‘Historically Unprecedented Demand’: Taylor Swift Fans Caused Ticketmaster’s Site To Crash Over 5000 Times

Millions storm the site for pre-sale tickets to “The Eras Tour.” Some fans are locked out for hours.

By Jonathan Small | Nov 15, 2022

Taylor Swift may sing “I’m the problem, it’s me,” but her rabid fans have a real problem with Ticketmaster.

Pre-sales for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” went on sale this morning in select cities, causing the Ticketmaster’s website to crash over 5000 times before 2 pm, according to Downdetector.com.

Ticketmaster initially denied it had any trouble with its site, telling CNN, “the site is not down” and “people are actively purchasing tickets.”

But later in the afternoon, the ticket-selling giant admitted to being overwhelmed by the Taylor Swift ticket tsunami. In a statement on Twitter, Ticketmaster said that “there has been historically unprecedented demand with millions showing up to buy tickets for TaylorSwiftTix presale.”

Ticketmaster asked ticket buyers, many trapped in hours-long queues, to “please hang tight,” causing some bad blood with the fans.

Even politicians piled on.

In an apparent dig at Ticketmaster, White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain boasted that even the government’s loan forgiveness site was superior.

Ticketmaster makes changes

By late afternoon, Ticketmaster responded to the onslaught, moving its West Coast sales in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Santa Clara, and Seattle, originally scheduled for 10 am PT, to 3 pm PT.

It also moved the Capital One presale from Tuesday to Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 2 pm local time.

The U.S. portion of “The Eras Tour” begins March 18 at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and wraps August 5 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Taylor Swift may sing “I’m the problem, it’s me,” but her rabid fans have a real problem with Ticketmaster.

Pre-sales for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” went on sale this morning in select cities, causing the Ticketmaster’s website to crash over 5000 times before 2 pm, according to Downdetector.com.

Ticketmaster initially denied it had any trouble with its site, telling CNN, “the site is not down” and “people are actively purchasing tickets.”

Jonathan Small

Founder, Strike Fire Productions
Entrepreneur Staff
Jonathan Small is a bestselling author, journalist, producer, and podcast host. For 25 years, he has worked as a sought-after storyteller for top media companies such as The New York Times, Hearst, Entrepreneur, and Condé Nast. He has held executive roles at Glamour, Fitness, and Entrepreneur and regularly contributes to The New York Times, TV...

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