Aussie Swifties spent $126 million on tickets but slugged their bosses more in productivity losses

The true cost of Swifties snapping up tickets for Taylor Swift’s Aussie concert has been revealed. Here’s how the ticket frenzy affected the country’s economy.

Australian Swifties spent a whopping $126 million on The Eras Tour tickets last week but all that waiting online slugged our economy more than $217 million in productivity losses.

Some fans, particularly those interstate who are facing exorbitant flight and hotel fees, may have been better off trying to score a seat at one of her Singapore concerts.

An analysis of how many Eras Tour tickets are available internationally for the epic shows found Singaporeans had the best odds with 5.5 tickets available per 100 people for her six concerts there after the Australian leg.

According to the Look What You Made Me Spend research by economics advisory firm Mandala, Swift offered 2.3 tickets per 100 people in Australia, the third most in the world behind Singapore and Ireland.

Swift generated about $126 million in ticket sales in Australia last week. Picture: Getty.

“For those who got a ticket – it’s priceless. But for those exasperated by the queue who didn’t manage to grab tickets, it’s another big fail of a frustrating ticketing system,” said Mandala managing partner Amit Singh.

“And maybe the costs of a flight to Singapore to catch a show there!”

While Swift’s tour is estimated to have an economic benefit of more than $36 million in NSW alone when the tour hits Australia next February, bosses would not be happy with the productivity cost as people spent hours online over the three days of Era Tour ticket sales last week.

Ticketing queues cost the Australian economy more than $200 million in lost productivity. Picture: NCA NewsWire.

Mandala found there was at least $217 million lost in productivity costs last week, based on a conservative estimate of four million hopeful fans spending an hour in the ticket queue hellscape.

Of course most reported spending far more than 60 minutes in the Ticketek “lounge” desperately hoping to reach a successful checkout.

The Australian Swifties cash splash will help keep the Eras Tour on track to become the highest grossing world tour in history, with a projected $1.5 billion in box office takings by the time she wraps in London in August 2024.

For every $1,000 spent by Australians in this financial quarter, 40 cents went to Swift shows.

The average non-VIP ticket price for the seven Sydney and Melbourne shows was calculated to cost $213.

Originally published as Aussie Swifties spent $126 million on tickets but slugged their bosses more in productivity losses