a resale transaction (as some countries like Poland went on to prohibit), increased transparency has moved to decrease scams and make ticket buying safer and easier for consumers.
Meanwhile, “The Eras Tour” has already become the first tour to generate a billion dollars in ticket sales — and that threshold was crossed last year, long before the trek resumed here in 2024. Baby, the games have only just begun.
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