Taylor Swift fans queue outside Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 6, 2024. Her fans, referred to as Swifties, had made the superstar $200 million in Eras merchandise sales as of November 2023.
Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The worth of ‘funflation’
Some ticket prices have surged in recent months, in accordance with federal data.
Admission prices for sporting events jumped 21.7% in May 2024 from a yr earlier, in accordance with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index data. The category saw the highest annualized inflation rate out of the few hundred that make up the inflation gauge. Admission to movies, theaters, and live shows rose a comparatively modest 3% on an annualized basis.
The CPI as a complete was up 3.3% in May from a yr ago. The index gauges how briskly prices are changing across the U.S. economy. It measures every little thing from haircuts to household appliances.
Why Americans go all out on entertainment
Despite rising costs, 38% of adults said they plan to tackle more debt to travel, dine out and see live entertainment within the months ahead, in accordance with a report by Bankrate.
Meanwhile, 27% of those surveyed said they might go into debt to travel this yr, while 14% would dip into the red to dine out and one other 13% would lean on credit to go to the theater, see a live sporting event or attend a concert — including the European leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, Bankrate found.
Taylor Swift performs on stage at Wembley Stadium in London on June 22, 2024.
Kevin Mazur | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
“There’s still a whole lot of demand for out-of-home entertainment,” Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, recently told CNBC.
“A few of that reflects a ‘you simply live once’ mentality that intensified in the course of the pandemic, and a few of that’s because many economic indicators — including GDP growth and the unemployment rate — are in favorable shape,” Rossman said.
Younger adults, particularly Generation Z and millennials, were more prone to splurge on those discretionary purchases, Bankrate found.
Although an increased cost of living has made it particularly hard for those just starting out, young adults are taking a more relaxed approach to their long-term financial security, other research shows.
Nearly two out of 5 Gen Z and millennial travelers have spent as much as $5,000 on tickets alone for destination live events, a recent study from Bread Financial found.
And plenty of say it’s well price it. Reasonably than cut expenses to spice up savings, 73% of Gen Zers between the ages of 18 and 25 said they might ultimately somewhat have a greater quality of life than more money within the bank, in accordance with one other Prosperity Index report by Intuit.Â
