Why is Taylor Swift crowd behaviour so different to sport? Expert says it’s due to ‘positivity and unity’

Victoria Police made no arrests despite huge crowds at Taylor Swift’s Melbourne shows, which an expert believes is due to the extreme positivity and unity Swift creates.

Officers thanked the 288,000 “fellow Swifties that traded friendship bracelets” after three incident-free shows, which is different to the usual police response during and after most sporting matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Last year’s Collingwood v Brisbane AFL grand final attracted a crowd of 100,024 to the MCG and 17 people were evicted from the stadium by police.

In 2019 after Richmond’s AFL grand final win, dozens of fans were arrested, including one man who was charged for biting a police officer’s head.

Social media videos showed flares being lit and brawls breaking out, forcing police to intervene.
Police called out disappointing behaviour after the Melbourne Cup in 2017 that resulted in 17 arrests for assault, offensive behaviour and being drunk in a public place.

Unifying the crowd’
University of New South Wales (UNSW) crowd safety expert Milad Haghani said Swift’s concert was about 70 per cent women and young girls, which was a contrast to sporting events where the crowd was predominately men.

“Men in many contexts, including on the roads in terms of road safety and crowded environments in terms of crowd safety, they do have a tendency to do more risky behaviour,” Haghani said.
“Another factor is the voice and the tone that the artist stands for and represents,” he said.
“So the crowd not only was jubilant in this case but also extremely unified.”