Fans paid hundreds for what they thought would be a sold out Beyoncé tour. Now they're shocked she can't fill a stadium

Yahoo

19-04-2025

Beyoncé's big country music Texas Hold 'Em bet is not paying off with concertgoers, with thousands of tickets still unsold for her her Cowboy Carter Tour despite it kicking off in less than two weeks.
The official Ticketmaster site shows that the tour's opening night of April 28 in Los Angeles still has over 3,200 unsold seats — with standard tickets available from $85 and resale tickets on the site from just $35. Sales have been even slower for the final two nights in the West Coast city, with over 3,800 standard tickets still available for each show.
And the East Coast hasn't been faring much better. The tour's last night in New Jersey's MetLife Stadium — the closest venue to New York City — still has over 5,500 tickets unsold, even though it was added on as an extra date due to supposed demand. Down in Georgia, the Atlanta show on July 14 has in excess of 5,800 tickets, including over 50% of floor seats — the most expensive tickets with the closest views of Queen Bey — still available.
Live Nation, however, have pushed back at the suggestion that Beyoncé is having trouble selling tickets. Last month, in a statement to Billboard, the events giant claimed that 94% of tickets for the Cowboy Carter Tour have been sold. Since then, two further dates in Las Vegas have been added, bringing the total number of tour stops to 32.
When Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Tour first went onsale in February, demand was so extreme that fans quickly grabbed whatever tickets they could get. They were understandably desperate to get hold of the coveted tickets. After all, she had just won Album of the Year at the Grammys, adding to her record-breaking awards haul. Many Beyhive members were also still smarting from their experiences trying to get tickets for her sold-out Renaissance World Tour in 2023, which moved over 2.7 million tickets but left many fans unable to secure a seat.
Those lucky fans who were able to make it onto the official Ticketmaster site snapped up whatever they could lay their hands out, shelling out for tickets at inflated rates — prices which dropped dramatically in the following days as they remain unsold. Ticketmaster denies that it uses a 'dynamic' (ie. surge) pricing strategy and says that tickets are priced in advance by the artist touring team.
Despite that early virtual scuffle for tickets, the only shows of the entire run that have actually sold out are her trio of shows in Paris. Tickets for her six night run at Tottenham Hotspur's stadium in London have proved about as popular as those for the struggling soccer club that calls it home, with thousands still not sold.
The fact that ticket prices have dropped so dramatically is particularly galling for those dedicated fans who signed up for presales to make sure they got their tickets at the first possible opportunity. Many have been left infuriated and frustrated by the fact they paid extortionate prices for tickets near the back of huge stadium venues during those fan presales, only to see that better-placed seats are now onsale at significantly cheaper rates.
'Next time Beyoncé sends me a presale code for a tour, I'm ignoring it,' wrote TheYoncéHub, a fan account with 15k followers on X/Twitter. 'The way floor seats are way cheaper than stand seats I bought and [Ticketmaster] won't let me exchange.'
Another user posted a similar complaint alongside a screen-recorded video of unsold tickets at SoFi Stadium. 'I'm [one] of those stuck with expensive nosebleeds presale tickets and unfortunately still so many blue dots on the first dates with unsold tickets. Just recorded this video showing some,' wrote user Jeff Q.
Fans who are now unable to attend the tour also feel they've been left out of pocket. 'Ticketmaster and these fees belong in the pits of hell for real,' complained one fan on social media. 'I'm trying to sell my 5/15 Beyonce tickets. I'm not looking for a profit just what I paid back. They already charge crazy fees on buying the ticket and they doubling down on selling it. Just greedy as hell.'
According to Billboard's projections, even apparently slow ticket sales and falling prices will only have a minimal impact on Beyoncé's bottom line. She's predicted to earn in excess of $325 million from the tour, around $10.15 million per show. The Renaissance World Tour, by contrast, lasted almost twice as long and earned $579 million from 56 shows, which works out at $10.33 million a show.
The Independent has approached Beyoncé for comment, but her team had not responded by publication time.
This piece was amended after Ticketmaster responded to comment.