Globally, fans are wondering if the delicate situation between Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster will cause Swift to be haunted, or if August will slip away without causing another Great War among Taylor Swift fans. On November 15, 2022, Taylor put tickets for her tour for sale on the Ticketmaster website. Many excited fans hopped onto the website causing the site to crash, but very few were actually able to purchase tickets.
In addition to the site not being able to handle the traffic of all the fans logging on, there were bots and scalpers on the site try- ing to get tickets for resale. Beforehand, pre- sale codes had been sent out to make sure only verified fans could get on the website to get tickets, but the site was not secure and the bots not only logged on, but managed to get many tickets and resell them for much more than face value, to the point where many fans weren’t able to afford them. “I saw tickets with super high prices.” OHS freshman Lilly Schornhorst said. “Some were over $3,000, and this was the day of the show so they had dropped from what they were the days before.” Along with the problem of bots and scalp- ers, many fans would wait in the queue for hours, get close to the end of the line, then get kicked out and have to start all over This incident made many disappointed fans lose the opportunity to purchase tickets at all, and left them angry with Ticketmaster. If Ticketmaster had been honest with Taylor, and properly prepared for the traffic on the site, this could have been avoided.
“I have stories from my friends because they tried to get on to the site, and it just wouldn’t work,” OHS sophomore Patton Helvelston said. “The website crashed on me and I actually had to get my tickets off of a resale. The website just kept kicking people off, crashing, and making people start from the beginning and the line felt longer and longer. It was pretty much a whole day process to even try to get tickets.”
Taylor surprised fans with new North America dates in 2024, where you could pre-register for tickets before they go on sale. Presale codes for this extension of the tour were sent out August 8th, and tickets were on sale from August 9th-11th. This sale went much smoother than the first time, most likely due to Ticketmaster know- ing what to expect and wanting to improve from the last sale.
“I’ve heard from people that there have been less presale codes and more waitlists this time causing less chaos and also that the site held up and didn’t crash,” Helvelston said. “More tickets are in the hands of fans because of it, too.”
While Ticketmaster caused many problems, they improved their services for the sales on this new leg of the tour. Taylor’s fans continuously support her, shown by how successful the Era’s Tour has been, bringing in over 300 million dollars so far. Even through everything Taylor Swift is, and will continue to be, a great artist. She has dealt with many bumps in her career, and this is just another one that she’s got- ten past.
“She’s such a wonderful performer,” Helvelston said. “You are paying for her to perform for three hours, and I had the time of my life, but I do definitely think that it’s worth going to see Taylor at least once in your life.”
