Fresh off her Super Bowl halftime appearance, Beyoncé announced her Formation World Tour. Fans went wild, credit card balances were quickly checked, and the BeyHive prepared to pay Ticketmaster.com for concert tickets to see their Queen. However, Beyoncé's fans had better hope they have hefty credit limits available, if they wish to catch the Formation World Tour.
While tickets officially go on sale on February 16th, American Express cardholders and Beyoncé fan club members got a sneak peak at the prices last week and they are a doozy. There are floor seats selling for $1,450 per ticket. That isn't even considered a VIP ticket. $1,450?! Does that come with caviar, Dom Perignon, and a Louis Vuitton handbag? Does Bey sing her entire catalog INCLUDING all of the Destiny's Child songs? Does a week long vacation to Cancun come with that price tag? What the heck Bey?!
With floor seats costing more than the average rent/mortgage, what options do fans have? Let's say you just want to be in the same stadium as Beyoncé. Two tickets in section F11 (the farthest floor seats from the stage) at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field – where the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles play – will run you $611. Six hundred bucks to be at the opposite end of a football field as Beyoncé. Tickets for Pasadena's Rose Bowl are originally priced at $45-$305, but even before the tickets are officially on sale, resale tickets are going for $155-$1105. Sadly, those prices are likely to just keep climbing.
Beyoncé is not the only artist selling concert tickets at such high prices. In the past year alone, a number of popular artists including U2, Luke Bryan, Taylor Swift, and The Grateful Dead have charged hundreds of dollars per ticket, as the chart below illustrates
Artist | Date | Venue | Ticket Cost |
U2 | 7/18/2015 | Madison Square Garden | $670.58 |
Grateful Dead | 7/4/2015 | Soldier Field | $597.57 |
Grateful Dead | 7/5/2015 | Soldier Field | $596.68 |
Taylor Swift | 7/10/2015 | MetLife Stadium | $579.32 |
Grateful Dead | 7/3/2015 | Soldier Field | $553.34 |
U2 | 7/19/2015 | Madison Square Garden | $535.14 |
Luke Bryan | 7/17/2015 | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre | $531.21 |
U2 | 7/22/2015 | Madison Square Garden | $469.23 |
U2 | 7/23/2015 | Madison Square Garden | $446.83 |
Taylor Swift | 7/18/2015 | Soldier Field | $418.15 |
The Eagles | 7/17/2015 | Boardwalk Hall Arena | $409.21 |
Taylor Swift | 7/11/2015 | MetLife Stadium | $392.11 |
U2 | 7/26/2015 | Madison Square Garden | $381.09 |
U2 | 7/31/2015 | Madison Square Garden | $374.68 |
U2 | 7/11/2015 | TD Garden | $371.24 |
Garth Brooks | 7/12/2015 | Smoothie King Center | $370.03 |
U2 | 7/10/2015 | TD Garden | $334.32 |
U2 | 7/30/2015 | Madison Square Garden | $331.40 |
U2 | 7/7/2015 | Air Canada Centre | $330.33 |
U2 | 7/27/2015 | Madison Square Garden | $326.23 |
U2 | 7/6/2015 | Air Canada Centre | $321.94 |
The Eagles | 7/13/2015 | John Paul Jones Arena | $303.75 |
One Direction | 7/11/2015 | Levi's Stadium | $300.44 |
Is it worth it? I went to 17 concerts in 2015 and the most expensive ticket of them all was Ed Sheeran at the Hollywood Bowl, for $85. Is a night basking in the glow of Beyoncé, U2, The Grateful Dead, Taylor Swift, or any of the other artists truly worth more than $300 per person per night? Have you ever paid hundreds of dollars for one concert ticket? Tell us about it in the comments.
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