Ed Sheeran ticket prices spectacularly drop after Macklemore controversy
Ed Sheeran has suffered another blow as ticket sales for his Loop Tour have taken a tumble amid the ongoing controversy over Macklemore.
New data has shown that the price of resale tickets has been steadily falling in recent days.
The tour has hit headlines in recent days, after Macklemore, who had been supporting Sheeran on the tour, announced that he’d been dropped from the remaining dates after he made an on-stage speech in which he stated ‘Free Palestine’.
In a statement, the US rapper said Sheeran had been left in a tough spot after Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft issued an ‘ultimatum’ about him performing there.
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Macklemore has since pledged to donate his fee from the tour, a cool $1 million, to six organisations that are ‘working directly to support’ people in Palestine.
Sheeran has since released his own statement, in which he said that the decision to boot Macklemore from the tour hadn’t been down to him and claimed it was the promoters who made the call.
The fallout from Macklemore’s removal has sent the tour into chaos, after all of Sheeran’s support acts announced they’d be dropping out.
Irish singer Aaron Rowe was the first to announce he was quitting the tour, swiftly followed by Finneas, Beoga and Danish pop band Lukas Graham.
Now, new figures from TicketData seen by TMZ, showed that the price for the Philadelphia date of the Loop Tour, which takes place this Saturday, has fallen 24 percent - from $126 to $96 - since Monday.
This reportedly has since tumbled further to 29 percent, according to a report from the Independent.
The numbers also show that resale prices have dipped 11 percent across the board over that same time period.
Speaking to TMZ, a TicketData spokesperson said: “Some softening in the run-up to the show is not atypical for this tour."
However, they said that what is seen at the Philadelphia show is ‘clearly pushing the edge of what you'd normally expect’.
"I think it's safe to say that any further decline today would be a strong sign that demand, and ticket prices, are falling by a newsworthy amount, at least for that show,” they said.
In a Facebook page dedicated to selling tickets for the tour, several people complained that shifting their tickets had become impossible.
According to the Independent, one hopeful-reseller said: “I don’t wanna go anymore but it doesn’t look like anyone actually buys the tickets posted here.”
Another questioned why it had become so difficult for them to sell them on.
The latest figures come Higs Tickets’ owner John Higgins told CBS that sales for the performance at Gillette Stadium, which is owned by Robert Kraft, had fallen drastically and that he fears the show may not even go ahead.
We had them in advance, we were anticipating the show to be very good," Higgins said.
"Luckily we sold them in advance because right now ticket sales have fallen way off."
He continued: "I don't have any faith in the show. I hope it does happen, but I'm not jumping into it now."
Topics: Music, Ed Sheeran, Money, US News
Claire Reid