Garth Brooks cancels November concert after 90,000 ticket queue is flooded with bots

Fans who successfully purchased tickets for the cancelled November 7 performance will receive refunds

Garth Brooks has cancelled a planned Kansas City concert after his team discovered that bots made up most of the reported 90,000 people in the ticket queue, preventing genuine fans from accessing tickets.

The country music star had announced an additional matinee performance at the T-Mobile Center, scheduled for November 7, as part of his Blame It All On My Roots tour across the United States. Tickets went on sale on October 23, but the process was disrupted when automated accounts overwhelmed the queue.

In a statement published on his official website on October 26, Brooks’ team described the incident as “one of the most frustrating moments” of the tour. The statement explained that bots flooded the queue and that the problem became severe enough for the ticket sale to be shut down.

Brooks also acknowledged that the decision to add the performance had been his suggestion. He said he had been concerned that fans were unable to secure tickets during the original sale, particularly given his history and popularity in Kansas City.

“Most of that number turned out to be bots,” the statement said of the approximately 90,000 people recorded in the queue.

The show was subsequently cancelled, with the team confirming that fans who had already purchased tickets would receive full refunds. The cancellation highlights the challenges artists and ticketing platforms face when automated systems interfere with access to live events.

Brooks is not the only musician to have raised concerns about bots and ticket reselling. British singer Raye recently said that sign-ups for tickets to her This Symphony May Contain Hope performance at the Royal Albert Hall had been overwhelmed by scalpers and AI bots.

The venue holds approximately 5,000 people, while 1.8 million people reportedly registered for the chance to purchase tickets. Raye said her team had to manually review registrations to identify applicants believed to be genuine fans.

Both cases underline growing concerns about fair access to concert tickets, as artists seek ways to prevent automated accounts and resellers from shutting ordinary fans out of popular shows.