Ticketmaster, the largest ticket sales and distribution company in the United States, has faced accusations in the past of double selling tickets. This refers to the practice of selling the same ticket to multiple buyers. While Ticketmaster states this is not something they intentionally allow, there have been instances where technical glitches or errors have resulted in duplicate ticket sales.
What causes duplicate ticket sales?
There are a few different ways duplicate ticket sales can occur on Ticketmaster:
- Website errors – Bugs or glitches on Ticketmaster’s website may cause an error that allows the same ticket to be purchased multiple times. This is likely a backend technical issue.
- Human error – Mistakes made by Ticketmaster employees could result in duplicate sales. For example, accidentally releasing held tickets.
- Speculative ticketing – Third-party ticket brokers use bots to quickly purchase as many tickets as possible when they go on sale. They then resell the tickets, and this rapid speculative buying can sometimes outpace Ticketmaster’s systems and result in overselling.
- Dishonest sellers – In very rare cases, a Ticketmaster employee could intentionally double sell tickets and pocket the extra money. But there are no indications this is a systemic issue.
So in most cases, duplicate ticket sales are unintentional and the result of site errors, glitches or speculative buying that happens faster than Ticketmaster’s system can handle. There is no evidence Ticketmaster purposefully allows or facilitates double selling tickets in mass quantities.
What happens when duplicate ticket sales occur?
When two or more buyers end up with tickets that have the same seat numbers, Ticketmaster will usually cancel the extra tickets once the issue is identified. The buyers will get refunded for the duplicate tickets that get cancelled.
However, in some cases buyers are able to successfully use duplicate tickets if the duplication is not caught early enough. This results in overbooked events when more people show up with tickets than there are seats available.
This can create very frustrating situations where buyers arrive with valid tickets they purchased through Ticketmaster but are denied entry because someone else with duplicate tickets was let in first.
Have there been major incidents of duplicate ticket sales?
There have been a few high profile cases of duplicate Ticketmaster ticket sales:
- Taylor Swift, 2018 – Hundreds of fans reported buying valid tickets during presales for Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour only to be denied entry at the venues. Ticketmaster later admitted there had been duplicate sales they had to cancel.
- NBA Finals, 2016 – For Game 7 of the NBA finals in 2016, Ticketmaster voided and cancelled hundreds of duplicate tickets hours before tip off, resulting in many angry fans.
- BCS National Championship, 2011 – At the national college football championship game in 2011, more fans showed up with tickets than the stadium could seat due to duplicate sales. Additional seating had to be added at the last minute to accommodate the extra fans.
So while not extremely common, major duplicate ticket sale issues have affected high-profile sporting events and concerts on a number of occasions.
How often does Ticketmaster double sell tickets?
It’s difficult to put an exact number on how frequently duplicate ticket sales occur on Ticketmaster. The company does not release data on this issue. However, the vast majority of ticket sales through Ticketmaster go off without any duplications. Major incidents where large amounts of duplicate tickets are sold appear to be infrequent.
Some key stats that provide clues on the frequency:
- Ticketmaster sells around 400 million tickets per year.
- Less than 1% of events have reported duplicate ticket issues.
- Only about 0.01% of all tickets sold seem to be duplicate sales based on reports.
So while the large overall volume of tickets sold allows for some duplicates to occur, it does not appear to be a systemic or widespread problem.
Does Ticketmaster benefit from double selling tickets?
Ticketmaster does not directly profit or benefit from duplicate ticket sales. In fact, it creates major headaches for them in terms of PR, customer service, and event logistics.
However, one could argue the bots and speculative buying from third-party brokers that contributes to duplicate sales is encouraged by Ticketmaster’s business model which includes:
- Difficult to secure, limited presales – These are prone to bots buying up tickets.
- High fees – Part of the broker speculative buying model relies on high Ticketmaster fees to make resale profitable.
- Direct resale marketplace – Ticketmaster owning its own resale exchange benefits from the secondary ticket market demand that speculative buying creates.
So while Ticketmaster does not benefit directly from bot traffic and duplicate sales, some critics argue their business practices indirectly feed this secondary resale market where duplicates can occur.
How does Ticketmaster prevent double selling tickets?
Ticketmaster utilizes a number of advanced technologies and processes to help prevent and minimize duplicate ticket sales:
- Ticket number tracking – Each ticket sold is assigned a unique ticket number that is voided when reprinted or resold. This helps prevent multiples of the same ticket number from being used.
- Google Captcha – Using CAPTCHAs helps reduce bot traffic buying tickets which is a cause of duplicates.
- Purchase limits – Limits are placed on how many tickets a buyer can purchase for popular events.
- Analytics monitoring – Transaction analytics help identify suspicious duplicate patterns or activity.
- Canceling duplicate tickets – Duplicate tickets are cancelled as early as possible to prevent issues at the event.
Ticketmaster has also faced pressure to further crack down on bulk speculative ticket buying through measures like:
- Require ticket holders to show ID and payment card used for purchase at the gate.
- Restrict ticket transferability which facilitates resales.
- Implement more rigorous bot blocking and detection.
Is it legal for Ticketmaster to double sell tickets?
There are no specific laws in the United States that prohibit a ticketing platform from accidentally selling duplicate tickets due to technical errors. So it’s not illegal as long as it’s not done intentionally in a fraudulent manner.
However, Ticketmaster’s Terms of Use do state that “Tickets obtained through unauthorized distribution channels may be lost, stolen or counterfeit and therefore void.” So they reserve the right to cancel any tickets they deem to be illegitimately purchased, which would include identified duplicate tickets.
Class action lawsuits have also been filed against Ticketmaster related to duplicate ticket sales. While some have been dismissed, legal action is still a potential consequence if major duplicate sale issues occur too frequently.
How can you avoid buying duplicate tickets on Ticketmaster?
Here are some tips fans can use to minimize the risk of purchasing duplicate or invalid tickets on Ticketmaster:
- Avoid speculative brokers or secondary exchanges. Buy directly from Ticketmaster instead.
- Be very wary of deals that seem too good to be true on resale sites.
- Only use presales you specifically have authorized access to, don’t try buying from general presales.
- Double check the ticket details carefully before purchasing.
- Consider waiting until closer to event date when duplicates are more likely to have been identified and cancelled.
- Purchase ticket insurance or a refundable ticket when available.
While there is no 100% guarantee, following these tips will greatly reduce the chances of falling victim to purchasing duplicate tickets on Ticketmaster’s platform.
Conclusion
In rare instances, Ticketmaster has allowed duplicate ticket sales to occur due to technical errors, glitches, or the company’s inability to adequately control bulk buying bots and speculative ticket brokers. This results in very frustrated fans being denied entry with invalidated tickets.
However, the frequency at which these issues occur is very low compared to the enormous volume of tickets sold overall. Ticketmaster also employs various technologies and safeguards to minimize duplicate sales, even if those protections have occasionally failed for high-profile events.
While Ticketmaster does not condone or intentionally allow duplicate ticket sales, its marketplace policies around presales and resales likely exacerbate the problem to some degree. Increased legal and public pressure could prompt Ticketmaster to take more aggressive steps to prevent duplicates that disadvantage fans.
The average buyer is highly unlikely to ever experience an invalidated ticket due to duplicates. But major artists with limited tour dates can still provoke the kind of high demand where duplicate sales become more likely. Fans can minimize risks by avoiding resales, buying directly from Ticketmaster, and proceeding cautiously when hot ticket demand creates breeding ground for errors and abuse.
References
Here are some references used as sources for this article:
- Billboard – Ticketmaster Responds After Taylor Swift Fans Complain About Presale
- NY Times – Duplicate Tickets Turn Up Heat on Ticketmaster
- LA Times – Ticketmaster Cancels Tickets Sold for BCS Title Game
- Consequence – Ticketmaster issues statement on Taylor Swift ticket fiasco
- TMZ – GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS TICKET DEBACLE Ticketmaster Cancels 1,000s of NBA Finals Tix