After Eric Church's 'Selfish' Move, a Concession

Country star canceled Saturday night concert so he could watch UNC play Duke
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 30, 2022 2:00 PM CDT
Updated Apr 3, 2022 7:20 AM CDT
Fans Peeved as Eric Church Axes Concert for NCAA Game
Eric Church performs a medley at the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards on Monday, March 7, 2022, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.   (AP Photo/John Locher)

Update: Country superstar Eric Church got his wish. His beloved Tar Heels beat the Blue Devils on Saturday night, and he got to watch them do so, having cancelled a San Antonio, Texas, concert in order to attend the Final Four game. The New York Post reports he is attempting to make it up to the fans he let down. Church on Friday tweeted that he'd play a "one of a kind free show" in New Braunfels, Texas, on Sept. 2 for those who had tickets to the April 2 show. "Thank you San Antonio for letting me take my family to this game," Church tweeted. "It took me a minute to figure out how and when I could properly express my thanks." Our original story from Wednesday follows:

Eric Church is a big Tar Heels fan, and that might end up costing him some fans of his own. The country singer on Tuesday announced he was canceling a sold-out San Antonio show scheduled for Saturday in order to attend the Final Four game between the University of North Carolina and Duke. Ticketholders received an email from Ticketmaster that contained Church's statement. It explains that to have those two schools "matchup in the Final Four for the first time in history of the NCAA Tournament is any sports enthusiast's dream," and as a lifelong fan he and his family would be attending the game.

"This is the most selfish thing I’ve ever asked the Choir to do," he continued, "to give up your Saturday night plans with us so that I can have this moment with my family and sports community. However, it’s that same type of passion felt by the people who fill the seats at our concerts that makes us want to be part of a crowd at a game of this significance." If you're wondering what the reaction has been, there's plenty of Twitter comments along the lines of "you're dead to me." Some noted it was the first concert they planned to attend since the start of the pandemic; others pointed out that some fans had purchased plane tickets and hotel rooms in order to attend.

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A sample tweet flagged by Variety: "I’m a big sports fan. I’m also a responsible professional. Gutsy call impacting thousands of people and their hard earned $ in this economy to selfishly (your words) attend a game. @ericchurch I hope this was a calculated risk. #lostafan #poorchoice #GoDuke." However, a rep for Church told Variety that most of the feedback the 2020 CMA Entertainer of the Year was getting in the closed "Church Choir" Facebook fan page was positive. TMZ points out that tipoff is at 7:49pm CT—11 minutes before the concert was to begin—"for all you in San Antonio who suddenly have free Saturday night plans." (More country music stories.)

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