SAN DIEGO (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — George Michael recently announced that his touring days are coming to an end and a recent article in the San Diego Weekly Reader may shine some light on why. According to the Reader, tickets for Michael's upcoming June 17 gig at the Sports Arena are not moving as well as might be expected, leading some observers to speculate that it may be a lean summer for promoters.
The Reader is reporting that out of 15,000 tix for the event, only about 4,000 have sold so far, just over 25%.
"AEG is hurting with George Michael," an apparently well-informed insider told the Reader "Michael is kicking off his first U.S. tour in 18 years at the Sports Arena, and they have only sold 4000 tickets.
And its not just Michael, Sheryl Crow and the Stone Temple Pilots are also selling below the hoped-for numbers. Local promoters told the paper that sales appear to be off overall by as much as 20%.
"You always hear about the high cost of tickets with extra Ticketmaster charges and everything and that eventually the promoters will respond and bring tickets back down to earth. I think the promoters will get burned so badly this year that this will finally be the year they wake up and start bringing prices down for next year." the unnamed promoter told The Reader.
Not everyone is quite as sure. Some suspect that people are waiting until the last minute to buy tickets.
"I would say that advance ticket sales are down 30 percent, but day-of-show sales are actually up. By waiting to buy tickets on the day of show, people are avoiding Ticketmaster altogether." another local promoter told the paper. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
