Yesterday, reports of poor Taylor Swift ticket sales by the New York Post sparked a good deal of speculation about how well the “reputation” tour is actually doing. Today, “due to overwhelming demand”, Swift added seven more stadium shows to her itinerary.
The “Look What You Made Me Do” singer has added second shows in Santa Clara, CA, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Arlington, and third shows in East Rutherford, NJ and Foxborough, MA. A wealth of tickets are still available for the previously announced shows in all of these cities.
Fans and industry sources alike have been critical of the “reputation” tour from the onset. Swift took Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program to a whole new level with “Taylor Swift Tix”, a pay-to-play scheme that promised fans a better chance at tickets if they spent time watching and sharing her videos and money buying her music and merchandise. Imagine how they must feel now that the allegedly in-demand tickets they worked so hard to snap up as soon as possible now sit on the website unpurchased, with thousands more on the way.
When tickets first went on sale, prices were fairly out-of-touch with those from similar artists in the same venues – like, a couple hundred dollars for seats in the nosebleeds out-of-touch. Many who had already invested time and money felt forced into buying the expensive tickets, but another good bunch were at that point priced out of the tour altogether.
Following the Post’s claims that Taylor’s tour was “shaping up to be a disaster”, Billboard followed up with a counter-argument: “Shake It Off: Despite Negative Press, Taylor Swift’s Reputation Tour Could Be One of the Biggest of All Time”.
To be fair, I don’t think it was ever in question that Taylor, her promoter, and Ticketmaster were going to make massive bucks off of this tour regardless. Nevertheless, Billboard defended that an intentionally slow ticketing model was the team’s plan all along, and that “steadier sales with higher returns replace sellouts as the barometer for success”. Ticketmaster’s own Davis Marcus said that, “We’d like to sell the last ticket to her concert when she takes the stage each night.”
That certainly could all be true…but if it is, and Taylor et al do project sell-outs closer to the start of the tour, why would they choose to add dates now, when so many tickets are still available?
The full Taylor Swift “reputation” tour itinerary is below, with new dates in bold:
May 8 – Glendale, AZ @ University of Phoenix Stadium
May 11 – Santa Clara, CA @ Levi’s Stadium
May 12 – Santa Clara, CA @ Levi’s Stadium
May 18 – Pasadena, CA @ Rose Bowl
May 19 – Pasadena, CA @ Rose Bowl
May 22 – Seattle, WA @ CenturyLink Field
May 25 – Denver, CO @ Sports Authority Field At Mile High
June 1 – Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field
June 2 – Chicago, IL @ Soldier Field
June 30 – Louisville, KY @ Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium
July 7 – Columbus, OH @ Ohio Stadium
July 10 – Washington, DC @ FedEx Field
July 11 – Washington, DC @ FedEx Field
July 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field
July 14 – Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field
July 17 – Cleveland, OH @ First Energy Stadium
July 20 – East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium
July 21 – East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium
July 22 – East Rutherford, NJ @ MetLife Stadium
July 26 – Foxborough, MA @ Gillette Stadium
July 27 – Foxborough, MA @ Gillette Stadium
July 28 – Foxborough, MA @ Gillette Stadium
August 3 – Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
August 4 – Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
August 7 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Heinz Field
August 10 – Atlanta, GA @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium
August 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium
August 14 – Tampa, FL @ Raymond James Stadium
August 18 – Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium
August 25 – Nashville, TN @ Nissan Stadium
August 28 – Detroit, MI @ Ford Field
August 31 – Minneapolis, MN @ U.S. Bank Stadium
September 1 – Minneapolis, MN @ U.S. Bank Stadium
September 8 – Kansas City, MO @ Arrowhead Stadium
September 15 – Indianapolis, IN @ Lucas Oil Stadium
September 18 – St. Louis, MO @ The Dome at America’s Center
September 22 – New Orleans, LA @ Mercedes-Benz Superdome
September 29 – Houston, TX @ NRG Stadium
October 5 – Arlington, TX @ AT&T Stadium
October 6 – Arlington, TX @ AT&T Stadium
October 9 – Perth, AU @ Optus Stadium
October 26 – Melbourne, AU @ Etihad Stadium
November 2 – Sydney, AU @ ANZ Stadium
November 6 – Brisbane, AU @ The Gabba
November 9 – Auckland, NZ @ Mt Smart Stadium
