The New York Metropolitan Opera has been forced to sell tickets through a different site after the company’s computer systems were targeted in a cyberattack.
On Friday, the Metropolitan Opera announced on social media that it would sell $50 ($41/€47) tickets to some performances on a site run by Lincoln Center.
The Met’s computer systems have been down since Tuesday last week, and it seems that there is still no update on the issue. While the organisation continued with its performances, no new tickets could be sold.
According to a report from The New York Times, the Met system usually handles roughly $200,000 in ticketing sales each day during the holiday season.
New York Metropolitan Opera managing director Peter Gelb told The New York Times: “It takes time, because when you have been hacked, you have to be sure that whatever functions are going back online are not going to be compromised.
“At a time when you’re trying to get more people interested in opera and attending your performances, it’s incredibly frustrating. We all want the same thing, which is to make it easier for people to attend performances, not more difficult.”
The Met has offered $50 tickets for Verdi operas including ‘Rigoletto’, which took place yesterday (Sunday) with another performance on Wednesday and Aida, which will take place tomorrow.
As organisers are unable to connect to the ticketing system to see which seats have already been booked, the $50 seats will be general admission and customers will be offered empty seats in the orchestra section on a first-come, first-served basis.