Presale for Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin’ Circuit Tour opened Tuesday (Feb. 11), and as expected, the BeyHive faced chaos. Fans dealt with agonizing wait times, staggering service fees, and Ticketmaster glitches that turned securing tickets into a battle.
Frustration erupted online. “We need to rally like the Swifties and sue Ticketmaster because this is actually insane,” one fan vented on X. Others shared similar complaints, with some struggling through endless CAPTCHA puzzles, only to find tickets gone by the time they made it through. “Me: Doing their dumb puzzle. Ticketmaster: Tickets no longer available,” one user joked.
This isn’t just a Beyoncé issue. J. Cole’s one-night-only show at Madison Square Garden saw 150,000 people in the presale queue for a venue that holds fewer than 20,000. Kendrick Lamar and SZA fans faced the same ordeal when tickets for the Grand National Tour went on sale in December 2024. With Ticketmaster and Live Nation controlling much of the ticketing industry, fans have few options.
However, this time, the overwhelming demand isn’t entirely Ticketmaster’s fault. Unlike her Renaissance World Tour, which included 56 dates, Beyoncé is only playing eight cities for Cowboy Carter. Fewer shows mean higher demand, and tickets vanished in minutes.
In response, Beyoncé and Live Nation expanded the tour. On Monday (Feb. 10), they added more dates, including a third show at Chicago’s Soldier Field on May 18, two additional nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on June 14 and 16, and new dates at Paris’ Stade de France and Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The BeyHive presale is just the beginning. Ticketmaster will hold another round for Verizon members and Citi cardholders on Wednesday (Feb. 12) at noon ET, followed by a final presale on Thursday (Feb. 13) at the same time.
For those lucky enough to secure tickets, the struggle is over. Everyone else must decide whether to brave the resale market, take a chance on the general sale, or hope Beyoncé announces more dates—or even an Act III tour.
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