Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s tour is having ripple effects on the ticket market. <\/p>\n
Ticket prices for an upcoming Macklemore performance are climbing after the rapper was dropped from the remainder of Sheeran’s Loop tour<\/a> for making pro-Palestine comments onstage earlier this month. Meanwhile, secondary market prices for the remainder of Sheeran’s concerts have dipped. <\/p>\n Resale prices for Macklemore’s October concert at Red Rocks in Colorado are increasing this week, even though the performance was announced in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The get-in price [or the price for the cheapest available ticket] for that show is up 45% in the past 3 days, from $108 to $157,” Keith Pagello, founder of price tracking company TicketData, said in a statement to CNBC on Thursday. “That’s a surge we can say with confidence would not have happened absent this week’s events.” <\/p>\n Macklemore said on social media<\/a> on Monday that he was removed from the tour after stadium owners threatened to cancel shows following his pro-Palestinian remarks during a performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sept. 4. He announced on Thursday that he will donate his $1 million in earnings<\/a> from the tour to Palestinian aid organizations.<\/p>\n All of Sheeran’s other supporting acts, Finneas<\/a>,\u00a0Aaron Rowe<\/a>,\u00a0Beoga<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Lukas Graham<\/a>, said they would leave the tour after Macklemore’s removal. It is unclear who will replace the performers. <\/p>\n Following the Macklemore headlines, ticket prices for Sheeran’s tour have decreased at nine of the ten remaining venues, according to TicketData<\/a> which aggregates statistics from platforms including SeatGeek, Vivid Seats<\/a>, Gametime, and StubHub<\/a>. <\/p>\n However, Pagello said the drops are normal and may not be related to the controversy.<\/p>\n “Across the whole universe of concerts, more shows decline in price as the date approaches than rise,” Pagello said. <\/p>\n Ticket prices to Sheeran’s North American concerts this summer dropped by an average of 22% in the final two weeks leading up to the show, according to Pagello.<\/p>\n Pagello sees the amount of ticket resales to Sheeran’s upcoming concerts as more significant. <\/p>\n “There has been a clear uptick in resale volume: since Monday, tickets have been selling at a slight to moderately increased pace compared to earlier tour stops at the same distance out, even with prices trending down,” Pagello said.<\/p>\n While more tickets are changing hands, it’s unclear how much of the trend relates to opposition to Sheeran, support of him or other factors.<\/p>\n Sheeran maintained that Macklemore’s removal was the promoter’s decision and not his own in an Instagram post<\/a> Wednesday. He also justified his decision to not speak publicly about his personal beliefs.<\/p>\n “I have always used my platform and music to bring people from all backgrounds and cultures together and this won’t ever change,” he wrote<\/a>. “There is a reason I do not use my professional platform for politics \u2013 my audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds. Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum.” <\/p>\n The concert promoting Sheeran’s eighth album “Play” kicked off late last year in New Zealand. The February leg in Australia was the high-grossing tour in the world that month, bringing in $70.8 million, according to Billboard<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Sheeran has historically led some of the biggest tours in the world. His most recent tour, which wrapped last year, grossed $875.7 million and sold 8.8 million tickets, according to Billboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n