Ticketmaster Breaks Down What Happened During Taylor Swift Ticket Saga

Taylor Swift fans were left questioning after thousands of fans were stuck in queues for hours, others lost their places in line due to technical glitches and inventory was left so low that general public sales were canceled following a presale event for the singer’s upcoming “The Eras Tour” this week. So what exactly happened? Ticketmaster sought to clarify the details behind the saga that had so many fans disappointed this week. “The Eras on sale made one thing clear: Taylor Swift is an unstoppable force and continues to set records. We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn’t been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for the Eras Tour,” Ticketmaster wrote in a blog post Thursday. The site said that its “verified fan” registration program is designed to amplify real human accounts for ticketing and weed out bots, making for smoother sale events, but fans will note that Tuesday’s presale was anything but smooth. The company noted that it invited 1.5 million people to participate in an on sale event for the upcoming stadium tour, which includes a stop in Chicago. Another 2 million so-called “verified fans” were put on a waiting list. “Historically, working with Verified Fan invite codes has worked as we’ve been able to manage the volume coming into the site to shop for tickets. However, this time the staggering number of bot attacks as well as fans who didn’t have invite codes drove unprecedented traffic on our site, resulting in 3.5 billion total system requests – 4x our previous peak,” the company said. “Never before has a Verified Fan on sale sparked so much attention – or uninvited volume. This disrupted the predictability and reliability that is the hallmark of our Verified Fan platform.” Tuesday’s presale event left millions of fans waiting in queues for hours as messages on the site said it was experiencing “technical difficulties.” “Our team is working to resolve this as soon as possible,” one update on Ticketmaster’s website read Tuesday. “We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience.” In response to the high demand, Ticketmaster said it “slowed down some sales and pushed back others” in an attempt to “stabilize the systems,” but that ultimately led to long wait times for many fans. In total, more than 2 million tickets were sold for Taylor’s shows on Tuesday – a number Ticketmaster said is “the most tickets ever sold for an artist in a single day.” The company acknowledged that it has much work to do to improve systems for such events. Now, fans that may have been left empty-handed during the presale have been given another blow. One day before tickets were set to become available to the general public, Ticketmaster abruptly canceled the event for the general public, citing Citing “high demands” and “insufficient remaining ticket inventory.” Tickets are currently available on resale markets, but they’re being accompanied by lofty price tags, ranging anywhere from $500 to more than $12,000. As of Wednesday afternoon, the cheapest resale ticket for Swift’s June 2 Chicago show at Soldier Field — the first of three shows in the city — was being offered at $518 on StubHub after fees. This ticket would be in the 35th row of section 444, positioned in the upper deck almost directly to the side of the stage. Including ticket fees on StubHub, there were just 17 listings under $1,000 for Swift’s opening Chicago show, with the cheapest listing on the field at $1,121. And while presale events for select shows continue into Thursday, the general public was not slated to have the opportunity to buy tickets at face value until Friday. But not anymore. Swift’s 52-date stadium visit is slated to run March 17 through Aug. 9 of 2023 throughout the U.S. and is expected to expand to international dates, as well. The tour announcement followed Swift’s release of her 10th album, “Midnights.” Taylor Swift 23 hours ago Tennessee AG Investigating Ticketmaster After Taylor Swift Ticket Chaos news Nov 16 Taylor Swift Tour Ticket Fiasco Leads to Calls for Ticketmaster and Live Nation to Break Up Concerts Nov 15 Ticketmaster Extends Presale Period for Taylor Swift ‘Eras' Tour to Deal With ‘Unprecedented Demand' Dates for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” are below: FRI, MAR 17, 2023STATE FARM STADIUM Glendale, AZwith Paramore & GAYLE SAT, MAR 18, 2023STATE FARM STADIUM Glendale, AZwith Paramore & GAYLE FRI, MAR 24, 2023ALLEGIANT STADIUMLas Vegas, NVwith beabadoobee & GAYLE SAT, MAR 25, 2023ALLEGIANT STADIUMLas Vegas, NVwith beabadoobee & GAYLE FRI, MAR 31, 2023AT&T STADIUMArlington, TXwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams SAT, APR 1, 2023AT&T STADIUMArlington, TXwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams SUN, APR 2, 2023AT&T STADIUMArlington, TXwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams THURS, APR 13, 2023RAYMOND JAMES STADIUMTampa, FLwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams FRI, APR 14, 2023RAYMOND JAMES STADIUMTampa, FLwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams SAT, APR 15, 2023RAYMOND JAMES STADIUMTampa, FLwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams FRI, APR 21, 2023NRG STADIUMHouston, TX with beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams SAT, APR 22, 2023NRG STADIUMHouston, TXwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams FRI, APR 28, 2023MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUMAtlanta, GAwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams SAT, APR 29, 2023MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUMAtlanta, GAwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams SUN, APR 30, 2023MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUMAtlanta, GAwith beabadoobee & Gracie Abrams FRI, MAY 5, 2023NISSAN STADIUMNashville, TNwith Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams SAT, MAY 6, 2023NISSAN STADIUMNashville, TNwith Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE SUN, MAY 7, 2023NISSAN STADIUMNashville, TNwith Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams FRI, MAY 12, 2023LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELDPhiladelphia, PAwith Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE SAT, MAY 13, 2023LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELDPhiladelphia, PAwith Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE SUN, MAY 14, 2023LINCOLN FINANCIAL FIELDPhiladelphia, PAwith Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams FRI, MAY 19, 2023GILLETTE STADIUMFoxborough, MAwith Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE SAT, MAY 20, 2023GILLETTE STADIUMFoxborough, MAwith Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE SUN, MAY 21, 2023GILLETTE STADIUMFoxborough, MAwith Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams FRI, MAY 26, 2023METLIFE STADIUMEast Rutherford, NJwith Phoebe Bridgers & GAYLE SAT, MAY 27, 2023METLIFE STADIUMEast Rutherford, NJwith Phoebe Bridgers & Gracie Abrams SUN, MAY 28, 2023METLIFE STADIUMEast Rutherford, NJwith Phoebe Bridgers & OWENN FRI, JUN 2, 2023SOLDIER FIELDChicago, ILwith girl in red & OWENN SAT, JUN 3, 2023SOLDIER FIELDChicago, ILwith girl in red & OWENN SUN, JUN 4, 2023SOLDIER FIELDChicago, ILwith MUNA & Gracie Abrams FRI, JUN 9, 2023FORD FIELDDetroit, MIwith girl in red & Gracie Abrams SAT, JUN 10, 2023FORD FIELDDetroit, MIwith girl in red & OWENN FRI, JUN 16, 2023ACRISURE STADIUMPittsburgh, PAwith girl in red & Gracie Abrams SAT, JUN 17, 2023ACRISURE STADIUMPittsburgh, PAwith girl in red & OWENN FRI, JUN 23, 2023U.S. BANK STADIUMMinneapolis, MNwith girl in red & Gracie Abrams SAT, JUN 24, 2023U.S. BANK STADIUMMinneapolis, MNwith girl in red & OWENN FRI, JUN 30, 2023PAYCOR STADIUMCincinnati, OHwith MUNA & Gracie Abrams SAT, JUL 1, 2023PAYCOR STADIUMCincinnati, OHwith MUNA & Gracie Abrams FRI, JUL 7, 2023GEHA FIELD AT ARROWHEAD STADIUMKansas City, MOwith MUNA & Gracie Abrams SAT, JUL 8, 2023GEHA FIELD AT ARROWHEAD STADIUMKansas City, MOwith MUNA & Gracie Abrams FRI, JUL 14, 2023EMPOWER FIELD AT MILE HIGHDenver, COwith MUNA & Gracie Abrams SAT, JUL 15, 2023EMPOWER FIELD AT MILE HIGHDenver, COwith MUNA & Gracie Abrams SAT, JUL 22, 2023LUMEN FIELDSeattle, WAwith HAIM & Gracie Abrams SUN, JUL 23, 2023LUMEN FIELDSeattle, WAwith HAIM & Gracie Abrams FRI, JUL 28, 2023LEVI’S® STADIUMSanta Clara, CAwith HAIM & Gracie Abrams SAT, JUL 29, 2023LEVI’S® STADIUMSanta Clara, CAwith HAIM & Gracie Abrams THUR, AUG 3, 2023SOFI STADIUMLos Angeles, CAwith HAIM & Gracie Abrams FRI, AUG 4, 2023SOFI STADIUMLos Angeles, CAwith HAIM & OWENN SAT, AUG 5, 2023SOFI STADIUMLos Angeles, CAwith HAIM & GAYLE TUE, AUG 8, 2023SOFI STADIUMLos Angeles, CAwith HAIM & Gracie Abrams WED, AUG 9, 2023SOFI STADIUMLos Angeles, CAwith HAIM & GAYLE Get updates on what’s happening in the Chicago area to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

World, Wide, News