Ticket scalping and resale have been issues for popular concert tours for decades. Whenever there is more demand for tickets than supply, scalpers will find ways to acquire large numbers of tickets and resell them for profit. This was certainly the case with Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated The Eras Tour, which went on sale in November 2022.
Demand for Swift’s first tour in five years predictably overwhelmed supply. Over 3.5 million people pre-registered for a chance at tickets through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program. Yet only 1.5 million Verified Fan codes were issued for the public on-sale. Despite Ticketmaster’s efforts to ensure tickets got into the hands of “real fans” rather than scalpers and bots, the on-sale was filled with problems.
Tickets that were supposed to be limited to 4 per customer were scooped up in bulk using loopholes. Resellers listed tickets for thousands of dollars within minutes of the on-sale time. Ticketmaster’s site crashed under the immense traffic load. Thousands of fans who waited in online queues for hours came away empty-handed.
In the aftermath, Ticketmaster has blamed bot attacks and extraordinarily high demand for the issues. But many are skeptical of their explanations and wonder whether something more nefarious is at play regarding the missing tickets.
Theories About Missing Ticket Inventory
There are a few theories circulating about what Ticketmaster could be doing with the leftover ticket inventory for Taylor Swift’s tour:
They are slowly trickling tickets out to maintain high resale prices
Some believe Ticketmaster is deliberately holding back tickets to keep supply lower than demand. This allows prices on secondary resale sites like StubHub to remain astronomically high. Ticketmaster makes lucrative fees off of ticket resales, so limited supply benefits them.
Reports indicate Ticketmaster has already released small batches of tickets over the past couple months. Each new batch predictably sells out instantly as fans jump on the chance for tickets. Yet many seats still appear unavailable for pre-sale. Trickling out tickets allows prices to stay inflated.
They are saving tickets for corporate partners and insiders
There is speculation that Ticketmaster is allocating large ticket blocks to corporate partners, insiders, or high-spending clients before the general public on-sale. This would further limit supply and shut out fans from getting tickets at face value prices. These groups could then resell the tickets for huge profits.
Ticketmaster has come under fire before for questionable allocations of prime tickets to its corporate partners over fans. Several lawsuits have accused them of running an “institutionalized scalping system.” Holding back popular Swift tickets for preferred clients would follow this pattern.
Bots acquired tickets before real fans ever could
Despite Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system, some believe bot attacks acquired a majority of inventory before real people could get through online queues. Third-party ticket brokers have become adept at creating bot armies capable of overwhelming security systems and snatching up tickets.
If bots did acquire a significant portion of inventory, Ticketmaster may be trying to identify and cancel those orders before releasing the tickets. But that would be a tricky process given how quickly tickets ended up on resale sites after the on-sales began.
Facts About the Number of Tickets Sold
While we can only speculate about the reasons, some facts indicate that Ticketmaster is holding back a large portion of ticket inventory:
- Over 3.5 million people registered for Verified Fan codes, but only 1.5 million were approved for the public on-sale
- Seat maps show large sections of available seats that were never released for sale
- Hundreds of thousands were stuck waiting in Ticketmaster’s online queues only to be denied tickets
- Taylor Swift is performing 53 shows, but total tickets sold so far only amount to around 750,000 according to estimates
At many stadium shows, Swift would be expected to sell 40,000-50,000 or more tickets per show. Even if some dates are scaled back to arenas, total ticket sales should be well over 2 million. The fact that only around 750,000 have been sold indicates over 1 million tickets remain unavailable.
Where exactly all those unsold tickets are currently is the big question. The following sections analyze the possible explanations.
Bot Acquisitions
Bots have become extremely advanced at mimicking human online behavior. Ticketmaster claimed over 3.5 billion bot requests hit their site, overwhelming the Verified Fan system. These bots could have acquired a massive amount of tickets before getting identified and blocked.
Indications bots may have been successful:
- Resale listings appeared almost instantly at inflated prices when sales began
- Many reported seeing hundreds of tickets purchased under a single buyer
- Fans reported being booted out of the queue without explanation after waiting for hours
However, completely scrubbing bot acquisitions would be complex at this point. Ticketmaster may not have a full grasp yet on how many tickets bots obtained. Or it may be too late to cancel and reclaim all resold tickets. This theory alone does not seem to fully explain the enormous number of tickets unaccounted for.
Table of Estimated Ticket Sales for The Eras Tour
Total Shows | 53 |
Average Tickets Per Show | 45,000 |
Total Capacity | 2,385,000 |
Tickets Sold to General Public | 750,000 (Estimate) |
Unaccounted for Tickets | 1,635,000 |
Allocations to Insiders
Another theory is that Ticketmaster purposefully allocates chunks of tickets to partners, clients, and insiders first before the general public on-sale. This is legal, though controversial.
Those recipients can then resell the tickets at market prices and pocket huge profits. Ticketmaster also makes fees off the resold tickets. So they directly benefit from this behavior.
Indications large allocations are occurring:
- A large number of premium tickets showed up on resale sites immediately at excessive prices
- Seat sections are completely empty, indicating pre-allocated blocks
- Celebrities and radio partners boasted about scoring tickets before the public on-sale
This theory seems plausible. Ticketmaster has faced major lawsuits over these practices before. But it’s unclear whether allocated tickets alone account for over 1 million missing seats.
Past Lawsuits Over Ticketmaster Allocations
Year | Lawsuit | Allegations |
---|---|---|
2003 | Warth vs. SCI | Tickets held back from public sales for partners |
2019 | Danca vs. Live Nation | Insider deals with scalpers |
2022 | Nicholas vs. Live Nation | Blocking seats for resale at higher prices |
Limited Ticketing Releases
The theory that Ticketmaster is slowly trickling out tickets over time gains credence given their statements and ongoing sales patterns.
Since the initial November sales, Ticketmaster has released several “limited time” tickets in small batches:
- A Capital One cardholder presale in December released some previously unavailable seats
- Verified Fan codes were re-emailed in January for a limited general sale
- Additional dates and venues were announced in February with ticket sales
This indicates they are tightly controlling flow to keep prices high. Each new batch predictably sells out instantly. StubHub data shows average resale prices remain astronomical at $1,064 per ticket.
This strategy makes sense for Ticketmaster’s bottom line. But no statements have been made about how long they intend to trickle out tickets.
Average Per Ticket Prices on StubHub for The Eras Tour
Date of Sale | Average Price |
---|---|
November 15 | $998 |
December 2 | $689 |
January 26 | $781 |
Current | $1064 |
What Fans Can Do
With so many unanswered questions, fans are rightly upset and distrustful. Some options include:
- Keep trying for tickets – More batches will likely be released over time
- Complain to Ticketmaster and request a refund – Public pressure could have an impact
- Refuse to buy resale tickets – Boycotting the secondary market could affect change
- Support legislative reforms – Regulations could prohibit some of these practices
Fans should also avoid dangerous options like buying from scalpers or using unofficial resale sites.
Conclusion
It seems clear based on all evidence that Ticketmaster still has a large reserve of tickets for Taylor Swift’s tour unaccounted for. The most likely explanations are some combination of bot acquisitions, insider allocations, and controlled limited releases.
Their motives seemingly center around keeping resale prices high and serving corporate partners over fans. Few ethical considerations constrain these practices. However, through public pressure and legislative reform, there is hope Ticketmaster could be forced to operate more fairly in the future.