The presale for Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras Tour has been delayed due to high demand and technical difficulties with the Ticketmaster website. Fans who received presale codes earlier this week were frustrated when the site crashed or stalled just as tickets were supposed to go on sale on November 15th. Now Ticketmaster has announced that the presales will be postponed until issues can be resolved.
What is the Eras Tour?
The Eras Tour is Taylor Swift’s first tour in five years, set to kick off in March 2023 in support of her recent album Midnights. The tour was announced in early November and will hit stadiums across the United States over the course of 6 months. It was highly anticipated by fans, especially since Swift had not toured her last two albums, Folklore and Evermore. Presales were scheduled to begin on November 15th for fans who had received special codes.
Why was there so much demand?
As one of the world’s biggest pop stars, Swift has an enormous fanbase who were eagerly awaiting her return to touring. Her previous Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018 was a massive success, grossing over $266 million. Many fans missed out on tickets last time and were determined to get seats for the Eras Tour. Presale registration numbers far exceeded expectations – Ticketmaster reported 3.5 million people pre-registered for the presale, the largest registration in their history.
What problems did Ticketmaster have?
The sheer volume of eager fans crashing the Ticketmaster website repeatedly caused it to crash or freeze during the presales. Wait times exceeded several hours for some unlucky fans. The company later released a statement saying “We want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans – especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets.” Technical glitches led to long queues, error messages, and inability to access tickets. Fans were understandably very frustrated by the situation.
Details on the Presale Delays
After the failed presales on November 15th, Ticketmaster announced all remaining presales were being postponed until further notice. Here are the details on the delays:
Capital One Cardholder Presale
This presale for Capital One credit card holders was supposed to take place on November 16th but has been pushed back. No new date has been set yet.
Official Platinum Presale
Another presale for high-tier premium tickets was scheduled for November 17th. This has also been indefinitely delayed while Ticketmaster works to address its site issues.
General Verified Fan Presale
The presale for Verified Fans who didn’t get special codes was to take place November 17th-18th. These have been postponed as well.
General Public Onsale
Tickets were supposed to open to the general public on November 18th, but this onsale date has been removed from Ticketmaster now. It is unclear when it will be rescheduled.
So far Ticketmaster has not provided specific new presale and onsale dates. They have stated that the delays will give them time to shore up their systems.
Fan Reaction
As expected, Swifties are outraged by the presale debacles and delays. Here are some of the fan complaints across social media:
Anger at Ticketmaster
Many fans are demanding answers and changes from Ticketmaster for the website failures. Some want refunds for their time wasted in queues. Others believe Ticketmaster should have been better prepared for the scale of this presale.
Disappointment
Fans who took time off work and waited hours in presale queues expressed immense disappointment at not getting tickets. Some traveled to other cities or stayed up all night trying to purchase tickets.
Concern over fair access
There is worry that with postponed presales, scalpers may find ways to buy up many tickets once sales reopen. Fans want a fair chance at tickets, not for resellers to scoop them up.
Urgency to plan travel
Swifties hope the delays won’t be too long since they need to arrange travel and accommodations for the tour stops they plan to attend. The long postponement of sales makes planning difficult.
Skepticism over new dates
Some fans are dubious that issues really will be fixed in a short period of time. They worry the new presale dates will just lead to similarsite crashes.
Sympathy for Taylor
Many Swift fans have expressed sympathy for the singer herself, knowing how upsetting the turmoil must be for Taylor. She surely wants the process to go smoothly for her loyal supporters.
What Stood Out During the Presales
Though the presales did not go as planned, they revealed just how incredibly popular and in-demand Taylor Swift’s tour will be. Here are some standout facts:
Huge registration numbers
Over 3.5 million people pre-registered for presale access, drastically more than Ticketmaster has ever seen.
Sell-outs expected
Some stadium dates sold out immediately, indicating shows will be in very high demand.
Record traffic on site
Ticketmaster saw over 3.5 billion total system requests on November 15th, the most ever for an onsale.
$800 resale prices
Tickets were being resold for as much as $800, demonstrating how much Swift fans will pay.
4 million tweets about presale
The hashtag #TaylorSwiftTix was tweeted nearly 4 million times during the November 15th presale meltdown.
City | Venue | Date |
---|---|---|
Glendale, AZ | State Farm Stadium | March 17 |
Las Vegas, NV | Allegiant Stadium | March 24 |
Arlington, TX | AT&T Stadium | April 1 |
What Comes Next?
Looking ahead, here’s what to expect as the tour presales get back on track:
New presale dates coming
Ticketmaster has said it will announce new presale and onsale dates as soon as possible. The wait may be a few days or could drag out weeks.
Efforts to fix issues
Behind the scenes, Ticketmaster will work urgently to troubleshoot and scale up their systems to handle the intense demand.
Possible presale format changes
Ticketmaster may tweak the presale events to stagger demand across more days or longer windows of time.
More tickets later?
If any venue capacity gets unlocked later on, additional seats could be released down the road.
BOLO for scams
Fans should be vigilant for online scalpers and scams selling fake tickets while the furor continues.
Conclusion
To summarize, the ongoing delays for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour presales stem from the staggering interest in Taylor’s long-awaited return to the road. Ticketmaster was woefully unprepared for the legions of fans trying to purchase presale tickets all at once. Their systems buckled under the strain, infuriating Swifties nationwide. While Ticketmaster works to remedy the situation, fans continue voicing their irritation and skepticism online. But despite the early chaos, one thing is certain – whenever tickets do go on sale again, they will sell out fast. Demand for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour is simply astronomical.