Ed Sheeran's concert tickets fell to $37 since Macklemore was dropped

Dubai: Tickets for Ed Sheeran's first concert since Macklemore was dropped from his US tour were selling for as little as $37 (Dh136) ahead of the show on Saturday evening, the BBC reported.

That's a fall of nearly two-thirds in five days. The show at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia was Sheeran's first since the row began, and he used it to address the controversy directly, telling the crowd he had made mistakes and apologising.

Prices slid steadily through the week. According to the ticket marketplace TickPick, the cheapest single ticket fell from $100 (Dh367) early on Tuesday to $51 (Dh187) by Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, the lowest listing on StubHub was $42 (Dh154), and by Saturday, the BBC found tickets going for $37.

Over the same period, the number of tickets available on TickPick rose by 54 per cent, as fans put their seats back on the market.

Prices had held up at first. Get-in tickets were still selling for as much as $120 (Dh441) in the days after Macklemore's remarks, with the sharpest drops coming once venues barred him from performing and Sheeran defended himself on social media.

Some fall in resale prices before a concert is normal, and trackers were careful to say so.

TicketData, which monitors resale markets, said prices for the tour's 17 earlier shows had fallen by 22 per cent in the fortnight before each concert. But a company representative said the Philadelphia decline was clearly pushing the edge of what you'd normally expect.

The slump isn't limited to one city. TicketData found resale prices had fallen for nine of the 10 remaining US dates, by up to 45 per cent, with get-in prices ranging from $74 to $426, roughly Dh272 to Dh1,564. Demand for Macklemore, meanwhile, has risen.

Some ticket holders say the decision is a matter of principle.

In Boston, where Sheeran is due to play Gillette Stadium, one fan who had bought tickets to see Macklemore open said she was reselling hers in support of the rapper and the Palestinian people. "Art has always been political and some of our most memorable artists have stood up for what they believed in," Michelle Smith told broadcaster WBZ.

A local ticket reseller said sales had dropped off so far that his company had stopped buying. "I don't have any faith in the show," John Higgins said.

Macklemore said "Free Palestine" and performed his song Hind's Hall while opening for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.

He was later removed from the tour. Sheeran has said the decision was made by the promoter, not him. Macklemore has alleged that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft pressured stadium owners to have him removed, citing his remarks and what was described as a history of antisemitism.

Every other support act, Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Irish band Beoga, then pulled out in solidarity. Macklemore has since pledged to donate $1 million (Dh3.67 million) from the tour.

Sheeran opened the concert with a speech rather than a song, apologising to fans and saying he could no longer stay silent on what he called a humanitarian issue. He described the 7 October attacks in Israel as horrific and said what is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and disproportionate.

He also revealed he had removed the stadium's B-stage over concerns about what might be thrown at him, and introduced a new group of musicians assembled in three days to replace Beoga.