After taking a seven year hiatus from touring, singer-songwriter and actress Ariana Grande is back on the road in 2026 for her Eternal Sunshine World Tour.
Her announcement on Aug. 28, over a year after releasing her seventh studio album “Eternal Sunshine” and its deluxe version “Brighter Days Ahead,” sparked massive excitement among fans. Me being one of them, I signed up for presale tickets as soon as I could, but unfortunately, I was left empty-handed.
I couldn’t get tickets as soon as they dropped, so what? No big deal, I can wait for the resellers and buy tickets then, right?
Wrong.
The resale ticket prices for the tour’s North American leg are currently selling at a premium — thousands more than what they were purchased for.
For the opening show at Oakland Arena in Oakland, California, a lower-level ticket in section 128 is priced at a whopping $21,420, according to TicketMaster.
In an Instagram story posted on Sept. 13, Grande released a statement showing her concern for the issue.
“hi my angels, i have been on set all week but i wanted to let you know that what’s been happening with the secondary ticket resellers has been brought to my attention and of course i am incredibly bothered by it,” Grande wrote. “i’ve been on the phone every second of my free time fighting for a solution. i hear you and hopefully, we will be able to get more of these tickets into your hands instead of theirs. it’s not right.”
This comes as a shock following Grande’s decision not to use dynamic pricing — a strategy that adjusts ticket prices based on demand. Instead, the ticket prices were set in stone, ranging from about $75 to $799 to ensure fairness and affordability. Now, these resellers have made the tour almost completely inaccessible.
Being that Grande hasn’t toured in so long, demand for tickets was already high. “Eternal Sunshine” is acclaimed as some of Grande’s most transparent work, resonating heavily with her global audience, and making them eager to hear her hits “we can’t be friends,” “the boy is mine” and other nostalgic tracks from her discography live.
“I would love to do shows, I love being on stage, I miss being on stage, I miss my fans so much,” Grande said in an interview with Zach Sang in February. “Just like music, I’m really excited to redefine my relationship to shows, when I’m ready…”
Following her Sweetener World Tour in 2019, Grande opened up about her mental health issues, stating she was doing therapy sessions, dealing with PTSD, anxiety, depression and grief. Now that fans understand how difficult this time was for her, they’re excited that she has now not only deepened her connection with music, but made this tour a testament to her personal growth.
That is what makes these ticket prices so outrageous. This tour should have been a celebration of Grande’s return to music after filming “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good,” not an opportunity for scalpers to make a quick buck on fans who have been waiting almost a decade to see her live again.
While Grande has spoken about pushing for solutions, this is a much greater issue that could potentially taint live music for any artist. Take Rihanna, for example. She hasn’t released an album since 2016, but if she were to drop an album and announce a tour soon, fans would most likely face the same issue Grande fans are facing now.
Stricter regulations need to be put in place — there is no reason you should be reselling a ticket for hundreds, or even thousands, more than what you paid originally. Don’t be that person who ruins something that could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone else.
Get a job. Exploiting fans isn’t your payday.
