‘Bigger Than The Rolling Stones’: FKP Scorpio & Ed Sheeran Sell 750,000 Tickets In Europe

Ed Sheeran ended his European stadium run at the PGE Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, Aug. 12. Some 750,000 fans in total saw the one-man show’s European trek, promoted by FKP Scorpio.

Kristian Sickinger – Ed Sheeran plays Hamburg
FKP Scorpio says the Hamburg show in front of some 80,000 spectators was Sheeran

FKP Scorpio staged Sheeran’s four Germany concerts at Berlin’s Olympiastadion (July 19), Gelsenkirchen’s Veltins-Arena (July 22-23), Hamburg’s Trabrennbahn Bahrenfeld (July 25) and Munich’s Olympiastadion (July 29-30), as well as several concerts in Europe, including Sweden’s Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg (July 10-11) and Friends Arena in Stockholm (July 14), Switzerland’s Letzigrund Stadium (Aug. 3-4) and the closing concert in Poland.

The two shows in Gelsenkirchen had been an emergency solution, after authorities in Düsseldorf, where one concert had been scheduled for July 22, denied it from going ahead.

According to the promoter, 750,000 tickets were sold for the aforementioned concerts, the largest of which took place in Hamburg, where some 80,000 fans witnesses “an enchanting evening with the singing Hobbit Ed Sheeran,” as the Hamburger Abendblatt headlined.

According to FKP, the Hamburg concert was “not only the largest on the current European tour, but also the largest ever played by Ed Sheeran to date.”

Folkert Koopmans, managing director of FKP Scorpio Konzertproduktionen, said: “The huge crowds of fans that Ed Sheeran now attracts speak for themselves. An artist who can capture a giant stadium all on his own, while creating such a relaxed and indeed magical atmosphere, demonstrates true art – and it was also very special for me, as his promoter.”

Koopmans recalled booking Ed Sheeran for FKP’s festival Rolling Stone Weekender in 2011: “It was his very first gig in Germany, in front of 200 people – and he still talks about it today!

“Seven years later, his tour is the largest that we, as his promoter, have organized in recent months – even bigger than the Rolling Stones. I am so happy for Ed Sheeran, who deserves every minute of his success, he is an exceptional artist!”

Sheeran was also the stand-out artist in Pollstar‘s Mid-Year Top 100 Worldwide Tours Charts.

The singer grossed $213.9 million touring in the fist half of 2018, which, according to Pollstar Boxoffice reports, is the largest gross ever recorded on the Mid-Year Worldwide Chart, which began in 2009.

It marked a 40% increase over last year’s No. 1 trek by Guns N’ Roses, which totaled $151.5 million, and a 20% increase over the chart’s all-time topper AC/DC, who brought in $177.5 million in 2010. 

The feat is especially impressive, seeing that Sheeran charges comparatively low ticket prices, $80.90 on average in the first half of 2018.

A great show put on at an affordable ticket price has always been his strategy, according to Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp of Grumpy Old Management, who said: “We have always strived to never waiver from that ethic. There is no VIP up-sell nonsense or overpriced tickets, we’ve fought very hard against unscrupulous secondary markets. We go to as many places as we can.”

Sheeran has been making headlines all year, starting in March, when his  promoter in Australia and New Zealand, Michael Gudinski’s Frontier Touring sold a whopping 1 million-plus tickets (1.06m) to 18 shows in seven cities across both countries.