Content creators are cashing in with live events

Forget Cowboy Carter or the Eras tour, the hottest ticket this year is for your favorite podcast.  

Content creator tours sold nearly 500% more tickets this year compared to 2024, according to StubHub, with Alex Cooper’s Unwell tour, Crime Junkie‘s podcast tour and Mel Robbins’s Let Them tour the highest in demand.

With ticket prices at nearly 40% less than traditional live events on average, it’s easy to see why. Going to a live concert is only getting more expensive, with many concertgoers sucking up the eye-popping prices and price gouging on resale sites rather than deal with the potential FOMO. 

The average price of tickets sold across all live entertainment in 2024 was $159. Taylor Swift’s Era’s tour cost fans an average of $1,088 per ticket in 2023, The New York Times reported. For the top six creator tours, it was just $99. 

Scheduling tour dates in locations often bypassed by mainstream artists, like Wyoming and Vermont, has also helped boost sales. During her own Eras tour, influencer Trisha Paytas paid visits to Tysons, Virginia and St. Louis. Meanwhile, TikTok star Jake Shane’s Therapuss cross-country tour stopped in places like Birmingham, Alabama and Athens, Georgia. 

“When we look at state-level consumption, Illinois has emerged as the creator economy’s biggest fanbase, purchasing 20% more tickets than any other market,” Adam Budelli, partnerships & business development lead at StubHub told Fast Company. 

“Texans are not only the largest single-state fanbase for female-hosted podcast content, but also show unique consumption patterns, with 7% more single-ticket buyers than California, despite having a smaller population,” he said.

Thanks to the boom in video podcasts, what started as an audio-only experience enjoyed alone, now has more in common with your traditional chat show. Nearly three-quarters of podcast consumers watch their podcasts, compared with about a quarter who listen only. 

“I think the biggest differentiator is that there are more opportunities for audiences who do attend to actually interact with the creators,” creator economy expert Lindsey Gamble told Fast Company. “Because being able to tour and bring people out in real life shows that they actually have a community and relationship with their followers or subscribers—enough where people are willing to dedicate their time and their dollars to see them in person.”

For creators, it can also be lucrative. As well as bringing in money through membership models and merch, with many podcasts typically over an hour long, a live show or tour is a natural extension of the existing format.

“We’re seeing fans who have built these deep, parasocial relationships with creators through podcasts and social media finally getting the chance to complete that connection in person,” Gamble says. “It’s different from a traditional concert where you’re watching a performance, where at creator events, fans feel like they’re hanging out with someone they already know intimately.”