A few days before Kanye West's concert, half of the tickets still unsold/Who covers the costs?

2026-07-08 14:00:00, Ekonomi CNA

A few days before Kanye West's concert in Tirana, the public narrative remains divided. On the one hand, the prime minister talks about record international interest and allocates 4.2 million euros from the state budget. On the other hand, the official ticket sales platform continues to show half of the tickets still unsold, raising questions about whether the concert will be able to cover its costs. The government gave 4 million euros to support tourism, when the concert itself does not seem to be attracting many tourists!

Tirana is just days away from Kanye West's concert, an event billed as the biggest music event ever held in Albania. But as construction continues on the temporary 60,000-seat Eagle Stadium, the most important test seems to be not the construction of the stage, but the market's reaction.

After weeks of promotion and expectations for tens of thousands of visitors, the question that remains is whether the real demand for tickets is keeping pace with the enthusiasm that is accompanying this project.

Prime Minister Edi Rama stated that the stadium is being built specifically for this concert and that the interest from the international public has been greater than for the UEFA Conference League final, held in Tirana in 2022.

"With the stadium built specifically for the biggest concert this country has ever seen, for which more tickets were bought by foreigners than for the Conference League final in Tirana...", Rama wrote on social media.

If this statement were translated into figures, the concert would constitute one of the events with the greatest tourist impact the country has ever known. However, no data has been made public to support this claim so far.

It is not known how many tickets were sold in total, out of the 60,000 capacity, how many of them were purchased by foreign citizens, which markets the buyers come from, and on what basis the comparison was made with the Conference League final. The latter was held at the "Air Albania" stadium, which has a capacity of up to 25,000 seats, or almost three times less than the one claimed for the improvised stadium where the concert will be held.

Meanwhile, what can be observed publicly is the official ticket sales platform. At the time of publication of this article, a significant portion of seats are still available.

More than half of the tickets are unsold, especially in the East and West stands (see photos at the end). For a concert that is being billed as the biggest music event ever held in Albania, the appearance of the market does not give the impression of a near “sold out” event.

Organizers can release tickets in phases, keep reserved sections, or vary availability according to their sales strategy. However, the lack of official data and what is publicly displayed on the ticketing platform has created a contrast to the optimism expressed by the government.

The economic threshold remains 40 thousand tickets.

When "Monitor" analyzed the economic stakes of Ye's concert a few weeks ago, it raised questions about the size of the infrastructure for an event of this scale. The construction of a temporary stadium, the mobilization of an extensive logistics chain, security, transportation and the management of tens of thousands of participants represent a considerable organizational investment.

At the time, the organizing company RedCloud told "Monitor" that by the end of May, around 25,000 tickets had been sold. According to it, the threshold for the concert to be economically viable is around 40,000 tickets sold, or 67% of capacity.

For this article, "Monitor" contacted the company again to get an update on sales progress, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Tickets for the concert range from 120 euros for standard categories to 339 euros for VIP sectors, making this one of the most expensive events ever organized in the country.

The organizers have stated that the average ticket price is 240 euros. Assuming that all tickets are sold, the proceeds from the sale amount to around 14-15 million euros. The singer alone is demanding a payment of 7 million euros.

If tickets are not sold and the concert is organized, questions arise about who will cover the costs of this concert.

"Monitor" has learned from the country's largest advertising agencies that interest from sponsors has been low due to the expensive price of the sponsorship package of 250-300 thousand euros, which is considered too high by local companies, in addition to the fact that there is a hesitation due to Kanye West's controversial image.

While tickets are not being sold, part of the cost is being covered by the government.

During an inspection of the construction works for the stadium being built in Kashar for the Kanye West concert yesterday, Prime Minister Edi Rama described the event as an opportunity to promote Albania, boost tourism and create a tradition of organizing major international events in the country. He stressed that the project is a private initiative, while affirming that the state has contributed 400 million lekë, or about 4.2 million euros, to support the realization of the concert.

A few days before Kanye West's concert, half of the tickets still

The Istanbul model is moving to Tirana

A month ago, Ye held his concert at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, where organizers announced the attendance of around 118,000 spectators, while the artist himself described it as the concert with the largest number of fans ever gathered in a stadium.

According to information provided by "Monitor", the company Hegi Logistics is transporting the structures used in the Istanbul concert to Albania, to be assembled at the "Eagle Stadium". This shows that the organization in Tirana is being built on the same technical infrastructure that was used in the record-breaking event in Turkey.

Doubts have also spread to fans, there is no exhaustion of accommodation capacities.

The uncertainties are not only being discussed in Albania. Even in the international Ye fan forums on Reddit, the main topic is no longer the artistic performance, but the pace of ticket sales and the development of the concert.

"How is it possible that there are still so many unsold tickets a week before the concert?... the lack of sales is making me suspicious," writes a user who is planning to travel to Tirana.

Another attributes the situation to high prices: “Tickets are not selling because they are too expensive… Albania is one of the poorest countries in Europe and many people are waiting for the stadium to be finished or for some official announcement to be made.”

There are also those who believe that the concert will take place without problems, but admit that demand has not been at the expected level. "It will take place without question. But currently the tickets are selling moderately because they are very expensive," comments another user, also mentioning the use of promotional codes for buyers.

Of course, the comments on Reddit do not constitute proof of the actual sales performance, but they provide an indication of the perception of a part of the international public, precisely the one that the organizers and the government say will be the main engine of this event.

While the Albanian market is small for concerts of this size, the hope was in foreign tourists.

A real element that shows the interest of tourists is that of hotel bookings. Although it is the peak of the season and a big concert is expected to be held, in the capital you can book in several hotels or even apartments, even with prices of 40-50 euros per night, according to a simple search on Booking. Earlier, Wizz Air also confirmed to Monitor that they had not noticed any demand beyond normal for flights around the concert dates.

The scene contrasts sharply with similar precedents or events. In May 2022, when the UEFA Europa Conference League Final 2022 took place at the “Air Albania” stadium, between AS Roma and Feyenoord, the accommodation market reacted immediately.

Even though the match was played on May 25, reservations for the nights of May 24–25 reached prices ranging from 600 to nearly 10,000 euros per unit. This was an effect of the algorithm indicating high demand, because prices then stabilized./ Monitor

A few days before Kanye West's concert, half of the tickets still