49ers Amp Up Rhetoric Over Sheeran Skip

Ed Sheeran left Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, and consequently the entire Bay Area, off his 2018 stadium routing because the city’s curfew demands artists wrap up shows by 10 p.m. The omission has reignited the war of words between the 49ers and the Mayor.

John Davisson – Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran strums a tune at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 29.

The tour promoter, Louis Messina of Messina Touring Group, told Pollstar there was simply no way they could agree to a 10 p.m. curfew for the night of the show.

“I don’t want to get into local politics,” Messina said. “Love the building, love playing in Santa Clara.”

49ers president Al Guido placed the blame for the lost show firmly on the shoulders of Mayor Lisa Gillmor. “[Sheeran’s] show will no longer come to Levi’s Stadium because the mayor played politics and refused to correct, or even address, the music ban,” he was quoted as saying in the Mercury News.

“Residents have lost out on millions of dollars in revenue, and music lovers have been denied an opportunity to view a world-class concert.”

“This potential concert loss is news to us,” Gillmor was quoted as saying in the San Francisco Chronicle. She has previously held the position that city cannot abandon agreements made with its citizens.

“The city made promises to our north side residents,” Gillmor said at an August meeting regarding whether to extend the curfew for an upcoming Coldplay show. The request to extend was denied by a city council vote of 4-3. “The law is there for a reason. We all agreed to it. We told the community this would happen, and I’m not ready to change that.”

When U2 played after the curfew earlier this year the city reportedly only penalized organizers with a $1,000 fine. U2 and Beyoncé both played on weeknights and both “blew past” the 10 p.m. curfew after being denied extensions, the Mercury News said. Those concerts netted the city $1.6 million in revenue that could be used for services like police, fire and libraries, according to 49ers President Al Guido.

The disagreement over the curfew is just one of many between the 49ers and the city. The city recently hired a company to audit the stadium, which showed the city was still owed $718,803 in parking fees and $114,781 in reimbursement during the audit period. Legal counsel for the 49ers responded to the audit with a statement claiming that the report “will only serve to further confuse the Board and the public with erroneous information, incomplete and out of context half-truths, and outright misrepresentations.”

The 49ers filed a claim against the city in August, according to the Mercury News, hinting a possible lawsuit.

Sheeran is one of the hottest tickets around right now. This year alone he is approaching $100,000,000 grossed, and every show has been 100 percent sold out. He has 101 shows scheduled, including one tonight in Pittsburgh.

Levi’s Stadium has no problem selling tickets once the show is booked. Acts like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and U2 have all played to capacity crowds.

The venue opened in 2014 and has moved more than 627,000 concert tickets. The only show currently scheduled is Coldplay on Oct. 4, but the 49er’s season is well under way so the stadium is seeing plenty of use.