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Sabrina Carpenter fans have called out the US pop star after discovering the soaring cost of tickets for her forthcoming arena shows.
Pre-sale tickets to the singer’s Short n’ Sweet Tour became available on 23 July, with punters angrily reporting Ticketmaster crashes hindering their access to the sale. Meanwhile, hopefuls logging on for the general sale on Friday (26 July) were thrust into a digital queue of over 50,000 people.
The “Espresso” singer will be performing a string of dates in the UK and Ireland next year, including two nights at the O2 Arena in London, one night in Birmingham, one night in Glasgow, two nights in Manchester and two nights in Dublin.
As tickets went on sale, outrage quickly emerged on social media at ticket prices that had almost quadrupled since the last time Carpenter toured the UK in 2023.
“Tried again for Sabrina tickets,” one person who had been unsuccessful in the presale wrote on X/Twitter on Friday morning. “Not a single ticket in the whole place for less than £250. This has really put me off her if I’m honest,” they added.
“It’s incredibly greedy and anyone who pays those prices is an absolute mug.”
Meanwhile, another fan who had attended Carpenter’s Emails I Can’t Send Tour in 2023 expressed shock at the inflated ticket prices, adding: “Love Sabrina but £94.20 for a standing ticket when I paid £24.50 for a standing ticket last year.. What[?]”
A third disgruntled fan said: “£240 for Sabrina Carpenter nosebleeds is insane lol. She’s great but she’s had two hit singles. I paid about half that for Taylor Swift nosebleeds and felt it was still a bit too much but at least that’s a three hour show with 18 years of smash hits to cover.”
Elsewhere, another person called the cost “absolutely appalling” while others called the ticket price a “crime” and noted Carpenter’s “nosebleed” seats were more expensive than golden circle access for Beyoncé’s 2023 Renaissance World Tour at the same venue.
The Independent has contacted Carpenter’s representatives for comment.
It comes after Billie Eilish previously faced criticism for ticket prices to her 2025 Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour after fans were appalled to discover that standing tickets were being sold for £145 each.
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One fan, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Independent that buying tickets to concerts often felt like an “online war”, with fans feeling pressured into paying extortionate sums or else risk missing out.
“Artists and ticketing companies know that their fans will pay any amount of money to see their favourite artists,” he said, “and it’s only getting worse because fandoms are so strong. At what point does it go too far? This feels pretty close.”
