Ed Sheeran’s tour will honor customers’ refund requests for this weekend’s concerts at Gillette Stadium, Attorney General Andrea Campbell said.
“[M]y office jumped into action to demand that consumers be provided a clear path to get their money back if they no longer want to attend due to significant changes to the lineup,” Campbell wrote in a statement. “I encourage anyone who wants a refund to act quickly and submit their request at least 24 hours before showtime.”
The attorney said her office received nearly 200 complaints after the rapper Macklemore — who was set to open for Sheeran’s Loop Tour shows on Friday and Saturday — was removed from the lineup. Robert Kraft, who owns the stadium as well as the New England Patriots, told Sheeran that he would not be allowed to perform at Gillette if Macklemore opened for him.
Kraft took issue with Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian statements he’d made during recent concerts, writing in a statement that the stadium’s events cannot “provide a platform for hate speech.”
Other openers also dropped out in solidarity with Macklemore and Palestinian advocacy, including Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Beoga and Lukas Graham.
A Ticketmaster spokesperson said the refund policies are set by the event organizer.
Before the refund announcement, ticket prices for Sheeran’s concerts seemed to be dropping, with many seats available for under $75.
Keith Pagello, the founder of TicketData, said Sheeran won’t be playing to an empty house.
“Demand will be softer than it would have been otherwise, but they’re not going to be empty stadiums that are half-filled or anything like that,” he said. “Some of the online chatter might have you think that the sky is falling in terms of, you know, ‘There’s gonna be 10 people at this show’ — when we’re seeing that, by and large, a lot of people are still going.”
Campbell advises ticket holders who want a refund to reach out to Ticketmaster Customer Service by phone or through their website at least 24 hours before the start of the concert.
After his stop in Foxborough, Sheeran is set to continue touring U.S. arenas through early November.
