Ticketmaster announced in a tweet on Thursday it had canceled the public sale of tickets to Taylor Swift’s “The Eras” Tour.
“Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled,” Ticketmaster wrote in the tweet.
The news comes after a highly frustrating, sometimes heartbreaking pre-sale rush among fans for tickets. Those seeking tickets were subjected to hours-long wait times and a website that sometimes crashed, sending them back to the beginning of a virtual queue with thousands ahead of them.
Swift recently added 17 dates to the 2023 U.S. tour, which kicks off in March in Arizona and ends in August in Los Angeles. The tour will consist of 52 concerts.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Swift also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a full statement, Ticketmaster explained that the pre-sale broke site records and acknowledged that it hadn’t offered the smooth ticket-buying experience it hoped for.
“We strive to make ticket buying as easy as possible for fans, but that hasn’t been the case for many people trying to buy tickets for the Eras Tour,” the statement reads.
Ticketmaster explained that more than 3.5 million people pre-registered for the Taylor’s Verified Fan sale, the largest in the site’s history. However, the site said, typically, 40 percent of fans invited to purchase tickets actually do so and buy an average of 3 tickets.
This meant 1.5 million fans were invited to buy tickets while the remaining 2.5 million were waitlisted.
On social media, fans expressed their dismay learning the public sale had been canceled.
“i’m going to actually jump infront of traffic,” one person tweeted.
Another wrote: “will it be rescheduled??? what’s happening? more information would be great lol”
“how could you sell out all the tickets in presale when only 15% was supposed to be released,” one person asked.
Some have noted exorbitant resale prices on tickets snagged during the presale, with some in the tens of thousands of dollars. The resale prices and the issues with Ticketmaster have led to growing scrutiny of Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment.
Lawmakers sent a letter addressed to Michael Rapino, the president and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment Inc., expressing “serious concerns about the state of competition in the ticketing industry and its harmful impact on consumers.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
