Taylor Swift Could Cause This Sports Event to Sell Out

Benjamin SnyderBy Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor

Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

Taylor Swift '1989' World Tour - Sydney
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 28: Taylor Swift performs during her '1989' World Tour at ANZ Stadium on November 28, 2015 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Photograph by Mark Metcalfe—Getty Images

Taylor Swift is bringing her pop supernova appeal to a U.S. racing event.

Swift is slated to headline the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix taking place in Austin, Texas on Saturday, Oct. 22, according to the BBC.

Landing the 10-time Grammy winner is expected to be a huge boon to the racing event, which was reportedly in danger of being cancelled after Texas announced funding cuts of 20%, the publication noted.

“How do we expand our audience? That’s what this headliner does,” Circuit of the Americas chairman Bobby Epstein told the BBC.

“In the past we have chosen headliners that are a great match with our existing demographic,” added Epstein. “But I don’t need our existing demographic alone. We need the future.”

“We think we will sell every ticket that we have got and it is because of the combination of both Formula 1 and Taylor Swift,” he said.

In 2015, Swift, who has transcended the typical pop star role, was dubbed one of Fortune’s World’s Greatest Leaders and named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list.