Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour, one of the most anticipated concert events of the year, is encountering slower-than-expected ticket sales in the weeks leading up to its kickoff on April 28 at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. This news comes as a surprise to many fans and industry watchers alike, especially after the initial ticket release in February reportedly caused Ticketmaster to crash due to overwhelming demand.

With less than two weeks remaining before opening night, more than 3,200 seats remain unsold for the LA opener alone, with secondary market tickets dipping as low as $35. That’s a stark contrast to the record-breaking demand Beyoncé has typically drawn on past tours. Her subsequent shows in Los Angeles are also showing high availability, with over 3,800 tickets still up for grabs per night.

The trend isn’t isolated to California. Across the country, key tour stops are experiencing similar slowdowns. In Atlanta, more than 5,800 tickets remain available, with nearly half of the floor seats still unsold. In New Jersey, the final tour date has over 5,500 tickets still on the market.

Despite this, Live Nation, the tour’s promoter, maintains that 94% of tickets have been sold overall. While that may reflect strong early demand, the current availability suggests a mismatch in pricing strategy or a shift in audience engagement in today’s live music economy.

From a Pan-African cultural perspective, Beyoncé’s recent works—particularly Cowboy Carter—have been celebrated for their bold reclamation of Black musical traditions, especially within genres like country and Americana, where Black contributions have historically been erased or sidelined. This tour was expected to not only celebrate her artistry but also elevate the conversation around Black identity in traditionally white-dominated genres.

So why the stall in ticket sales?

Some suggest the genre pivot may not have landed as broadly with her global fanbase as previous projects like Renaissance. Others point to macroeconomic concerns, including inflation and high living costs, that are leading fans to be more selective with entertainment spending. There’s also the possibility of market saturation, with numerous A-list artists on tour in a post-pandemic boom.

Still, Beyoncé remains an undeniable icon. Whether the remaining tickets will sell out in a last-minute surge or remain unsold could affect how future experimental or genre-blending projects are received—not just commercially, but culturally.

Regardless of how this tour performs at the box office, Cowboy Carter is already shaping discourse. For Pan-African audiences and the diaspora, it reaffirms the centrality of Black voices in reshaping global pop culture narratives.