Just ask Uber’s CEO.
“Uber definitely ups its game for Taylor when she comes to town,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a Wednesday interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Khosrowshahi said that not only do local Uber teams plan specifically for a higher volume of people calling for a ride during the concerts, but that extends to the surrounding hotels and areas as well.
Uber isn’t the only company to make note of the “Taylor Swift effect.” Bank of America recently released a research report that indicated Swift’s “Eras Tour” has a similar economic impact as the Super Bowl on the towns and cities that she visits.
The report highlighted cities like Pittsburgh, where average household spending in restaurants increased by $77 during the month of Swift’s concert. In Philadelphia, hotel revenue in the city reached the highest since the pandemic in May 2023, when Swift performed three shows.
Mastercard similarly released a report, coining the phrase, “The Swift Lift,” which described the boost in sales to local businesses that Swift brought with her “Eras Tour” performances.
The study indicated that within a 2.5-mile radius of the stadiums in cities that Swift visited, spending growth at restaurants increased by 68% per day, and spending growth at accommodations increased by 47%.
The NFL has also largely benefited from Swift’s success, with Kansas City Chiefs’ Travis Kelce gaining 2.5 million followers since his relationship with the songwriter went public. After Swift attended a Chief’s game in September, the team a nearly 400% increase in Kelce merchandise sales throughout Fanatics online sites.
During his annual pre-Superbowl press conference, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell referred to “the Swift effect” as a positive and said it attracted a new subset of younger fans and women this season.
CBS also announced that the Chiefs drew in its highest number of viewers with over 55 million viewers in the AFC Championship against the Ravens. The network also reported its highest playoff viewership in history during the Chiefs game against the Bills.
Not every company is happy with the Taylor Swift hype, however, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry said in October that consumer spending on Swift’s concerts may be lowering her company’s profits. Barry said that people seem to be more interested in spending their money on Swift tickets and ‘funflation’ experiences than big-ticket electronic goods.
While Uber sounds happy to plan ahead for any extra business tied to Swift’s touring schedule, Khosrowshahi indicated there may be a limit even to Swift’s potential impact on the bottom line.
“When you’re talking about billions of trips, we’re almost at 10 billion trips, you know Taylor Swift is a positive but it’s not enough to show in the overall trends,” he said, discussing Uber’s fourth-quarter earnings.
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