Local promoters hail record Ed Sheeran sales
Local, independent promoters have spoken to IQ about how they’re breaking ground in their markets with record ticket sales for Ed Sheeran’s 2024 European tour.
The European leg of Sheeran’s + – = ÷ x (Mathematics) Tour is due to kick off on 8 June 2024 in Italy, making 20 stops at a mix of stadiums and festivals across the continent.
The first stadium stop on the AEG Presents promoted-outing will be at Ta’ Qali National Park (cap. 30,000), marking the 32-year-old’s first-ever concert in Malta.
According to one of the show’s local promoters, Nigel Camilleri at NNG Promotions, the 26 June 2024 concert has broken “all records” in the island country.
“The number of tickets in an hour, total number of ticket sales in one day, as well as total gross amount of ticket sales in an hour and in a day,” lists Camilleri, who is promoting the gig alongside AEG and Greatt.
“Hopefully, this will open more doors which were previously closed or only ajar”
“The adrenaline rush when the ticket sales opened was indescribable,” he continues. “It’s not often, at least in Malta, that one gets to promote a concert of an artist who appeals to such a wide-ranging audience.”
Camilleri says hosting a star of Sheeran’s size helps to put Malta – which is isolated from mainland Europe – on the map for other blockbuster tours.
“It is a great triumph for us because we have proven that the Maltese market can sustain an A-level artist such as Ed Sheeran,” he adds. “We have been working towards and building up to this moment for many years and admittedly there was an element of luck with the stars aligning for it to happen.
“As a company, it is a major feather in our cap and hopefully, this will open more doors which were previously closed or only ajar.”
Bulgarian promoter FEST Team is also hoping the success of Sheeran’s show at Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia (31 August) will be a calling card for other A-list artists.
“[We hope] more prominent artists will acknowledge Bulgaria as a substantial market with tour potential”
“Our aspiration is that the success of this event will encourage more prominent artists to acknowledge Bulgaria and the Balkan region as a substantial market with tour potential,” FEST Team’s Stefan Elenkov tells IQ.
The Sofia-based full-service promoter sold all 60,000 tickets to the Bulgaria date in the first 24 hours of the on-sale. It beat the previous record set in 2009 by Madonna who sold 19,000 tickets in the first 24 hours for a 55,000-capacity show.
“This indeed is a truly remarkable achievement,” says Elenkov. “It is important to mention that a show of this magnitude hasn’t taken place in Bulgaria since 2009.”
Staging the biggest-ever concert in Bulgaria, which is yet to be included in the Schengen Area, hasn’t been without its challenges but Elenkov says his team has been “excited to embrace them”.
“After dedicating eight months to negotiations and detailed planning, we managed to successfully overcome various infrastructural and logistic challenges associated with the venue,” says Elenkov.
“Ticket Station Bulgaria is handling a show of such magnitude for the first time and has met the tour’s criteria”
“Anticipating Bulgaria and Romania’s inclusion in the Schengen area, we expect even fewer logistical challenges, making future tour planning considerably more structured. The routing Budapest – Bucharest – Sofia – Athens—would essentially become practically borderless.”
Another source of pride for FEST Team is the reported absence of tickets for Sheeran’s Bulgaria date on Viagogo.
“This demonstrates our success in implementing stringent security measures, ensuring that only real people have bought tickets for the show,” adds Elenkov. “This marks an important milestone – Ticket Station Bulgaria is handling a show of such magnitude for the first time and has precisely met the tour’s criteria.”
Sheeran’s team has long taken an aggressive stance against the secondary ticketing market, opting to use 100% mobile digital ticketing technology to keep tickets in the hands of fans.
The tour’s local promoters in Lithuania also have a lot to celebrate after sales for Sheeran’s two 2024 dates in the country broke “all previous entertainment sales records” across the Baltic states.
“By selling the most tickets of any artist in the Baltics, Sheeran has set yet another record”
According to L Tips Agency – which is organising Sheeran’s concerts in the Baltics for the third time – the first concert sold out in just over 24 hours the second is already more than 50% sold out, nine months in advance.
Provided both dates in Lithuania sell out, Sheeran will perform to 90,000 fans across the 3 and 4 August at Darius and Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas.
“In 2019, he set the record for the most visited international artist show of all time in Latvia with an attendance of approximately 50,000 people,” says Gints Putnins, owner of L Tips Agency. “Now a new record has been set for the whole of the Baltics!”
The Agency, which is one of the largest independent promoters in the Baltic States, is promoting the concert alongside FKP Scorpio.
Folkert Koopmans, founder & CEO of FKP Scorpio, adds: “By selling the most tickets of any artist in the Baltics, Ed Sheeran has set yet another record. We’re proud and happy to be promoting the shows and couldn’t have done so without the support of all local stakeholders and our partner agencies. L Tips Agency’s work has been invaluable in making the second-ever music concert in Kaunas stadium possible. We’re already looking forward to seeing everything coming together in August 2024!”
The 32-year-old’s forthcoming Dubai concerts could become the best-selling shows in UAE history
Sheeran’s record-breaking streak doesn’t stop at independent promoters, nor does it stop in Europe. As previously reported in IQ, the 32-year-old’s forthcoming Dubai concerts could become the best-selling shows in UAE history, according to All Thing Live Middle East CEO Thomas Ovesen.
The British singer-songwriter is due to play the Sevens Stadium from 19-20 January 2024 in what are being called the largest open-air concerts ever to take place in Dubai.
The dates, which will see Sheeran perform “in the round”, will be his first in the Middle East since playing at the city’s Autism Rocks Arena in November 2017, which attracted a sell-out 23,272 crowd.
Last month, Sheeran concluded the North American leg of his Mathematics tour, with the final date on 28 October at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sheeran is represented by Marty Diamond and Ash Lewis at Wasserman for US and Canada, and Jon Ollier at One Finiix Live for the rest of the world.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Ed Sheeran announces intimate N.American shows
Ed Sheeran has announced a series of intimate North American tour dates, which take place amid his forthcoming stadium tour.
The British singer-songwriter is due to kick off the North American leg of his + – = ÷ x (Mathematics) tour this week.
Alongside the 21-date outing, Sheeran will deliver intimate performances at 14 theatres and auditoriums across the US and Canada.
The small-scale shows will see the 32-year-old perform his 2023 album Subtract in its entirety, with Ben Kweller providing support for the majority of the run.
The Mathematics Tour’s North American run is set to kick off on 6 May at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It wraps up on 23 September at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Support comes from Khalid, Dylan, Rosa Linn, Cat Burns, Maisie Peters and Russ on differing dates (see below).
The tour marks Sheeran’s first return to North America since his 2018 Divide outing, which became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time.
Sheeran is represented by Marty Diamond and Ash Lewis at Wasserman for US and Canada, and Jon Ollier at One Finiix Live for the rest of the world.
See Ed Sheeran’s intimate North American tour dates 2023 below:
MAY
19 – Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall*
26 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle*
JUNE
02 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met*
16 – Toronto, ON @ History*
29 – Boston, MA @ Boch Center Wang Theatre*
JULY
14 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
21 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium*
28 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre*
AUGUST
11 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre*
18 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre*
25 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
SEPTEMBER
01 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre*
15 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater*
22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium*
*Ben Kweller support
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.