Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Ed Sheeran leave social and economic impacts on Santa Clara after performing at Levi’s Stadium.
In the past few months, Levi’s Stadium has become a popular place for famous artists to host concerts. Levi’s Stadium hosted two concerts for Taylor Swift back in July, one for Beyoncé just last month, and now in September, they’ve welcomed Ed Sheeran. Due to the amount of fans who bought tickets to see the three stars, there’s been an increase in the city’s economy as of late. But that’s not the only thing the music artists left behind; Taylor and Beyoncé were awarded the position as honorary mayors of Santa Clara during their visit to the city. While Beyoncé was presented with the key to the city, Santa Clara was briefly renamed to “Swiftie Clara” in honor of Taylor. These two musical sensations definitely left their mark on Santa Clara. The questions are; how did these artists contribute to our economy and did Ed Sheeran leave an impact of his own?
Taylor Swift was welcomed by Santa Clara for two nights on July 28th and 29th. This was not the first time Taylor performed at Levi’s; she performed there in 2015 as part of her 1989 World Tour and again in 2018 as part of her Reputation Tour. During the 1989 World Tour’s two night stop in Santa Clara, the concerts attracted a crowd of around 51,069 per night. Because of this tour, Silicon Valley received a $13,031,146 boost. As for the Reputation Tour, like it’s predecessor, Taylor played two nights at Levi’s. She drew in a crowd of around 53,775 people per night, boosting the economy with $14,006,963. The Eras Tour completely overshadowed these numbers, however, both with audience attendance and economically. As part of the Eras Tour, Taylor’s concerts welcomed around 58,000 people per night. As a result, Silicon Valley was presented with a $33,000,000 boost.
A month later, Beyoncé performed at Levi’s Stadium on August 30th. The Renaissance World Tour’s stop in Santa Clara received an audience of around 50,000 people. Beyoncé’s show gave Santa Clara a $15,402,846 boost. Like Taylor, this was not Beyoncé’s first show at Levi’s, as she had performed there in 2016 as part of the Formation World Tour and in 2018 as part of the On the Run II Tour. The Formation World Tour welcomed an audience of 44,252 people on the first night and presented an economic boost of $6,201,845. On her second appearance during the Formation World Tour (four months later), 44,015 people attended. Silicon Valley’s economy, as a result, was boosted by $4,898,690. The On the Run II Tour’s concert at Levi’s welcomed a total of 47,235 people and resulted in an economic boost of $7,548,208. And like Taylor, the Renaissance Tour presented Beyoncé with her largest audience at Levi’s.
Meanwhile, although Ed Sheeran was not awarded the position of honorary mayor of Santa Clara, he too left his own impact behind. Ed Sheeran broke the attendance record at Levi’s Stadium with 80,000 people in attendance to see his show on September 16th. This number engulfed both Beyoncé and Taylor Swift’s audiences, and unlike the two female artists, Sheeran had never performed at Levi’s. It’s impressive that he managed to break the attendance record on his first night performing at the venue.
Ed Sheeran is one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide. Because he debuted in 2011, Sheeran’s fans tend to be older, ranging from late twenties to early thirties. Age doesn’t mean they’re any less devoted to the artist, however. Fans came from all over Western America to see his concert at Levi’s. There were fans who came from Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, and more. There’s no doubt that even as they get older, Ed Sheeran’s fandom will still live on.
These three artists definitely left their own impacts on Santa Clara for this past summer. One can only imagine what next summer will bring.
