The Eras Tour ticket sale failure triggered congressional hearings, state laws, and a federal antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation–Ticketmaster over monopolistic practices.
Key Facts
- Pre-sale registrants
- 3.5 million fans registered for Verified Fan pre-sale
- Tickets sold on crash day
- 2.4 million tickets sold on November 15, 2022
- Fan lawsuits filed
- Multiple fans sued Ticketmaster in December 2022
- Federal antitrust lawsuit
- U.S. federal government + 40 states sued Live Nation in 2024
- StubHub hackers' illegal profit
- $635,000 earned by two individuals who hacked 900+ tickets
- Jury verdict
- Live Nation found liable for illegal monopoly in April 2026
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Ticketmaster's dominant position in U.S. live event ticketing, secured through exclusive venue deals following its 2010 merger with Live Nation, left it as the primary outlet for Taylor Swift's 2023 Eras Tour. Demand was extraordinary, with 3.5 million fans registering for the Verified Fan pre-sale, far exceeding the platform's operational capacity.
On November 15, 2022, Ticketmaster's website crashed within an hour of the Eras Tour pre-sale opening, locking out millions of users. Despite selling a record 2.4 million tickets in a single day, the general sale was subsequently canceled due to insufficient inventory. Scalpers resold tickets at exorbitant prices, and Congress members, consumer groups, and fans publicly condemned Ticketmaster's practices.
The controversy prompted U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, multiple state laws banning scalper bots, and pressure leading ticket platforms to eliminate junk fees. In 2024, the federal government and 40 states filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to dissolve the Live Nation–Ticketmaster merger. A federal jury found Live Nation liable for holding an illegal monopoly in April 2026.