The month of November saw Ticketmaster come under fire for its handling of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour ticket pre-sale. The platform was unable to deal with the amount of traffic despite the company using its Verified Fan scheme. It subsequently cancelled the general onsale and had to resort to using Ticketstoday to sell the remaining tickets in December.
November was also the month that welcomed the Middle East’s first FIFA World Cup. The tournament kicked off in Qatar on November 20. England’s first match against Iran was marred with ticketing issues, as the app crashed, leaving fans stranded outside the stadium.
As war continued between Russia and Ukraine, Softjourn, a technology provider with a focus on ticketing, outlined its contingency plans to keep its offices running. Softjourn’s chief executive Emmy Gengler spoke to TheTicketingBusiness about the plans that have been in place since 2014, with updated back-up plans for 2022.
It was announced that English Premier League club Everton will trial digital away tickets, starting with its match against Manchester City on New Year’s Eve. As part of the trial, supporters will be able to download their ticket for match directly to their smart phone, removing the need to queue to collect tickets at the Etihad. Fans will also be able to access the stadium much quicker just by scanning their mobile device at the turnstile.