Ticketmaster’s presale for Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras tour resulted in extremely high demand, website errors, and tickets selling out in minutes – leaving many fans frustrated and wondering what went wrong. This presale meltdown raises questions about Ticketmaster’s system and preparedness, Swift’s huge popularity, and the challenges of fair ticket access when demand dramatically exceeds supply.
The Swift Presale Frenzy
Taylor Swift announced her first tour in 5 years, the Eras Tour, on November 1st, 2022. The presale through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program was scheduled for November 15th. Over 3.5 million fans pre-registered for the presale, the largest registration in Ticketmaster’s history.
On presale day, overwhelming traffic and demand crashed Ticketmaster’s website and mobile app. Some fans waited for hours in queue only to be denied access. Ticketmaster cited “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand” as millions of tickets were snapped up in minutes.
Many angry fans vented outrage and suspicion on social media regarding Ticketmaster’s systems, calling the debacle a “#TicketmasterExtortionScam.” Numerous politicians voiced concerns about lack of competition in ticketing and problems with “dynamic pricing” models. Ticketmaster ultimately cancelled the general public onsale scheduled for November 18th due to “insufficient ticket inventory.”
The Key Players
**Taylor Swift** – One of the most popular music artists today, with a massive global fanbase eager to see her first tour since 2018. Her upcoming tour announcement sparked unprecedented demand.
**Ticketmaster** – The largest primary ticket seller in the US, Ticketmaster has exclusive ticket deals with many major venues and artists. Fans attempting to purchase major concert tickets often have no choice but to go through Ticketmaster.
**Live Nation** – The largest concert promoter and venue operator in the US. Live Nation owns Ticketmaster and exerts considerable influence over the live events industry.
What Factors Led to the Eras Presale Fiasco?
Several key factors converged to create the perfect storm of issues with the Eras presale:
Taylor Swift’s Popularity
With millions of adoring fans worldwide, Swift is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Her Eras tour is her first since 2018’s Reputation tour, which was the highest-grossing US tour ever by a female artist. Demand for her comeback tour was immense.
Limited Tour Dates
The Eras tour includes just 52 shows in the US over 5 months – far fewer dates than a typical global megastar tour. With limited opportunities to see Swift live, fans were clamoring for tickets.
Verified Fan Presale System
Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan presale system frequently encounters problems with extreme demand tours. Fans register ahead of time for a presale code, but the system cannot keep up when millions register at once.
Bots and Scalpers
High demand events attract droves of bots and scalpers trying to snap up tickets en masse despite Ticketmaster’s anti-bot efforts. With Swift’s tour, some unsavory resellers were offering Eras tickets for tens of thousands of dollars within minutes of the presale opening.
Dynamic Pricing
Ticketmaster utilizes demand-based dynamic pricing, raising prices for hot-selling events. Dynamic pricing likely inflated costs for Swift’s tour beyond face value plus fees. Fans balked at $400+ nosebleed seats.
Monopolistic Power
As the dominant primary ticket seller, Ticketmaster faces little competition. With exclusive artist partnerships, Ticketmaster sales are often fans’ only option. Some allegations emerged of Ticketmaster deliberately stoking scarcity to drive up demand.
Website Traffic Overload
Ticketmaster’s sales systems buckled under enormous traffic volume, with up to 2000 tickets per second being sold during the presale peak. Insufficient servers and unstable architecture suggest Ticketmaster underestimated the site traffic Swift would drive.
By the Numbers: Key Ticketmaster Presale Stats
| Presale Stat | Number |
|---|---|
| Verified Fans Presale Registrations | 3.5 million |
| Tickets Sold on Presale Day | Over 2 million |
| Peak Sales Traffic | Up to 2000 tickets/second |
| Number of Tour Dates | 52 |
| Average Ticket Price | $225-$850 |
| Highest Resale Price Seen | $22,500 |
Where Does the Blame Lie?
The Great Swift Eras Presale Disaster featured plenty of blame to go around:
Ticketmaster
As the exclusive ticket seller, Ticketmaster bears much of the responsibility. Their Verified Fan system could not handle the extreme demand, and their servers repeatedly crashed from heavy traffic. Prevention measures against bots and scalpers proved inadequate. Questionable dynamic pricing tactics angered fans.
Live Nation
As Ticketmaster’s parent, Live Nation plays a role in ticketing policies, systems, and architectural decisions that failed under intense load. As a dominant force in live entertainment, they have drawn criticism for monopolistic practices.
Taylor Swift
While Swift is not directly involved in ticket sales, her refusal to add more shows despite unprecedented demand is seen by some as irresponsible. However, as an artist she has the right to design a tour schedule that works for her.
Bots and Scalpers
Bots and scalpers scooping up vast numbers of tickets exacerbated supply problems. Strict limits on ticket purchases per customer could help fend off predatory resellers.
Crazed Fans
Diehard fans flooded Ticketmaster’s systems in a ticket buying frenzy, overwhelming sales infrastructure. While fan enthusiasm is a testament to Swift’s popularity, it fueled sales chaos.
Could This Have Been Avoided?
While extremely high demand makes presale fiascoes hard to avoid, improvements could have mitigated the Eras meltdown:
– **More tour dates** – adding shows would ease ticket scarcity and dampen desperation.
– **Ticket purchase limits** – strict maximums per customer curtail scalpers.
– **Queue and waiting room system** – organized virtual lines reduce errors and instability.
– **Gradual sales rollout** – a series of staggered presales eases load on sales systems.
– **Stronger anti-bot defenses** – better bot blocking reduces scalpers’ edge.
– **Increased server capacity** – expanding infrastructure could handle peak traffic volume.
– **Transparent pricing** – clear pricing policies and no “dynamic” hikes.
– **Lottery sales** – contests and randomized sales reward real fans.
– **Legislation** – regulations forcing more competition and oversight in ticketing.
Conclusion
The disastrous Eras presale exposes flaws in Ticketmaster’s sales operations and their ability to handle record demand. While Taylor Swift’s massive popularity catalyzed chaos, efforts can be made to improve fairness and access in high-profile ticket sales. Legislation and consumer pressure may spur reforms to ticketing practices and policies as well. Until fundamental changes occur, sellouts and frenzied fans seem destined to continue, even if the next Taylor Swift tour adopts some demand mitigation strategies. But at least the Great Swift Eras Presale Debacle of 2022 will go down in live entertainment history.
