Ticketmaster is the largest ticket sales and distribution company in the United States. They sell tickets for concerts, sporting events, theater shows, and more. When popular events go on sale, fans rush to buy tickets on Ticketmaster. This leads to long wait times, queues, and messages saying no tickets are available.
There are several reasons why Ticketmaster makes customers wait when trying to purchase tickets:
High demand
For extremely popular concerts and events, demand massively outpaces supply. There may be over 100,000 fans trying to buy tickets, but only 20,000 tickets available. This creates a bottleneck and causes long wait times on Ticketmaster as fans get put in a virtual queue. The high demand overloads Ticketmaster’s servers.
Bots and scalpers
Many tickets are immediately bought up by bots and professional scalpers trying to resell them at a higher price. Scalpers use special software to buy as many tickets as possible, shutting out regular fans in the process. This further restricts supply and forces more fans to keep trying for tickets.
Staggered ticket releases
Ticketmaster and event organizers intentionally stagger when tickets go on sale. Some tickets are released at the initial sale, then more batches are slowly released over days or weeks. This helps restrict supply to increase demand. It also combats scalpers by limiting how many tickets they can buy immediately. But it means fans have to keep coming back to try to get tickets.
Verifying purchases
Ticketmaster tries to combat scalpers and bots by verifying if each purchase is from a real human fan. Purchases go into a “Pending” status while the buyer is verified through CAPTCHA and other means. This process intentionally slows down purchases and makes fans wait longer to complete ticket transactions.
Waiting room
For extremely high demand events like playoffs or concerts, Ticketmaster uses a virtual waiting room. This randomly assigns users a spot in line to buy tickets and throttles how many can purchase at a time. Ticketmaster says this is to ensure an orderly and fair ticket buying process. But it forces fans into long waiting rooms that can last hours before they can access tickets.
Web traffic control
The massive influx of traffic for big events can crash Ticketmaster’s website. To help control traffic, Ticketmaster uses queue-it technology. This requires customers to wait at various checkpoints to slow down load on the site. The waiting reduces server strain but frustrates customers who just want to buy tickets.
Why Ticketmaster Uses These Tactics
Ticketmaster utilizes these tactics of making fans wait for several key reasons:
Maximize profit
Making fans wait to purchase tickets helps Ticketmaster maximize profits in several ways. It allows them to capture more demand by restricting initial supply. And it drives up panic buying as fans worry tickets will sell out. Additionally, Ticketmaster gets a cut of scalped tickets sold on secondary markets.
Better experience for buyers
While wait times are inconvenient, Ticketmaster argues it leads to a better experience. Staggered sales and waiting rooms prevent website crashes. And it helps level the playing field against scalpers, bots, and technology issues some buyers may face.
Higher prices
The high demand and long wait times enable Ticketmaster and event hosts to charge higher prices. Making fans wait through queues, waiting rooms, and constant website refreshing increases the perceived value of tickets. This lets Ticketmaster and partners capture greater revenue.
Analytics
The wait times and sales patterns provide Ticketmaster with valuable analytics on customer demand and behavior. They gain data to optimize sales approaches for different events This data is extremely valuable to Ticketmaster.
Criticisms of Ticketmaster’s Wait Times
While Ticketmaster defends its wait times as necessary, many critics argue against these methods:
Hurts fans
Fans get frustrated from wasting so much time and effort trying to buy tickets. Many complain they can’t get tickets despite waiting for hours. This negative experience hurts Ticketmaster’s brand and reputation.
Benefits scalpers
Despite Ticketmaster’s anti-scalping efforts, many argue the wait times still benefit scalpers. Scalpers use bots and technology to overcome waiting rooms and queues. Every barrier regular fans face actually helps scalpers by reducing their competition.
Lack of transparency
Critics say Ticketmaster lacks transparency on wait times and ticket availability. Customers face vague messages or don’t know if waiting will actually result in tickets. This leads to more frustration.
Incentivizes resellers
Some allege the long wait times purposely drive fans to use Ticketmaster’s own reseller platform for marked up tickets. This means the company profits off both initial sales and resales.
No deterrent for scalpers
Many point out that little fundamentally deters scalpers, who adapt to Ticketmaster’s deterrents. Scalpers earn far more reselling the tickets than the costs of bots and time spent buying tickets. So any wait time is just a minor cost of doing business.
How Other Ticketing Companies Handle High Demand
While Ticketmaster is the dominant ticketing company, their competitors use different systems for high demand shows. These alternative approaches try to reduce wait times for fans:
Verified fan presales
AXS Ticketing uses Verified Fan Presales for major concerts. Fans register ahead of the onsale and are verified as real fans. Verified users then get first access to buy tickets before the general public. This ensures real fans get tickets and helps limit waits during the public onsale.
Scheduled appointment times
Eventbrite uses a system where fans can schedule an appointment time to buy tickets. This spreads out customer demand across specific dates and times to reduce surge load at any moment. Fans can choose a convenient appointment time rather than wait in queues.
Onsale countdowns and inventory updates
Companies like SeeTickets show real-time countdowns to the onsale time and provide live inventory updates. This gives fans more transparency into wait times and remaining ticket availability as sales occur. Fans can make informed decisions on whether to keep waiting.
Waitlist pre-registration
DICE provides an advance waitlist where fans can pre-register for in-demand events before the public onsale. This way fans don’t all flood the site at the same time. It also allows DICE to gauge customer demand and adjust ticket quantities accordingly.
Key Data on Ticketmaster Wait Times
Here are some key data points on the waits customers face on Ticketmaster during peak sales:
Average reported wait times for major onsales:
– 2+ hours in queues and waiting rooms
– Over 1 hour stuck at “Pending” screens
– 30-45 minutes later, over 50% of customers still hadn’t secured tickets
Bruce Springsteen Broadway show initial onsale (2018):
– Over 81 million visitors on Ticketmaster
– Average session time of over 4 hours trying to buy
– Website crashed for 1 hour during onsale
Taylor Swift Eras Tour onsale (2022):
– 3.5 million people pre-registered for Verified Fan presale
– 1.5 million Verified Fans were given presale codes
– Public onsale also had major queues and crashes
Logic The Vinyl Days Tour onsale (2022):
– Fans waited over 5 hours in virtual waiting room
– Some fans couldn’t access waiting room for over an hour after onsale time
Is Ticketmaster’s System Fair?
There is extensive debate around whether Ticketmaster’s approach is fair and ethical. Here are some perspectives:
Ticketmaster’s perspective
Ticketmaster argues it needs queues, waiting rooms and staggered sales to create an orderly market, prevent scalpers, and serve fans. The waits provide the only fair way to handle extreme demand. They invest heavily in servers and technology to optimize the experience.
Fans complaints
Many angry customers have complained about seemingly arbitrary waits, lack of progress or ticket availability updates, and short time limits to complete purchases. They view the system as overly difficult and designed to drive up profits.
Class action lawsuits
Ticketmaster has faced several lawsuits over its sales practices. Plaintiffs have alleged violations of consumer rights and fair business practices. They say excessive wait times, website problems, and insufficient ticket disclosures are unfair to customers.
Expert opinions
Some industry experts argue Ticketmaster’s system exploits consumer psychology and demand. Others believe the technical challenges of load balancing require Ticketmaster’s approach. But most agree more transparency and fan education is needed.
The Future of Ticketing Wait Times
It’s unlikely Ticketmaster will abandon queues and waiting rooms for major onsales anytime soon. But here are some developments that could improve wait times in the future:
New technologies
Emerging technologies like AI, virtual queues, and predictive analytics may help Ticketmaster handle traffic spikes more smoothly and optimize load balancing. This could reduce wait times.
More pre-registration options
Expanding Verified Fan pre-registration and priority onsales for loyalty fan club members can help manage demand surges. This spreads out customer traffic across multiple sales windows.
Blockchain ticketing startups
Some blockchain-based ticketing startups promise more fair, transparent inventory management and pricing. Shared event data could reduce wait time uncertainties and site crashes.
Regulations
There have been calls for legal reforms and consumer protection regulations related to online ticket sales. New regulations could set rules around wait times, disclosures or site performance.
Mobile optimization
Optimizing Ticketmaster’s mobile experience and expanded use of apps could streamline purchasing and reduce load on the main website during rushes. This may help manage demand spikes.
Conclusion
In summary, Ticketmaster’s long wait times frequently frustrate customers but are unlikely to disappear completely anytime soon. The company maintains it uses waiting rooms, queues and staggered sales to create order and fairness for in-demand events. However, critics counter that Ticketmaster’s system remains opaque, difficult, and primarily drives up their profits. Ongoing technology improvements, sales process changes, and potential regulations may help alleviate ticketing waits in the future. But for now, customers will need patience and persistence acquiring tickets through Ticketmaster.