Taylor Swift and her promoters have been accused of “papering” one of the stops along her Reputation Tour a year ago, with more than 20,000 tickets given away to make the 68,500-capacity Levi’s Stadium look full.
The tour’s original tour stop in Santa Clara on May 12, 2018 saw high demand, with more than 50,503 tickets sold.
This helped to encourage the San Francisco 49ers to allow concert promoter Louis Messina to add a second performance at the stadium on May 11. However, the Friday show only shifted 29,333 tickets, which would have left Levi’s Stadium almost half empty.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that city officials said Swift’s contract called for the stadium to be filled to an acceptable level.
Due to the 20,000 tickets being handed out for free, the city lost out on the $4-per-ticket surcharge that is redirected for police and traffic control costs.
“We made over $3m on the first show and lost over $2m on the second show,” Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The ticket giveaway resulted in a loss of $2m in potential ticket sales, according to a recent report by the Santa Clara Stadium Authority
Swift’s ‘Reputation’ stadium tour was the highest-grossing US tour of 2018 making upwards of $266m, according to Billboard magazine.
Image: Eva Rinaldi
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