Fact Check: Did Burna Boy Sell Only 1500 Tickets for His FNB Stadium Concert?

Nigeria’s Burna Boy has finally canceled his forthcoming FNB Stadium concert after the organizers failed to meet their financial, technical, and production obligations.

While there were indeed low ticket sales, the rumors flying around that Burna Boy’s FNB Stadium concert was only able to sell 1500 appear to be a lie, a jab thrown at the Nigerian artist as a form of mockery by South Africans.

The actual number of tickets sold for the FNB Stadium concert was around 17,000. Although this is a small portion of the stadium’s capacity, which can hold 95,000 people.

Despite the unofficial tension between South Africans and Burna Boy, the low ticket sales were primarily a result of poor event planning. Tickets for the show were only made available a month ago, and extensive media promotion started just weeks before the event. While Burna Boy is indeed a big name, the organizers’ failure to plan properly contributed to the event’s lackluster performance.

Verdict: Only about 17,000 tickets out of the 95,000 available were sold, meaning Burna Boy’s concert was only able to sell 18% of the available tickets, resulting in a significant loss for such a massive event.