Photo Credit: Julian Dakdouk for Parkwood Entertainment
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour ticket pre-sales went live this week, with super fans discovering that ‘dynamic pricing’ means gouging. Here’s the latest.
Queen Bey announced the “Cowboy Carter & the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour,” already adding dates for cities in London and Chicago. But ticket prices for the tour have led fans to take to social media to decry prices—especially when they noticed the difference between the official fan pre-sale and the Verizon pre-sale the following day.
Screenshots captured of ticket purchases between one and the other highlight a massive difference in pricing for ‘super fans’ who were eager enough to pre-register for the ticket sale. Take a look at both of these screenshots highlighting how much a verified fan paid during the BeyHive pre-sale and how much a Verizon customer paid during their pre-sale.
Photo Credit: @myloto_xylo X/Twitter Beyonce’s Pre-Sale Prices for BeyHive fans
Photo Credit: @myloto_xylo X/Twitter Beyonce’s Pre-Sale Prices for Verizon’s Pre-Sale
The BeyHive pre-sale event sold tickets in Section 232 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA for $595 per seat, with service fees of $226.30 attached for a total ticket purchase price of $1,417.30. Meanwhile, tickets in the same section 232 the following day during the Verizon Access Pre-sale were sold for $199 per seat with a tacked on $100.40 service fee. Even with a parking fee of $55, the Verizon Pre-sale tickets in the same section totaled $553.40—three times less than ‘verified’ super fans paid during the BeyHive sale.
Another captured image of Ticketmaster’s ‘Latest Updates’ for those in the ticket queue highlights that tickets at the Inglewood Stadium were priced “in advance by the tour” from $105.25 to $4,769.52. Ticketmaster notes that those prices “do not apply to VIP or hotel packages.” Ouch. Fans are taking to reddit to compare the prices they paid for their tickets across venues, locations, and seating spaces. The result is not pretty and fans on social media are upset (but still paying those prices).
Photo Credit: Ticketmaster
“Queens, why did y’all allow dynamic pricing to be turned on during the Beyhive pre-sale yesterday?” questions one user. “That was not fair. We are real hive and thinking we are getting the best pick of tickets and best prices. Meanwhile, locals got to stroll into the Verizon pre-sale today and spend a third, if not less, of what we spent yesterday for the same seats. There’s no reason a nosebleed ticket should have been over $500 yesterday and less than 100 today.”
Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing’ algorithm obviously takes into account super fan status when it sets prices for these seats. At this point, signing up for an artist pre-sale appears to be similar to slapping on a huge ‘GOUGE ME’ sign onto your back. The only difference is you’re not buying tickets outside the stadium from some shady guy—Ticketmaster is reaping the benefits with the artist’s permission.
Growing up on a farm, the fattest pigs and cattle sold for the most at auction and I see no difference here. Super fan status means you’re willing to pay any price to see the artist—making you the fattest of cattle at the auction. Ticketmaster reclaiming the secondary ticketing market through its dynamic pricing model means more of those super fan bucks end up in the artists’ pockets rather than scalpers—even if fans are voicing loudly how unhappy they are with those prices. (You still paid them.)