BorderPulse’s story on the cost of the Josh Ross concert at Cenovus Energy Hub drew a wide range of reactions on social media, with readers split over whether the spending was justified.

The story reported at least $202,279.90 in confirmed city spending on the June concert, based on a review of city accounts payable records. The City of Lloydminster said it could not yet confirm revenue or whether the event turned a profit, with a full report expected in October.

Some readers defended the cost as standard practice for booking touring acts. Brandon Bant said transportation costs are typically paid on top of performance fees.

“Transport is always paid on top of performance fees. Standard practice,” Bant said.

Sam Hunka took a similar view of the overall spending.

“Nothing wrong with this. It’s the cost of bringing in reputable acts,” Hunka said.

Chris Bakos said the concert was worth celebrating regardless of the final numbers.

“Lloyd is better off having a venue like this. These concerts should be sold out so fast. Getting to see bands like this right here in Lloyd is incredible,” Bakos said.

Other commenters questioned whether the numbers add up to a win for the city. Willis Watrich pointed to ticket pricing and venue capacity as reasons to doubt the concert broke even.

“There is no way they made money. That’s why they aren’t bragging they made or at least broke even,” Watrich said.

Anne Tranmer-Carlton criticized the length of time it’s taking the city to finalize its numbers.

“They still don’t even know if they made a profit, three months later. I guess it takes a long time to count those dollars they spent,” Tranmer-Carlton said.

Several readers, including Blair Earl Schwingenschlegel, asked directly how many tickets were sold, a figure the city has not released publicly for either the June concert or the story published this week.

The Border Pulse responded to one reader’s estimate of the concert’s ticket revenue directly in the comments.

“If it was a win, we’ll know in Oct.,” the outlet wrote.

The city’s full report on the concert’s financials, along with a broader review of Cenovus Energy Hub’s first year of operations, is expected to go before the Governance and Priorities Committee in October.