In November 2022, Taylor Swift announced her Eras Tour, her first tour since 2018. The tour was set to begin in March 2023 and included 52 shows in stadiums across the United States. However, soon after tickets went on sale, there were reports that sales were canceled amid high demand that overwhelmed the ticketing system. This left many fans wondering – did Taylor Swift cancel her ticket sales altogether?
What happened with the Eras Tour ticket sales?
When tickets first went on sale on November 15, 2022, the ticketing website Ticketmaster reported “historically unprecedented demand” with millions of people trying to buy tickets at the same time. This caused major technical issues on the site that prevented many fans from purchasing tickets.
Ticketmaster later announced that the public on-sale for Eras Tour tickets was being postponed due to “extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory.” Many dates, including those in major cities like Los Angeles and New York, did not have tickets available during the pre-sales.
So while ticket sales were not completely canceled, they were temporarily suspended due to the technical issues and high demand. Ticketmaster stated that it would try to get remaining tickets for all dates back on sale soon.
What was the response to the ticket sale issues?
The handling and outcome of the Eras Tour ticket sales caused outrage among Swift’s fans online. On social media, fans complained of waiting hours in queues only to be kicked out and not get tickets. There were widespread complaints that Ticketmaster’s systems were not equipped to handle this kind of demand.
Some fans filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster for alleged antitrust violations, claiming the company maintained an illegal monopoly over ticket sales that resulted in excessive wait times, website outages, and skyrocketing costs. Politicians including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Amy Klobuchar expressed concerns over Ticketmaster’s dominance in the ticketing industry.
Taylor Swift herself said it was “excruciating” for her to watch mistakes happen without recourse, and that she had been assured multiple times that Ticketmaster could handle this kind of demand.
Did Ticketmaster cancel all remaining tour dates?
Despite the backlash, Ticketmaster did not cancel the entire tour. After postponing general ticket sales, Ticketmaster released the following statement on November 18th:
“Based on extraordinarily high demands for Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour ticket registrations and the insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour has been cancelled.”
So only the November 18th public ticket sale was canceled, not the whole tour. The statement implied that tickets being sold in pre-sales combined with tickets held back for future release by Ticketmaster itself had exhausted the supply currently available.
There are still plans to reschedule a general public on-sale date in the future when Ticketmaster has more inventory available for Taylor’s fans.
How many Eras Tour dates sold out during pre-sales?
According to Ticketmaster, over 2 million tickets were sold for the Eras Tour during the pre-sales on November 15th and 17th. These pre-sales included sales to Verified Fans who had pre-registered, Capital One credit card holders, and other select fan groups.
The number of shows that sold out completely during the pre-sales includes:
- All United States tour dates, totaling 47 shows
- Both shows in Foxborough, MA
- Both shows in Inglewood, CA
- Both shows in Chicago, IL
- The show in Kansas City, MO
So in total at least 52 of the tour’s 55 shows completely sold out before tickets could be offered to the general public. The enormous demand from Taylor’s fanbase resulted in many dates selling out nearly immediately during pre-sales.
What dates still have tickets available?
After the initial pre-sales, there are only 3 Eras Tour dates that appear to still have tickets available:
City | Venue | Date |
---|---|---|
Cincinnati, OH | Paycor Stadium | July 7, 2023 |
Nashville, TN | Nissan Stadium | July 29, 2023 |
Atlanta, GA | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | April 1, 2023 |
However, Ticketmaster notes these remaining tickets are very limited. It’s likely these dates will also sell out completely once the new general on-sale begins.
Why did Ticketmaster hold back tickets?
In addition to pre-sales, Ticketmaster also admits they withheld tickets from going on sale for multiple reasons:
- Holding back tickets for fan club members and other later promotions
- Setting aside tickets for corporate partners, rights holders, sponsors, the tour, artist fan clubs, and others
- Reserving tickets for future general public on-sales
Having an inventory of tickets to release over time allows Ticketmaster to manage high demand now and potentially later closer to the show dates. It also serves related business interests like promotion partners. However, it angered many fans who could not get tickets right away.
How many tickets does Taylor Swift typically sell?
To put the demand for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour into context, we can look at sales statistics from her previous concert tours:
Tour | Year | Total Tickets Sold |
---|---|---|
Fearless Tour | 2009-2010 | 1,138,977 |
Speak Now Tour | 2011-2012 | 1,609,155 |
Red Tour | 2013-2014 | 1,730,788 |
1989 Tour | 2015 | 2,278,647 |
Reputation Tour | 2018 | 2,888,028 |
Her most recent stadium tour in 2018 sold nearly 3 million tickets. So it’s not surprising that demand for Taylor’s first tour in 5 years has already exceeded 2 million tickets sold in presales alone.
How does demand compare to other top artists?
The overwhelming demand for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour makes it one of the hottest concert tours in decades. Here’s how demand compares to some other recent record-setting tours:
Artist | Tour | Year | Total Tickets Sold |
---|---|---|---|
Guns N’ Roses | Not in This Lifetime Tour | 2016-2019 | 5,371,891 |
Ed Sheeran | ÷ Tour | 2017-2019 | 8,796,733 |
Taylor Swift | Eras Tour | 2023 | 2+ million so far |
Coldplay | Music of the Spheres Tour | 2022-2023 | 5.4 million projected |
The Eras Tour could potentially break Ed Sheeran’s record for highest grossing tour of all time. It shows how exceptionally popular Taylor Swift remains after transitioning from country to pop over a decade ago.
Will there be any more tickets released?
While Ticketmaster has not provided exact details yet, it’s very likely there will be future releases of Eras Tour tickets. Some possibilities are:
- Rescheduling a general public on-sale date
- Releasing holdbacks closer to show dates
- Adding more shows in high-demand cities
- Working with scalpers to recirculate tickets
Taylor Swift is highly motivated to make sure any fans who want tickets can eventually purchase them. Besides general sale releases, there will likely be special fan club promotions, contest giveaways, and waiting lists in the coming months. Persistence and patience will eventually pay off.
What can be done to prevent similar issues in the future?
The chaos surrounding Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ticket sales highlights how outdated systems are struggling to keep up with modern fan demand. Here are some possible improvements for the future:
- Utilize new technologies like blockchain and mobile ticketing to better manage inventory
- Implement waiting room systems and virtual queues to deal with traffic spikes
- Increase transparency around ticket availability and pricing
- Regulate the secondary ticket market to eliminate scalpers
- Add more dates and venues when high demand tours are scheduled
While nothing can fully prevent demand from sometimes exceeding supply, improving ticketing technologies and policies could help reduce future challenges.
Conclusion
In the end, Ticketmaster chose to postpone rather than entirely cancel ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour dates. The unprecedented level of demand combined with inadequate ticketing systems led to the temporary suspension. However, it’s likely that most if not all shows will eventually sell-out once Ticketmaster releases inventory over time. Persistent fans still have a strong chance to get tickets in the coming months leading up to the tour. This saga highlights how passionate Taylor Swift’s supporters remain and that her popularity continues reaching new heights in the pop era of her career.