Taylor Swift fans emerge from Rogers Centre after shopping for merchandise ahead of the opening night of Swift's Eras tour in Toronto, Wednesday. Just how big is the hype around Taylor Swift? Her swing through Toronto, set to begin Thursday, seems to be temporarily reshaping the city, with officials renaming Blue Jays Way to Taylor Swift Way for the duration of the musician's stay. Nov. 13, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
TORONTO – Just how big is the hype around Taylor Swift? Her swing through Toronto, set to begin Thursday, seems to be temporarily reshaping the city, with officials renaming Blue Jays Way to Taylor Swift Way for the duration of the musician’s stay. Streets near the Rogers Centre are being shut down and transit service is being increased.
With ticket prices that varied even when they first went on sale – and constantly fluctuating costs on the resale market – it can be hard to quantify the buzz surrounding the pop star, but there are some figures that can give us a sense of the frenzy.
Below, the Eras Tour’s stop in Toronto, by the numbers:
SIX nights of concerts over the course of two weeks. Swift is scheduled to take the stage on Nov. 14-16 and 21-23.
TEN “eras” of Swift’s career represented in the concert. Each era encompasses one of her albums, with the exception of the “Folklore/Evermore” era, which covers two.
FIFTY THOUSAND tickets estimated per concert at the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto.
SIXTY dollars for an official Taylor Swift T-shirt. Hoodies and crewnecks, meanwhile, cost $90 to $115, while accessories such as water bottles and tote bags cost $30.
TWO THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN DOLLARS seemed to be the cheapest ticket to Swift’s first Toronto date listed on resale platform StubHub the night before the show — a single seat with an obstructed view. And while prices were constantly fluctuating, some prime seats were listed for more than $10,000.
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUR reports of Swift ticket scams to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre as of Wednesday. Most reports came from people who lost money.
TWO-HUNDRED-EIGHTY-TWO MILLION dollars in economic activity expected in Toronto as a result of the concerts, according to Destination Toronto, a tourism industry group.
FIVE MILLION beads at Toronto’s Version: Taylgate ’24, the Swift-adjacent fan event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The craft store Michaels is the bead sponsor of the event.
THREE GO train lines with added service on concert nights. Metrolinx says it will add extra service on Lakeshore East and West lines both before and after concerts, while the Milton line will have extra trains running after the shows. The regional transit agency says it will also hold the last train of the night for up to an hour to accommodate the concert schedule on the Kitchener, Barrie and Stouffville lines, but it won’t add any extra service.
THIRTEEN locations on Destination Toronto’s Swiftie scavenger hunt, meant to encourage concertgoers to explore the city.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
