An average of 44,383 hotel rooms were occupied each night on Friday and Saturday in the city, an all-time high, according to Choose Chicago, the citys marketing organization. Occupancy rates hit 96.8% on average as fans flocked from other parts of the US to attend one of the singers three concerts in Chicago. Visitors were also in town for the American Society of Clinical Oncologys annual meeting.

Taylor Swifts sold-out concerts, layered on top of one of our largest annual conventions, combined to become the most successful weekend for Chicago hotels in recent history, Michael Jacobson, president of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, said in an emailed statement. These numbers come as indisputable evidence of the importance of major events and conventions to the citys economy.

Outsize demand for Taylor Swift tickets has helped boost local economies across the nation. Two Las Vegas concerts brought tourism back to pre-Covid levels in March, and cities from Atlanta to Boston have also seen a spike in hotel and restaurant bookings when they welcomed the Eras Tour.

Fans have spent more than $1,300 on average in categories including tickets, travel and clothing in order to attend the tour, according to a new survey from research company QuestionPro. The firm estimates that if concert-goers continue spending at this rate, the Eras Tour could generate $4.6 billion in consumer spending in the US alone.

The frenzy is helping Swift book between $11 million and $12 million in ticket sales per concert, Bloomberg News reported, noting shes making more than $10 million per event.

MLS has for many years been recruiting aging talent from big European clubs, but the Saudi interest is new. Benzemas move to Al-Ittihad costing more than $200 million follows the acquisition of Cristiano Ronaldo by fellow Saudi club Al Nassr in 2022 for $100 million.

The Benzema announcement on June 6, 2023, furthered speculation that the kingdom is attempting to build a soccer league that will be competitive with Europes elite: the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain, Germanys Bundesliga and Serie A in Italy.

Although it seems unlikely that the Saudi Pro League will make any dent in the popularity of those established European leagues any time soon, the trend of big-name signings may be the detriment of smaller leagues chief among them MLS which will struggle to compete with the power of the Saudi sporting purse.

A game of money and image laundering

Confirmation of the Benzema move came on the same day that LIV Golf, funded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, announced its merger with the PGA prompting comments about sportswashing, the use of investment in sports to launder the image of Saudi Arabias repressive, brutal and authoritarian regime.

However, there is one important difference between the Benzema story and LIV Golf. Saudi Arabians in particular and the Arab peoples of the Middle East in general have never shown much interest in golf. It was brought to the region by well-to-do British and American expats, and took hold only among local elites.

Golf Saudi was created in 2018 and launched an ambitious mass participation program as part of the kingdoms Vision 2030 project, precisely because few Saudis played the game.

The same cannot be said of soccer. The game is beloved across the Arab world, and as soccer writer Simon Kuper and I wrote in Soccernomics, the nations of the Middle East would have produced competitive international teams long ago were it not for the regions long-standing political instability. Some observers have described soccer as the second religion of the Arab world.

Oldies but goodies

The strategy of buying aging stars from European leagues to promote interest in an emerging soccer nation is a long-standing tradition.

In the 2016-17 season, China made waves when it started spending large sums in the transfer market to attract luminaries such as former Manchester United star Carlos Tevez and the Brazilian midfielder Oscar. The Australian A-League brought in players like Liverpools Robbie Fowler and Brazils Juninho in its early years, while Japans J.League launched in 1993 with aging World Cup legends Zico and Gary Lineker.

But the greatest examples of this strategy come from the United States. Back in the 1970s, the North American Soccer League assembled what may be the greatest collection of international stars ever to play outside of Europe or South America. Pelé, Johann Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, George Best and Bobby Moore sporting legends in their home countries all played in the league. But it was not enough to save the NASL from collapse in 1984.

Its successor, MLS, launched in 1996 with the intention of avoiding some of the high spending associated with NASL. And in the early years, the league resisted the temptation of bringing in big European stars. But having almost folded in the early 2000s, the league changed course spectacularly with the signing of David Beckham for LA Galaxy in 2007 at the peak of the soccer stars celebrity if not soccer power.

There followed a steady stream of aging international stars entering the league: Italian Alessandro Nesta in 2012, former Chelsea star Didier Drogba and Spains David Villa in 2015, English midfielders Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in 2016, and strikers Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2018.

David Beckham graduated from player to owner with the addition of the Inter Miami franchise in 2020, and there had long been rumors that he was working to secure the addition of Messi to the MLS roster. Messis agreement is a triumph both for Beckham and MLS, but it doesnt remove the Saudis as a competitor in the long term and may push up the costs involved for all.

Will the Saudis pop the MLS bubble?

Since Beckhams arrival as a player, MLS has flourished. In 2007 the league consisted of only 13 franchises, with the newly added Toronto FC paying a $10 million expansion fee to join. In May 2023, it was announced that San Diego would become the 30th MLS franchise, for a reported fee of $500 million. According to Forbes, the average value of an MLS franchise is currently $579 million.

This is remarkable, since for that price you could buy almost any soccer club in Europe outside of the top 20. Forbes also reckons that no fewer than seven of the 30 most valuable soccer clubs in the world are in MLS.

Its also remarkable because the standard of play in MLS is not that high, compared with what is offered in Europe. Statistical research by me and others has shown that in soccer, you get what you pay for to the point where the overall team payrolls generate reliable forecasts of long-term results.

The website Transfermarkt provides summary valuation of league squads, and currently values MLS players at $1.3 billion, compared with $11.3 billion for the English Premier League, $5.1 billion for La Liga, $4.9 billion for Serie A and $4.6 billion for the Bundesliga. The squad valuations for MLS are closer to those of the Belgian Jupiler League.

The valuation of MLS franchises is not based on the quality of the play, but on the prospects for growth if soccer becomes a mainstream spectator sport in the United States. MLSs die-hard supporters are a forgiving lot but represent a tiny fraction of the U.S. sports market. Eventually, I believe MLS is going to have to field better players to continue its ascent and that means competing in the international market.

The worry for MLS is that it now has a new competitor for the best aging players: Saudi Arabia. MLS wanted Ronaldo and it wanted Benzema too. Inter Miami and MLS have Messi, but they had to overcome competition from Saudi team Al Hilal.

The Messi move is a great coup for MLS. But the emergence of the Saudis as competitors suggests that future opportunities will be diminished, and that the league will have to pay more for the stars it can attract.

Stefan Szymanski is Professor of Sport Management, University of Michigan.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

We asked Chris Migliaccio, a toxicologist at the University of Montana who studies the impact of wildfire smoke on human health, about the health risks people can face when smoke blows in from distant wildfires.

Whats in wildfire smoke thats a problem?

When we talk about air quality, we often talk about PM2.5. Thats particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller small enough that it can travel deep into the lungs.

Exposure to PM2.5 from smoke or other air pollution, such as vehicle emissions, can exacerbate health conditions like asthma and reduce lung function in ways that can worsen existing respiratory problems and even heart disease.

But the term PM2.5 only tells you about size, not composition what is burning can make a significant difference in the chemistry.

In the northern Rockies, where I live, most fires are fueled by vegetation, but not all vegetation is the same. If the fire is in the wildland urban interface, manufactured fuels from homes and vehicles may also be burning, and thats going to create its own toxic chemistry, as well. Chemists often talk about volatile organic compounds, (VOCs), carbon monoxide and PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons produced when biomass and other matter burns having the potential to harm human health.

How does inhaling wildfire smoke harm human health?

If you have ever been around a campfire and got a blast of smoke in your face, you probably had some irritation. With exposure to wildfire smoke, you might get some irritation in the nose and throat and maybe some inflammation. If youre healthy, your body for the most part will be able to handle it.

As with a lot of things, the dose makes the poison almost anything can be harmful at a certain dose.

Generally, cells in the lungs called alveolar macrophages will pick up the particulates and clear them out at reasonable doses. Its when the system gets overwhelmed that you can have a problem.

One concern is that smoke can suppress macrophage function, altering it enough that you become more susceptible to respiratory infection. A colleague who looked at lag time in the effect of wildfire smoke exposure found an increase in influenza cases after a bad fire season. Studies in developing countries have also found increases in respiratory infections with people who are cooking on open fires in homes.

The stress of an inflammatory response can also exacerbate existing health problems. Being exposed to wood smoke wont independently cause someone to have a heart attack, but if they have underlying risk factors, such as significant plaque buildup, the added stress can increase the risk.

Researchers are also studying potential effects on the brain and nervous system from inhaled particulate matter.

When smoke blows over long distances, does its toxicity change?

We know that the chemistry of wildfire smoke changes. The longer its in the atmosphere, the more the chemistry will be altered by ultraviolet light, but we still have a lot to learn.

Researchers have found that there seems to be a higher level of oxidation, so oxidants and free radicals are being generated the longer smoke is in the air. The specific health effects arent yet clear, but theres some indication that more exposure leads to greater health effects.

The supposition is that more free radicals are generated the longer smoke is exposed to UV light, so theres a greater potential for health harm. A lot of that, again, comes down to dose.

Chances are, if youre a healthy individual, going for a bike ride or a hike in light haze wont be a big deal, and your body will be able to recover.

If youre doing that every day for a month in wildfire smoke, however, that raises more concerns. Ive worked on studies with residents at Seeley Lake in Montana who were exposed to hazardous levels of PM2.5 from wildfire smoke for 49 days in 2017. We found a decrease in lung function a year later. No one was on oxygen, but there was a significant drop.

This is a relatively new area of research, and theres still a lot were learning, especially with the increase in wildfire activity as the planet warms.

What precautions can people take to reduce their risk from wildfire smoke?

If there is smoke in the air, you want to decrease your exposure.

Can you completely avoid the smoke? Not unless youre in a hermetically sealed home. The PM levels arent much different indoors and out unless you have a really good HVAC system, such as those with MERV 15 or better filters. But going inside decreases your activity, so your breathing rate is slower and the amount of smoke youre inhaling is likely lower.

We also tend to advise people that if youre in a susceptible group, such as those with asthma, create a safe space at home and in the office with a high-level stand-alone air filtration system to create a space with cleaner air.

Some masks can help. It doesnt hurt to have a high-quality N95 mask. Just wearing a cloth mask wont do much, though.

Most states have air quality monitors that can give you a sense of how bad the air quality is, so check those sites and act accordingly.

Christopher T. Migliaccio is a Research Associate Professor in Toxicology at the University of Montana