Ticketmaster, the largest ticket sales and distribution company, has implemented ticket purchase limits for many events. This means customers are restricted to buying one or a small number of tickets when tickets first go on sale. This practice has frustrated many customers who want to buy multiple tickets for a group of friends or family members. However, there are some valid reasons Ticketmaster uses these restrictive policies.
To Prevent Scalpers and Bots from Buying Up All Initial Ticket Inventory
The primary reason for ticket purchase limits is to prevent third party scalpers and ticket brokers from buying up large quantities of tickets and reselling them at inflated prices. Ticket scalping has been an issue for decades, but it has grown exponentially worse in recent years with the use of ticket bot software that automates the ticket buying process and can purchase hundreds of tickets in seconds.
Ticketmaster estimates that 60% of tickets for hot shows sell out to scalpers and bots immediately. This leaves many fans unable to buy tickets at face value. By limiting customers to 1 or 2 ticket purchases initially, Ticketmaster blocks scalpers from gobbling up inventory.
How Scalpers Use Bots and Other Tactics to Buy Tickets
Scalpers and brokers use a number of tactics to get around ticket limits and buy as many tickets as possible:
- Bots – Software bots can be programmed to bombard ticketing websites and purchase tickets at rapid speed.
- Multiple credit cards – Scalpers apply for dozens of credit cards to make repeated purchases.
- Multiple accounts – Scalpers set up many user accounts to make simultaneous purchases.
- Distributed buying – Large scalping operations have multiple people making purchases from different locations.
Ticketmaster tries to combat these tactics but has limited success. Hence the need for ticket purchase limits as a defense.
Example of a Ticket Scalping Operation
Here is an example of how a large-scale ticket scalping operation works:
- The company sets up hundreds of fake user accounts on Ticketmaster.
- They apply for numerous credit cards using fake identities.
- On ticket sale day, they run bot software from multiple computers that logs into Ticketmaster and tries to purchase tickets.
- The bots loop through the user accounts and credit cards to make purchases.
- Within minutes, the scalper bots can buy hundreds of tickets, despite Ticketmaster’s attempt to limit purchases.
This is why ticket limits are essential – to slow down the scalpers and bots enough for some real fans to get tickets.
To Give More Fans Access to Hot Shows
In addition to limiting scalpers, ticket purchase restrictions also help distribute tickets more fairly to fans. For extremely popular concerts and shows where demand dramatically outweighs supply, Ticketmaster wants to prevent a few people buying huge blocks of tickets.
Instead, by restricting initial purchases, more fans have a chance to get tickets. Even if it’s just a single ticket, it allows more people to attend the event. This helps event organizers and performers connect with more of their supporters.
Example of a Hot Show with High Ticket Demand
For example, let’s imagine a scenario where an incredibly popular band is going on tour after many years away. They are only doing shows in 6 cities. Due to massive pent up demand, each show sells out an 80,000 seat stadium instantly.
In this case, Ticketmaster may decide to restrict purchases to 2 tickets per person for the first day or two that tickets are on sale. This prevents reseller brokers or mega-fans from buying hundreds of tickets at once.
Instead, 80,000 fans now get the chance to buy 2 tickets each. So 160,000 tickets are fairly distributed. The band gets to play for more individual supporters, rather than a stadium stacked with brokers looking to profit.
Criticism of This Approach
Some criticize this approach as unfair. They argue that if someone is willing to pay for tickets, they should be able to buy as many as they want. Preventing large purchases is an overreach by Ticketmaster to dictate how tickets are distributed.
However, Ticketmaster believes allowing unlimited purchases would make hot shows unavailable to all but the richest fans. Some compromise is needed to make fair access a priority.
To Reduce Incentives for Scalpers
In addition to directly blocking mass purchases by scalpers, ticket limits also remove some of the profit incentives driving scalpers in the first place. There is less potential for scalpers to reap huge profits if they can only buy 1 or 2 tickets at a time.
For extremely high demand events where scalpers could make hundreds of dollars per ticket, the limits may not dissuade them. But for more standard concerts, it reduces the return on investment for scalping.
Scalpers do still manage to circumvent limits and profit from high margin events. But by reducing their potential profits, limits remove some motivation to invest in large-scale scalping operations.
Example Profit Calculation for Scalpers
Here’s a hypothetical scenario to illustrate how profit potential is reduced with ticket limits:
- Hot concert has ticket face value of $100
- On secondary resale market, tickets are selling for $200
- With no limits, a scalper could buy 100 tickets for $10,000
- Those tickets could resell for $20,000 for a $10,000 profit
However, if limited to only 2 ticket purchases:
- Scalper can only buy 2 tickets for $200
- Reselling them for $400 would only bring a $200 profit
While only an example, it demonstrates how profit margins are hurt with strict limits, disincentivizing aggressive scalping.
To Comply with Laws and Regulations
Ticketmaster also implements ticket buying restrictions to comply with an array of event-specific laws and regulations. Certain events have legal purchase limits enforced to achieve public policy goals like fairness and safety.
Laws Capping Ticket Purchases
Some jurisdictions have passed laws capping the number of tickets a single person can purchase to a popular event:
- New York – 4 to 6 ticket limit for events in NYC
- Colorado – 8 ticket limit per event
- Pennsylvania – State fair ticket limits of 6 per event
Venues and promoters must enforce these legal caps. So Ticketmaster implements the mandated limits across their platform.
Artist-Mandated Limits
Certain musicians and performers will legally require capped ticket sales to make shows accessible for more fans. Common required limits include:
- 2 tickets per person
- 4 tickets per household
- 6 tickets maximum per purchase
Ticketmaster incorporates these contractual requirements into their sales system. Organizers can also cap ticket quantities through Ticketmaster’s system if desired.
Safety and Crowd Control
For very high-demand events like music festivals, purchase limits may be required by safety regulators. Preventing huge blocks of tickets being bought by a few groups allows for better crowd management.
It also reduces risks like fence jumping from fans without tickets. Reasonable limits aid in keeping events operating safely and securely.
The Limits of Ticket Limits
While ticket buying restrictions serve a number of purposes, they have their limitations and downsides. Such limits can still frustrate fans and often fail to completely stop scalpers.
Limits Create Annoyance for Regular Fans
Everyday fans trying to buy tickets for a group are hurt by restrictive policies. Friends organizing an outing or parents buying tickets for kids can’t purchase enough together.
This forces them into the difficult logistics of having everyone buy separately and trying to get seated together. For large groups, limits essentially make buying tickets impossible without going to secondary resellers.
Scalpers Still Find Ways Around Restrictions
As outlined earlier, sophisticated scalping operations are able to circumvent limits through technological and logistical means. While limits cut into profits, scalpers with enough scale still manage to buy substantial ticket volumes.
The fact that so many tickets still end up on secondary market sites reveals how persistent the problem remains, even with restrictions.
Data on Limits’ Effectiveness is Lacking
There is limited public data on whether purchase limits actually achieve their intended goals. Ticketmaster does not release figures on how effective limits are at stopping scalpers or increasing fan access.
Some data transparency would help evaluate the purpose and efficacy of unpopular restrictions. Without it, fans question if their annoyance is actually justified.
The Ongoing Balancing Act of Ticket Limits
Ticket buying restrictions require continually balancing multiple factors and goals:
- Maximizing fan access vs allowing free purchases
- Stopping scalpers vs not over-regulating
- Enabling larger groups vs broad distribution
As an intermediary, Ticketmaster has attempted to strike this balance via caps. But they will remain unpopular with many customers.
The live events industry continues working to find better ways of making ticket buying fair and accessible. But for now, limits provide one useful tool, despite imperfections. Learning to work within their constraints is the reality for fans.
Conclusion
Ticketmaster’s restricted ticket purchase limits aim to deter scalpers and bots, increase fan access, and comply with event policies. But these limits also create headaches for normal fans and fail to completely stop sophisticated scalping operations.
No perfect solution to high ticket demand exists. However, Ticketmaster sees caps as the current least-bad option, amid many competing objectives. This tension means restrictions will remain frustrating but perhaps necessary in the ongoing war against scalpers.