Over Two Dozen Taylor Swift Fans File Lawsuit Against Ticketmaster
More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster over its ticketing debacle on the first day of sales for the singer's "Eras" tour.
"They messed with the wrong fan base," Jennifer Kinder, an attorney representing the fans, told The Washington Post.
The fans are suing Ticketmaster's parent Live Nation Entertainment for fraud, misrepresentation and violation of antitrust laws.
Ticketmaster cancelled general online sales after unprecedented demand during the Nov. 15 pre-sale caused glitches and errors for thousands of hopeful buyers. Over two million tickets were sold on the first day of sales for Swift's tour, according to Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster claimed that broke the record for the most tickets sold for a single artist in a single day.
A first presale was provided for "Verified Fans," a second was provided for Capital One card users. Swift fans say they faced long wait lists and website glitches during both sales. Shortly following the presales, the company canceled its general ticket sale citing high demand and insufficient remaining inventory.
The 33-page lawsuit was filed on behalf of 26 plaintiffs in a California court. It alleges that Ticketmaster was anticompetitive when imposing higher prices on fans in presale, sale, and resale markets and that the company forced Swift fans to utilize the site because it was the exclusive seller for the artist's tour. The suit also takes aim at Ticketmaster's service fee in the fan-to-fan resale of tickets.
The suit seeks $2,500 penalties for each violation.
The lawsuit alleges that Ticketmaster "intentionally and purposely misled" presale ticket holders by sending more codes to buy tickets than tickets available.
"Millions of fans waited up to eight hours and were unable to purchase tickets as a result of insufficient ticket releases," the lawsuit argues. "Ticketmaster intentionally provided codes when it could not satisfy demands."
Ticketmaster apologized for the website's malfunctions and fans' inability to get tickets, citing record-breaking demand.
"Based on the volume of traffic to our site, Taylor would need to perform over 900 stadium shows (almost 20x the number of shows she is doing)," Ticketmaster said on Nov. 17. "That's a stadium show every single night for the next 2.5 years."
Swift posted to Instagram apologizing for the ticket sale process saying it was "excruciating" for her to watch. She said that she had asked the company multiple times to assure her it could handle the volume of her fanbase.
"It's really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse," Swift said.
Following the ticket sale mishap, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote an open letter to the Ticketmaster saying that she has "serious concerns about the state of competition in the ticketing industry and its harmful impact on consumers." The Justice Department also opened an antitrust investigation into Live Nation Entertainment.
The "Eras" tour will support Swift's recently released studio album, "Midnights," and runs from March 18 to August 5, 2023. The tour will debut in Glendale, Ariz. and end at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.