Highmark Stadium concerts expected to draw sell out crowds

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Over the last several weeks, the concert lineup at Highmark Stadium in 2027 has come into form with several acts announcing performance dates at the new stadium in Orchard Park.

Just on Thursday, country music star Morgan Wallen announced a pair of performances for July 23 and 24 at Highmark Stadium as part of his "Last Time I Checked" tour. He joins acts like Zach Bryan, Metallica, Noah Kahan and Kenny Chesney that have announced concerts in Western New York in the summer of 2027.

Nick Giammusso from VIPTIX.com is impressed with the list of acts that have already been lined up for the first year of concerts at the new stadium.

"They have a lot of seats to sell, so those are acts that are playing stadiums across the U.S. So they should sell well, and, in particular, this area does very well with Canadians coming across the border," Giammusso said with WBEN. "We expect sold-out shows, and it's an exciting time to be a concertgoer, for sure."

Giammusso says the Canadian market is attractive for artists when picking a destination like Western New York to perform, especially in a facility that can sell 60,000-plus seats.

When it comes to allocating tickets, Giammusso says it's up to the artists to control the ticket prices, and the promoters - like Live Nation or Ticketmaster - to execute a given ticket plan.

"They can turn on dynamic pricing, they can hide inventory. It's not against the law to hide inventory, but the venue or the Buffalo Bills really have not much to do when they come out with a ticket plan. That's all from the artist and the promoter," Giammusso explained.

As for the pre-sale of tickets, Giammusso says there's been studies done that say 50% of the stadium's capacity could go to pre-sale purchasers before they even hit the general public.

"Some seats go to the credit card sponsors," he said. "Let's say for American Express, they'll have a pre-sale for American Express. The Buffalo Bills will do a PSL pre-sale."

And while Giammusso expects sold-out shows for many of the acts at the new stadium, he says the pricing will all depend on the artist in town, but it all starts with dynamic pricing.

"The way they've been selling tickets is they start at high prices and they gage the demand, and the prices are dynamically set. They start with a high figure, and then they get lower as the tickets don't sell," Giammusso explained. "It's almost counterintuitive these days to buy early, unless you get a chance to get on the pre-sale. But again, there's no guarantee of what that pre-sale price will be."

Giammusso's best advice with purchasing tickets for some of these concerts is be patient and wait it out.

"The way they sell tickets these days is based on FOMO, it's the fear of missing out. They will hold inventory back and create almost a fear of fans getting left out into the cold, and having no seats available. That drives ticket prices, and that drives people to buy now. And buying early these days is not something you you want to do," Giammusso said. "You want to let the market settle down, and more often than not, prices will be a lot better than the day that tickets go on sale."