Right around Taylor Swift’s 33rd birthday, everything has changed — hopefully! — for some Pennsylvania Swifties. Following a messy presale, they’ll get a second chance at scoring tickets to her upcoming Eras Tour.
After much disappointment and anger directed at Ticketmaster, some fans who received a pre-sale code last month for the Swift’s Philly or Pittsburgh concerts should hear from the online vendor “in the coming days,” Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro said on Tuesday.
The first attempt at snagging Eras Tour tickets in November created bad blood with Ticketmaster, which was responsible for selling seats at most of the shows. Reports of hours-long waits and technical glitches flooded the internet, catching the attention of politicians, the national media, and Swift herself.
And — long story short — in typical fashion for the Pennsylvania-born pop star’s fans, ticketless Swifties weren’t going to sit back and tolerate it.
Shapiro’s office started getting complaints about the situation, AG spokesperson Jacklin Rhoads told Billy Penn in November, which led him to issue an open call asking to hear about the “trouble, trouble, trouble” fans of the commonwealth went through in pursuit of tickets.
The AG office received over 2,600 complaints from frustrated fans, Rhoads said on Tuesday. The office “work[ed] directly with Ticketmaster” after it received the complaints, according to Shapiro’s statement.
“We know all too well this won’t solve every complaint, but it does present those who were kicked off the site or waited hours a chance to shake it off and try again,” Shapiro — who will leave his current office next month to become governor — wrote on Twitter.
The second chance isn’t exclusive to Pennsylvania. Swifties from all over the country started receiving emails from Ticketmaster about the opportunity on Monday, according to screenshots posted on Twitter.
Swift’s team requested that Ticketmaster — which did issue a formal apology to fans — create the additional opportunity, according to the ticketing company.
Swifties “who received a boost during the Verified Fan presale but did not purchase tickets,” per the Ticketmaster FAQ, will be able to request tickets to the show for which they initially received a presale code. Once the request window is closed, fans who’ve been selected will have their credit cards automatically charged.
Individual invites to request tickets will be “staggered” by tour date, per Ticketmaster, and all will have been sent out by Dec. 23.
The Eras Tour kicks off in Glendale, Arizona, next March. Swift’s home state will play host to five of her concerts: three in May at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field and two in June at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium.
Nov. 15 was the first opportunity for fans to buy tickets. The “Verified Fan” presale required fans to register ahead of time to enter a lottery for presale codes, which offered the opportunity to purchase up to six seats, but were not a guarantee.
After that went sideways, Shapiro was just one of many elected officials who got involved. Other state attorneys general started looking into the matter, and members of Congress have zeroed in on the issue too as a matter of consumer protection and antitrust regulation.
Ticketmaster has come under fire before for its dominance of the live events market — particularly its “dynamic pricing” practices, which modify ticket prices based on demand.
Per The New York Times, Live Nation Entertainment — Ticketmaster’s owner — was already under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division before the Swift ticket debacle happened.
