WASHINGTON — Beyonce and Jay Z are set to perform a sold-out show at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium next month — and if you don’t have tickets just yet, procrastinating may pay off.
The best time to buy tickets to the couple’s On The Run Tour may be the day before and even the day of the concert, Chris Matcovich, who runs data and communications for ticket search engine TiqIQ, tells CNNMoney.
On July 7, Beyonce and Jay Z will occupy the home of the Baltimore Ravens. About 50,000 of the venue’s more than 71,000-seat capacity went up for sale because no seats are sold behind the stage, which sits near the end zone.
“As we get closer to the shows, ticket brokers who hold big blocks of seats will start to release their inventory, and there will be plenty of inventory this year,” Matcovich says.
This could be the case for many of the popular concerts this year — such as Rihanna and One Direction — because they are playing bigger venues, he says. While Rihanna isn’t set to perform in the region this year, One Direction has a concert on Aug. 11 at Nationals Park.
Buying last-minute tickets pays off if you don’t care where you sit. If you are looking for specific seats, Matcovich says, buy tickets a week or two before the performance — just to be on the safe side.
When tickets for Mr. and Mrs. Carter’s concert went on sale, people snatched them up from sites such as Ticketmaster or Live Nation. The remaining customers can purchase the tickets that trickle down to sites such as StubHub, TicketNetwork, SeatGeek or even eBay, CNNMoney notes.
Many fans, companies and venues purchased large blocks of tickets in hopes of turning them for a profit or giving them to VIPs.
But this year, the ticket-hoarding groups may have bitten off more than they can chew, with too many tickets that they won’t be able to get rid of in time, Matcovich says.
This means ticket seekers may be the big winners with last-minute discounts as people look to ditch tickets they can’t sell.
As of Wednesday morning, there are still tickets available for Beyonce and Jay Z’s show in Baltimore through TicketNetwork, TicketMaster and other online vendors. The vendors offer resale tickets, which — as noted on their websites — mean they “often exceed face value.”
The resale tickets are verified by the online vendor, but won’t come cheap.
As of Wednesday morning, through TicketNetwork, the least expensive ticket is listed at $85, and they go all the way to more than $4,000 a pop.
The On The Run Tour kicks off later this month at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium. The couple will perform 18 shows in 16 cities.
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