Everyone needs a bit of light entertainment, particularly when the news is consistently grim, inflation is consistently soaring and the price of essential goods is higher than ever.
Despite a reduction in expendable income as rent, food, bills, mortgages and travel expenses steadily rise, consumers have been loosening their belts at will when it comes to live shows – as Taylor Swift and the newly reformed Oasis will testify.
So, financial uncertainty aside, how do we assess Beyoncé’s unconvincing ticket sales as she prepares for six mammoth nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium?
The R&B superstar is currently two dates into an expansive 32 date tour of the United States, London and Paris in support of her latest album, the Grammy Award winning Cowboy Carter.
But unlike pop icon Swift, who managed to fill London’s cavernous Wembley Stadium on eight separate occasions during an Eras tour that coincided with the same cost of living crisis, Beyoncé has laboured to put bums on seats ahead of her return to the English capital.
Beyoncé will be saying howdy to UK fans when she arrives for six dates at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June – but tickets for the shows are still available at affordable prices
Currently the most affordable tickets are available via Ticketmaster for as little as £121.70 each, with prices climbing to £159.85 (pictured: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium)
Elsewhere, Brit Pop legends Oasis prompted controversy with their exorbitant ‘dynamic’ ticket prices yet still managed to sell out stadiums across London and Manchester after announcing a reunion tour last year.
The disparity is even clearer when considering their vastly different capacity crowds – while Tottenham Hotspur Stadium can hold 62,850 people, the larger Wembley venue can fit 90,000.
As of Wednesday afternoon, tickets were still available across all six of Beyoncé’s planned dates in London between the 5th and 16th of June, although it’s worth noting that in some cases only single seats remain.
On Ticketmaster, the most affordable tickets are available for as little as £121.70 each, with prices climbing to £159.85.
However, rival seller Viagogo are offering resale seats in the stadium’s Row C for an even more affordable £66.
Conversely, anyone wanting the best view with a spot closer to the stage in Section Club Ho-Down East will have to part with a whopping £2,406 for the privilege.
Meanwhile, prices for Swift’s Eras Tour gigs at BT Murrayfield Stadium and Wembley Stadium were comparatively similar after going on sale in 2023.
Ticket prices shared on social media at the time for London Wembley indicated that both presale Left and Right Front Standing were priced at £172.25 each for the Friday, 21 June, 2024 gig.
Meanwhile, presale General Admission Standing was priced at £110.40.
Unlike reformed Brit Pop legends Oasis, who prompted controversy with their exorbitant ticket prices but still managed to sell out stadiums, Beyoncé has laboured to put bums on seats
Seated tickets, including side view seats and partially obstructed limited view, were considerably cheaper, and started at £58.65, going up to £194.75 each.
For those splashing out for the VIP packages, the Its Been A Long Time Coming Package came in at a staggering £662.40 each, while Karma Is My Boyfriend was priced at £387.40 and the I Remember It All Too Well Package at £332.40.
The Ready for It Package iwas priced a £277.40, It’s A Love Story package £222.40 and We Never Go Out Of Style £196.60.
While VIP packages are now scarce ahead of Beyoncé’s six nights in Tottenham, twelve Premium Seat packages were still available for her June 5th show, at a cost of £546.00 each.
The Texas Hold ‘Em singer, 43, officially kicked off her 32-stadium Cowboy Carter tour at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday night.
From there, the pop superstar will perform across the US and Europe before closing out in Las Vegas on July 26.
But when it comes to shifting tickets Beyoncé is struggling compared to her previous stadium tours.
There were more than 3,000 seats available at SoFi Stadium last week, with huge numbers still available mere moments before she took the stage on Monday night, according to seat maps on Ticketmaster.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, an inside source maintained that resellers – individuals or businesses that scoop up mass amounts of concert tickets and resell them to fans for exorbitant prices – are largely to blame for limited attendance.
Still, the insider claimed Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z were remaining hopeful and are ‘expecting more of her fans to buy tickets today and in the coming days if resale gets cheaper.’
‘Ticket prices could be slashed the evening of some dates to fill the seats if they are noticeably empty,’ they added.
There’s been much speculation in recent weeks that Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour has seemingly fumbled the bag.
Shortly after the Single Ladies singer announced her tour in February, fans quickly complained about the jaw-dropping prices of tickets, which ranged from hundreds to even thousands of dollars.
As of Wednesday afternoon, tickets were still available across all six of her planned dates in London between the 6th and 16th of June
But last week, one fan claimed to have found resale tickets in the nosebleed section of the star’s SoFi Stadium show for as low as $20. They then compared it to the cost of one of the limited edition Minecraft Movie Big Mac Meals from McDonald’s, which was around the same price point.
‘Due to its low demand, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour tickets ($20) are now cheaper than a McDonald’s Minecraft meal ($21.39),’ they wrote.
Another fan pointed out that some seats for the SoFi Stadium show were going for $27 at one point, although they have since increased to $37 for the cheapest seats.
‘LMAO WHAT A FLOP!!’ one user replied to the post.
‘As a Beyhive I’m really happy that this happened, cause the prices were absolutely ridiculous in the first place,’ another fan wrote.
Beyoncé’s highly anticipated ‘Cowboy Carter’ tour kicked off on Monday, April 28 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California
There were more than 3,000 seats available at SoFi Stadium last week, with huge numbers still available mere moments before she took the stage, according to seat maps on Ticketmaster
Meanwhile, one Beyoncé fan claimed their floor ticket had been moved by the ‘production team’ to a different section at SoFi Stadium ‘because of an obstructed view of the stage.’
In response, several users wondered whether it was because of the elaborate stage design or if they were moved simply because of small turnout.
Despite the speculation, however, the tour’s promoter Live Nation confirmed in a statement to Billboard that Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour is 94 percent sold out across all dates.
Perhaps it’s not high ticket prices or resellers that has deterred fans from attending, but rather the A-list couple’s connection to disgraced music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
The music producer is currently sitting in a Brooklyn detention center as he awaits his May 5 trial for charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. He denies the claims.
Beyoncé opened the nearly three-hour show at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles on Monday evening with American Requiem
In a December 2024 lawsuit, Jay-Z was accused of raping a 13-year-old in 2000 alongside Diddy. The lawsuit was dismissed by the alleged victim’s attorney two months later in what Jay-Z hailed as a ‘victory’
Beyoncé and Jay Z, who have been married since 2008 and share three children, were dragged into Diddy’s ongoing legal woes in December when a lawsuit accused Jay-Z of raping a 13-year-old in 2000 alongside Diddy. He vehemently denied the allegation. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice by the alleged victim’s attorney two months later in what Jay-Z hailed a ‘victory.’
But that hasn’t stopped those close to the Halo singer from worrying that her husband’s former association with the disgraced rapper may be having an effect on her low ticket sales.
‘Beyoncé isn’t worried about her fans not supporting her, but some close to her are concerned about how casual listeners may have responded to the association with Diddy,’ the source said.
‘Beyoncé and Jay-Z see him as a thing of the past so it is irritating to some extent that being associated with him may have affected her ticket sales.’
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Beyoncé for comment.
A source said Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s inner circle are ‘concerned about how casual listeners may have responded to the association with Diddy’
Despite rumors circulating about low ticket sales for her Cowboy Carter tour, the album was in fact a huge success when it was released in March last year.
Not only did it top the Billboard 200 chart, but lead single Texas Hold ‘Em also hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and the Country chart.
She took home the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, marking Beyoncé’s first time winning the major category, and Best Country Album, the first Black woman to achieve this feat.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour broke records, pulling in $579 million and securing a spot among the top 10 highest-grossing tours in history.
