Eric Church, 44, is getting heavy criticism after canceling his Saturday San Antonio, TX show on his Gather Again Tour to watch the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels at the NCAA Tournament in New Orleans, LA. The singer‘s supporters quickly shared tweets full of disappointment and anger after he announced the cancellation and reason for it in a message on Ticketmaster on March 30. He called the move the “most selfish” thing he’s asked of his fans, who he refers to as “the Church choir,” and explained his “passion” for the Final Four event comes as “a lifelong Carolina basketball fan.”
If Eric Church really believed in the Tar Heels, he would have never scheduled a show during the Final Four to begin with.
— friendscallmeJay (@Jaypotta) March 30, 2022
I don’t know who Eric Church is but he straight up canceled his show this weekend in Texas to go watch UNC in the Final Four by sending an email message through Ticketmaster to fans with tickets and they are rightfully pissed pic.twitter.com/naGBEgVG2r
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) March 30, 2022
“As a lifelong Carolina basketball fan, I’ve watched Carolina and Duke battle over the years but to have them matchup for the first time in the history of the NCAA Tournament is any sports enthusiast’s dream,” Eric wrote in the message, according to multiple screenshots that were shared online.
Always hit skip when one of your songs came on anyway, but now I'm really going to. Selfish and entitled people have never sat well with me. You'd still be playing at shitty dive bars if it weren't for those hard working people. Hope Duke kicks their ass @ericchurch
— Paige (@xoxo_paige) March 30, 2022
that Eric Church thing is nuts. i am, obviously, a forever diehard Duke fan and even I wouldn’t do what he’s doing. damn.
— Lara (@livehead16) March 30, 2022
“This is also the most selfish thing I’ve ever asked the Choir to do: to give up your Saturday night plans with us so that I can have this moment with my family and sports community,” he continued while defending the cancellation, which was listed on the venue, the AT&T Center’s website. “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.”
Once Eric’s message was sent and went public, critics and fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts. “If Eric Church really believed in the Tar Heels, he would have never scheduled a show during the Final Four to begin with,” one Twitter user wrote while another shared, “I don’t know who Eric Church is but he straight up canceled his show this weekend in Texas to go watch UNC in the Final Four by sending an email message through Ticketmaster to fans with tickets and they are rightfully pissed.”
A third user’s tweet read, “Always hit skip when one of your songs came on anyway, but now I’m really going to. Selfish and entitled people have never sat well with me. You’d still be playing at shitty dive bars if it weren’t for those hard working people. Hope Duke kicks their ass @ericchurch” and a fourth read, “that Eric Church thing is nuts. i am, obviously, a forever diehard Duke fan and even I wouldn’t do what he’s doing. damn.”
One fan also wrote, “One year of waiting and got a hotel, rental and dinner reservation to try to cancel now. Not to mention flew my parents into town to watch the kids for the weekend.”
A representative for Eric said that at this time, he is not able to reschedule the San Antonio tour date, according to NBC News.