Romantasy and Ice Hockey Collide: Rebecca Yarros Apologizes After Fourth Wing Night Tickets Sell Out Immediately

What do most fans of the Colorado Avalanche love? Dragons and romance, apparently.

It might strike some as odd, the coming together of these two seemingly disparate passions. Professional hockey is perhaps second only to boxing in terms of bouts that are likely to break out in melee combat, with its well-deserved reputation for knocked-out teeth, slap shots meant to hit the bread basket instead of the biscuit, and scores kept as much in terms of blood-grudge as with the scoreboard. And you don't necessarily figure that fans of all that are also going to enjoy nestling into an overstuffed chair with a series of books — epic in both length and scope — about dragons and the romantic intrigue that surrounds them.

Which was probably what Colorado Springs' fan-favorite author Rebecca Yarros thought when she agreed to participate in a November event called Fourth Wing Night, themed around her super-popular novel Fourth Wing, the first in the Empyrean series. The story follows the journey of Violet Sorrengail, who is forced by her military-General mother to join the Basgiath War College and become a dragon rider in the kingdom of Navarre — even though all Violet has ever wanted is the quiet life of a scribe.

You know: the usual hockey story.

The game was scheduled for November 13, and Yarros herself — a self-described "good Colorado hockey girl" in her August 18 Facebook video in which she publicized the event — announced the goodies that would be included in the $80 ticket price for attending fans: special jerseys featuring a custom seal that combines the Denver NHL team’s logo with stylized imagery inspired by the Fourth Wing cover art and a special Avalanche Edition of the novel itself, sporting a unique maroon cover and the same seal. The VIP package includes a book signing with Yarros, “along with some other fun things,” she said in the video, which she concluded by saying it was "a dream come true.”

This is true not only for Yarros but also her many fans, as well as the Ehlers-Danlos Society, which supports people diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes that cause tissue disorders. That charitable organization will receive a portion of the proceeds from each package sold, as well as a portion of the royalties that Yarros — who was diagnosed with hypermobile EDS just out of her teens — will make on the Avalanche Edition of the book.

But like some dreams do, this one turned dark. Tickets sold out almost instantly. More than 30,000 fans flooded Ticketmaster to procure those sweet, swag-filled VIP tickets — but only 300 VIP tickets were available, and many fans were turned away, some reportedly after waiting for hours online. Certified after-market tickets as of the afternoon of Friday, August 22, were topping out at $725 plus fees, with most prices hovering around $250, triple the original cost.

For some, it was reminiscent of the 2023 Ticketmaster scandal around Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, which was such a clusterfuck that it turned not only legions of fans against the ticketing outlet, but also drew the ire of Swift herself — and eventually led to several lawsuits (some of which are still pending) and even some Congressional hearings.

Which is why Yarros jumped to respond, posting a public apology and vowing to bring the event back in 2026. “I’m so sorry that yesterday’s sale for Fourth Wing Night with the Avalanche was so frustrating,” she wrote, referring to the August 19 sale date. “I know how much time many of you invested.”

The Avalanche, for its part, posted a Fourth Wing Night Waitlist that promises if the venue is "able to add additional inventory to the night, we will contact you via email."

So what happened? Are we witnessing a crossover audience we didn't know existed? Or is this just another example of the nasty and ungenerous side of capitalism in which the avaricious take advantage of what was supposed to be a fun and quirky little thing for the sake of a quick buck? Too bad, so sad for fans who are sincere followers of both hockey and draconic battles of the skies and the heart. It's pay up or miss out. And yes, this is why we can't have nice things.

Fourth Wing fans, find the disappointed Swiftie in your life. They almost certainly have a sympathetic shoulder to offer you.