In an to make up for the chaos surrounding Taylor Swift‘s “Eras” tour on-sale last month, the singer and Ticketmaster have offered fans a second chance at snagging tickets for the singer’s highly-anticipated Eras Tour. On Monday morning, fans who had signed up for Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan presale last month received an alert that they could request to purchase two tickets in a “limited-time opportunity,”
Millions of fans flocked to purchase tickets via pre-sale on Nov. 15 but were turned away due to overwhelming and “historically unprecedented” demand, according to a statement issued by the ticket site. Tons of fans who did get into the queue had to wait for over two hours to get a chance at purchasing tickets.
“You were selected for this opportunity because you have been identified as a fan who received a boost during the Verified Fan presale but did not purchase tickets,” the Monday alert read. “We apologized for the difficulties you may have experienced, and have been asked by Taylor’s team to create this additional opportunity for you to purchase tickets.”
The note goes on to explain that the ticket purchasing window will begin before Dec. 23, with tickets for each city being staggered by tour date in each city. Fans will receive additional instructions on how to submit ticket requests at an as-yet-unannounced future date.
Following the initial drama, Ticketmaster shared a formal apology directed at both Swift and her fans, “especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets,” and provided a lengthy explanation of the mishap on their site. “We feel we owe it to everyone to share some information to help explain what happened.”
The fiasco resulted in a domino effect of action including a lawsuit on behalf of more than two dozen Swifties against Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation Entertainment. The suit accused the company of “unlawful conduct,” and claimed that the company — which is the world’s largest ticketing outlet — violated antitrust laws, among other allegations.
Additionally, Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Lee (R-UT) have announced they will be holding a hearing to examine the lack of competition in the ticketing industry, and Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tn.) have written to the chair of the Federal Trade Commission inquiring about the agency’s plans to fight the use of bots in ticketing.
Swift, who just released her album “Midnights,” has set 52 dates for her U.S. Eras Tour — marking the trek as her biggest tour to date, and one that could break her own record for gross ticket sales in North America. Opening acts for the U.S. leg of the tour are Paramore, Haim, Phoebe Bridgers, Beabadoobee, Girl in Red, Muna, Gayle, Gracie Abrams and Owenn. The Eras Tour is her first since the 2018 Reputation stadium tour; last year, Swift canceled her Lover Fest tour because of the COVID pandemic.
