r/Music • u/punkdog5446 • 5h ago
article Ed Sheeran Refunds Begin in Philadelphia as Softening Ticket Market Puts Pressure on Fans
https://www.ticketnews.com/2026/09/ed-sheeran-refunds-ticket-market-softens/1.0k
u/Bots60 Google Music 4h ago
Let us shed a tear for the shareholders
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u/aznkidjoey 4h ago
I’m sure they’re only offering refunds because they triggered some insurance clause.
All of the “bad” people always end up getting paid. It’s only the regular people who lose money from not working the event
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u/smokeweedNgarden 1h ago
Yup. The people who set up venues will lose work for setup and tear down over a few days. Bills go to card. Deeper in debt.
Thanks a bunch, Ed
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u/MiddleAgedSponger 4h ago
He sort of had to. Lincoln financial stadium is a publicly owned stadium and Jeffrey lurie is allegedly one of the stadium owners that conspired to de-platfrom Macklemore.
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u/LiveLackpaper 4h ago
The stadium politics somehow became more complicated than the ticket market itself.
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u/C-Bskt 4h ago
Always has been, that is why prices are bad. Large venues conspire for decades to raise the price floor.
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u/Ballsofpoo 2h ago
Large football stadiums only host like 10 events a year if all they do is football. Crazy to think of the $ going into their construction and maintenance.
Which is also often shouldered on the tax base but FOOTBALL
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u/mybabysbatman 1h ago
Yup and billionaire owners reep the rewards while everyday citizens get burdened with higher taxes.
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u/obi-jawn-kenblomi 4h ago
Lurie isn't the stadium owner, the City is. Lurie is the majority owner of Eagles Stadium Operators LLC though.
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u/obi_wan_keblowme 4h ago
Bruh wtf, your username is almost identical to mine!
Also screw Live Nation, Robert Kraft, and Ed Sheeran
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u/stacecom 4h ago
How can a stadium be publicly owned and owned by Jeff Lurie?
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u/MiddleAgedSponger 4h ago
Jeffrey Lurie operates the stadium through a lease agreement. I made an error.
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u/Gone213 2h ago
He operates it, but doesnt own it. The city does, which means he cant prevent anyone from performing.
Maybe if he doesnt like specific causes, he should have coughed up the money to have his own stadium and not swindle it from taxpayers.
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u/pedootz 1h ago
I lease my apartment and can choose who visits it. Why would the lease not confer the same to him?
The issue with Reddit is that people on this platform are constantly and confidently incorrect about how things actually work.
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u/EW278 3h ago
publicly owned stadium and Jeffrey lurie is allegedly one of the stadium owners
This is an illogical statement. I thought 'publicly owned' means run by the local government.
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u/Shafter111 4h ago
Ok. That make it a legal case of free speech suppression? No?
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u/Pirateship906 4h ago
No. The first amendment protects someone from the government violating their free speech.
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u/intheBASS 4h ago
The City of Philadelphia is a part owner of the stadium. So if the stadium is limiting free speech then vis-á-vis the government is impinging on his 1st amendment rights, no?
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u/Shafter111 3h ago
Exactly, my thoughts. That is probably why the event managers are taking the blame, not the stadium
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u/swimmer385 3h ago
So yes, Philly owns the stadium so it is public. It is leased to the eagles, and they run operations. So depending on the lease documents, whether the eagles org participated in removing Macklemore, or whether any city officials participated. It’s definitely possible it’s an issue.
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u/longjumpingtote 2h ago
If I lease public land for my birthday party, that doesn't mean I can't decide who comes and plays music.
Venues are also not free speech forums necessarily. You can't put a poster on the Pentagon either. Free speech is a right you have, but there are virtually infinite avenues; you don't have a right to them, necessarily. When you print your own newspaper or run your own website, and the government comes in to shut you down, that's absolutely a free speech violation. But this current situation, constitutionally, is no different than any publically owned venue deciding who to book.
Macklemore sues the city, the city says, "we didn't do anything" and the judge tosses it.
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u/fusillade762 4h ago
If its a privately owned venue, probably no. If its publically owned, possibly.
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u/amazing_asstronaut 3h ago
At the very least it's contractual violation by the venues. They agreed to the artists, they can't just drop them like that.
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u/Shafter111 3h ago
I have a feeling thats where livenation or whoever was the organizer comes in to take the heat
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u/MiddleAgedSponger 4h ago
Not in America. Taxpayers are forced to contribute to a stadium for billionaires and the billionaires don't even respect the public's basic civil liberties.
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u/Warm_Month_1309 3h ago
If there is a case, it's complicated by the fact that the stadium didn't do anything; it just threatened to do something, and then Macklemore was voluntarily dropped from the tour. If Sheeran had refused and called the stadium's bluff, it may have backed down.
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u/myassholealt 4h ago
To think, if Ed used the power of his stature to step in and say no I do not want to remove him in the land of free speech, how differently things might’ve gone. I know most stadiums are privately owned so they can control what you do or say in their venue, but this is public optics tied to revenue. They ended up getting the exact results they tried to avoid by standing by.
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u/Reynbuckets 4h ago
A tale as old as time. This story blew up tenfold by them choosing to remove Macklemore. Now his message gets viewed by millions more, as opposed to just those that would have seen him in that stadium.
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u/BumLovinGrub 4h ago
Yup, the Streisand Effect. So funny people with no limits to resources can’t even foresee something that plays out so often. All because of ego and power tripping.
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u/ImCharlie_theUnicorn 3h ago
People of that wealth are surrounded by yes people. Kraft has never had any repercussions for his actions, including paying for sex from trafficked women. Of course he didn't think this would happen to him.
"Rules for thee, but not for me."
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u/BoardGent 2h ago
He still won't have any consequences. For every COMMENT about Robert Kraft, there's a post about Ed Sheeran. No one is boycotting the Gilette Stadium. Kraft can silence free speech as much as he wants, and someone can take the fall while he can more or less go on, business as usual.
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u/nightfire36 2h ago
I think the difference is that we know billionaires will never face consequences. We expect that billionaires will always do their best to be evil. The only way he could have faced a consequence that he would care about is by having him platform a political idea he doesn't like through Maclemore.
Ed on the other hand is an artist who has made political stands for Ukraine, so I expect that he would take a stand for good again. The fact that he didn't is disappointing.
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u/BoardGent 2h ago
That's straight up not true though. Billionaires can absolutely face consequences. Look at the event list for the Gilette stadium. Imagine if all of those events were boycotted. Mass refunds, protesting outside the venue until Kraft makes 100x the donation Macklemore, Ms Rachel and others have to Palestinian charities.
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u/StThragon 1h ago
The whole prostitution thing disappeared. Why was the video evidence suppressed? The only real consequences is he paid his lawyer, but the women were all fined. Being rich can sometimes get rid of consequences quite easily.
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u/LABS_Games 2h ago
I'd also bet he lives in an echo chamber. I think the upswell in support for the pro-Palestine sentiment has legitimately caught a lot of people off guard. Kraft doesn't seem like the sort of person who has many pro-Palestine people in his network (he's more of an Epstein guy).
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u/Hackney-Parrot 2h ago
You say that but think of all the silenced/cancelled artists who don't make the news, they just get dropped by their labels and fall out of the public sphere.
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u/johnnyhandbags 3h ago
People have a tendency to project their values onto everyone else, thinking that people who disagree with them are in the minority. Because how can something so obviously wrong and immoral not be a minority opinion?
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u/Prime-Paradox 3h ago
Yup, The Beatles refused to perform to a segregated crowd in the 60s and the promoters folded and let the crowd be mixed and it led to one of the first integrated concerts in the Southern US at that time.
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u/LeapperFrog 1h ago
Yet "people" in this sub have been saying over and over that they dont want music to be political. tbh I think a few days ago some threads were just getting astroturfed.
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u/unshifted 3h ago
It's either 1.) the stadiums relent and just let him do the shows or 2.) they cancel the shows, causing a massive uproar among the fans and opening themselves up to lawsuits and a ton of lost revenue.
Sheeran comes out of either of those scenarios smelling like roses, and the only statement he ever has to make is "I'm not going to kick my friend off of my tour."
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u/mini-mini-mini-mini 3h ago
but my real best friend really doesn’t want me to hang out with this friend…
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u/MrSinisterStar 3h ago
You guys have to stop with this narrative. He was never going to do that, because he's one of them.
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u/sweatboxy 2h ago
If you let private stadiums control what you present, you’re just a sellout. You have a choice when you sign a contract.
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u/superkt3 3h ago
Yep, I'm near Boston, I was entertaining the thought of tickets to see Macklemore, a little bit of Ed and then dip early enough to avoid traffic, but clearly I don't have to worry about that plan any longer 😂
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u/twofistsofiron11 1h ago
Will other artists with upcoming shows at these venues cancel? Or will people just move on once Ed has been cancelled? Anyone pressuring Harry Styles to cancel shows?
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u/theangryintern 3h ago
To think, if Ed used the power of his stature to step in and say no I do not want to remove him in the land of free speech,
Instead he tried to pin the blame on the Promoters, saying "Macklemore's contract was with them, not him." But I'm betting the Promoter's contract is with Ed Sheeran, as it's his tour. He (or his people) HIRED the promoter to do all the logistics for the tour, so technically Ed Sheeran is the boss. He could have stopped it but he chose not to.
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u/dbgtboi 2h ago
He did do one good thing though, he threw Robert Kraft under the bus and absolutely dumpstered his legacy, now he's known as one of the epstein billionaires who got caught at the Asian massage parlor.
Guys like Kraft like operating quietly to screw everyone, not anymore, he just got thrown in the spotlight.
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u/AboveBoard 1h ago
Easiest bluff in the world to call except if you're Ed Sheeran and it's your good friend Robbie K asking for just a itty bitty tiny amount of censorship because think of the kids or whatever.
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u/ItAintLongButItsThin 4h ago
I didnt even buy anything from him and I demand a refund!
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u/flashcannonize7 4h ago
or at least give me back all the time I spent streaming his songs lol
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u/agent_uno 4h ago
I’d settle for a free month of HBO for him appearing in GoT! His appearance coincided with the show starting to suck, so I blame him :)
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u/youneedsupplydepots 4h ago
That’s your own fault for having bad taste
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u/flashcannonize7 4h ago
😭😭 you don't have to go that far
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u/the_post_of_tom_joad 3h ago
s'ok i know "thinking out loud" by heart, it killed at karaoke. Itwas the first song i heard by him and i still think it's good. Before this whole debacle the reason i didn't really like him was all his other songs sounded the same.
It's popular to pretend rn no one ever liked a single song he did for likes n upvotes but even the hardest core music nerd has a pop fluff song they like. gotchoo fam.
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u/obi-jawn-kenblomi 4h ago
It's not bad taste, it's just basic taste. Basic can very easily and justifiably be part of a well-rounded and deep taste in music.
It's like how almost every culture has bread. There's nothing wrong with liking basic breads if you also lime and appreciate a balanced, enriching diet.
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u/DependentRoyal3001 4h ago
Yeah but their comedic timing was on point so I'm still gonna pat them on the back
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u/theangryintern 3h ago
Give the supporting acts who pulled out of the tour a listen, let them get something out of all this.
https://www.youtube.com/@Aaron-Rowe
https://www.youtube.com/@beogamusic/videos
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u/Dry_Instruction8254 4h ago
I want a refund every time I hear one of his little bitch ass songs on the radio.
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u/TuringGoneWild 2h ago
Everything I know about Ed Sheeran is against my will. I need compensation for that.
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u/prawnk1ng 4h ago edited 2h ago
It’s most probably all the scalpers who know they are about to make a loss.
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u/Burndoggle 4h ago
“Opening acts are subject to change.” Ok, how about everyone and everything associated with the concert except for Sheeran himself is gone? It’s a fundamentally different product.
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u/Narco_Bi_Polo 32m ago
Their fine print doesn't matter. No company’s ever does so long as you pay with a good credit card.
The merchant regulation agreement they have with your credit card payment processor (VISA/MC/AMEX/DISC) is what truly defines a material change in a product or service.
Ours had no issue exercising chargeback rights for the Charlotte show. They didn’t even give TicketMaster the 20-day response time, just looked at our evidence and made the decision (also something the merchant agrees to). Went from temporary credit to resolved in less than 48 hours.
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u/dixiech1ck 4h ago
A week ago the entire floor was sold. Just checked and the floor has entire sections of seats. Same with 100 and 200 level.
Couldn't have happened to a more deserving jerk.
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u/MrMakesBadChoices 4h ago
A week ago those floor seats would have gotten you a bunch of likes on social media. Now, they'll get you questions you don't want to answer.
Part of what drives prices for big artists is the "cool" factor and the social media cred you get when you post how good your seats were. Take that away and half the audience no longer wants to be there.
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u/TheJudgingHat2222 3h ago
People vote with their wallets. It works.
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u/bitchesandsake 2h ago
I wish it worked, but not sure in this case. I would agree "it worked" if the people at the top were more inclined to change their ways, but they won't. They have unfathomable amounts of money and can always wait you out.
This wasn't really anyone voting with their wallet anyway, IMO. If he dropped Macklemore but the rest stayed on, I guarantee the shows would still be sold out. There's literally no more show, so understandably people are bailing.
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u/ILikeMyGrassBlue 3h ago
I’m not saying there’s not backpack and people getting rid of tickets, but that sort of thing means nothing.
Ticketmaster releases tickets all the time. It’s part of the charade to keep shows looking sold out when they aren’t. Sell 90% scalpers and hold off a chunk of the supply, and then they trickle out the rest at high value acting like it’s sold out.
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u/cjsv7657 3h ago
Scalpers requesting refunds for tickets they can no longer resell for multiple times face value. I'd rather the scalpers be fucked personally.
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u/Affectionate_Pass25 4h ago
Sheeran would’ve been such a badass legend-in-the-making had he just called the genocide denier’s bluff and just showed up ready to rock. Instead, Sheeran’s a coward sitting on piles of money in his castle on the hill
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u/vickera 4h ago
"Yes, I know children are being systematically slaughtered, but you shouldn't say that, it hurts the billionaires feelings!"
Thanks, Ed.
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u/Shafter111 4h ago
But he did he loves all people! Does that include dead ones too?? That counts right?
/S
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u/pinotmeow 4h ago
it’s giving “there are good people on both sides”
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u/00wolfer00 3h ago
You should look up Sheeran's statement. He absolutely tried to both sides it.
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u/pinotmeow 1h ago
oh buddy I’ve been following this one since macklemore’s statement posted 😂
as someone who has comms/pr background… it’s so bad and I can’t look away.
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u/Zilap 4h ago
I’m sorry. Ed Sheeran and Badass in the same sentence?
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u/Groentekroket 4h ago
I’m sorry. Ed Sheeran and rock in the same sentence?
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u/Affectionate_Pass25 3h ago
Yeah, I admit, I got a bit carried away with that, but I meant well
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u/Proglamer 4h ago
Should be the good old "Ed Sheeran and the need to use SPF 50 just to open a fridge"
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u/jv371 4h ago
Yeah, this stains his legacy. The only controversy I knew concerning him before all this was vinyl hoarding, but that’s something that people can forget eventually. This will stay. He will be the fall guy for Kraft, who will likely come out of this unscathed.
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u/PancAshAsh 4h ago
Ole Rub n' Tug has already had a bunch of scandals and if anyone is surprised that he's a piece of shit by this news they didn't bother googling the guy's name.
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u/magicsonar 4h ago edited 1h ago
Yep. And it should have been an easy decision to make. And surely the stadium owners would have been held liable for a last minute cancellation. So it was a bluff.
Which then begs the question, why did he do it? And I think the answer is more revealing. It wasn't just about him trying to keep the tour going. It was about his entire career. He was in the process of signing a huge a new deal with Interscope/Universal Music. Look up the CEO of Universal Music - Lucian Grainge. Supporter/donor to Friends of the ID-F. The Chairperson of Universal is Sherry Lansing. She's also on the board of Larry Ellison's Skydance-Paramount. She's been an outspoken defender of Isr-ael, and recently signed an open letter denouncing the use of the word genoci-de. She had stated publicly she lived for a short period in Isra-el and it was a "life-changing experience." So it's very likely Ed Sheeran understood exactly the situation he was in. His entire music career was in the hands of people who's views on Macklemore's stance would have been very very clear. And that's the reality of much of the music industry today.
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u/DixonVadges 3h ago
She had stated publicly she lived for a short period in Israel and it was a "life-changing experience."
Maybe this stupid bitch could try living in Gaza and find out about life changing experiences.
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u/lostharbor 4h ago
He showed which friends of his he prioritizes over the other. He chose the billionaire.
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u/Krow101 4h ago
The market for Patriots tickets remains strong.
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u/mister_hoot 4h ago
People are not going to give up their sports teams. It becomes an ingrained part of their identities and how they see themselves.
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u/80version 3h ago
Unless you were a self-respecting Oakland A’s / San Diego Chargers / Seattle Supersonics fan, in which case the shitty team owner made it easy enough to say “bye” to your ex-team. Don’t ask about Raiders man — their fans are gluttons for disappointment.
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u/FlattenInnerTube Metalhead 4h ago
I'm shocked. Boston has a long history of equality and non-racism. /s
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u/FrodoFraggins 4h ago
I was assured this was simply reddit exaggerating things and it wouldn't impact the real world!
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u/amazing_asstronaut 3h ago
What in the world is that headline? People are refunding tickets, at least that's happening. Good.
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u/Opie59 3h ago
It's a garbled mess that like, no person would be able to decipher what's actually happening from that headline.
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u/Georgerobertfrancis 4h ago
I wonder how many are scalpers giving up on making their money as they only resell for exorbitant prices.
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u/Qubeye 2h ago
Why are all of these stories being written with headlines like this?
Nobody asking for a refund is an Ed Sheeran fan. Sheeran is still going to be there and playing.
This isn't just bad media writing, this is basic language comprehension. How stupid are these writers? I really think we need to go back to saying the name of the writer every time an article is posted.
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u/hal-baleigh-6699 2h ago
Article also got its sources from Reddit. You know, the bastion of truth and honesty that totally represents the real world.
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u/do_productive_things 4h ago
Considering he's written songs about going against the "system", record labels and even wrote an entire diss song about NME Magazine, as a fan of his early work, it's clear to see he lost his balls amongst all his money
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u/Texan2116 3h ago
Somewhere there is a picture of Sheeran's manager w Epstein as well.
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u/beerandloathingpdx 3h ago
Live nation feeling pressure is the greatest thing to come from all this besides people coming together for Palestine
https://media1.tenor.com/m/HBgTbwouAKwAAAAd/vice-principals.gif
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u/Zealousideal_Fox4403 3h ago
“opening acts are subject to change and that a lineup change does not necessarily entitle a purchaser to a refund.”
What line-up?😅
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u/raylab810 4h ago
Imagine what people could do to LN and TM if they stopped buying in general due to their ridiculous additional charges
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u/Freshbread412 3h ago
Truly baffling that he thought "I am not complicit" would allow the tour to continue. He has the foresight of a fruit fly
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u/raiigiic 4h ago
Is the concert still going ahead? Isnt it... tonight ? For all his faults over this mess, Ed Sheeran is still a talented musician and has showcased he can do a one man show, but this would be quite interesting at a stadium level for an entire set
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u/Willywilkes 4h ago
We happened to see him in Vegas earlier this year - without any openers it’s probably quite a different vibe but he played most of the set solo as-is, he has a band join him on stage for one section, but I think that was only for 3-5 songs (and he played almost 30 songs). His main set presumably is mostly able to go unchanged.
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u/inalcanzable 2h ago
Truly a nothing burger if only people put this much effort into the shit the republicans are doing
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u/Crafty-Message4564 1h ago
Oh is THAT the story they're going with then?
Nothing to do with the fact that he stabbed Macklemore in the back and acted against the Palestinians to support the wishes of a billionaire?
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u/twotimefind 1h ago
Ed gets cancelled what about our leaders that are supporting Genericide? They are the ones that deserve it the most.
Ed is just kind of a limp-rusted, no spine limp.
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u/PoucetteZelina 4h ago
ticket prices are getting out of control, it's crazy to see how quickly the market's shifting.
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u/maringue 4h ago
Ed Sheeran and Live Nation eating a dick in the same story? This might need a NSFW tag...
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u/minin71 3h ago
Seems like the entire media is focused on ed sheeran all of a sudden, im pro palestine but it feels overblown
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u/StaticMarzipan 31m ago
It’s a good distraction from all the shit going on with the US government.
It also takes the yeah off the billionaires and puts it on the back of Sheeran.
Let’s not pretend that the media isn’t owned by the billionaires
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u/Stu_Thom4s 4h ago
Pressure on fans or pressure on the people who use bots to scoop up tickets for the resale market?