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Taylor Swift fans faced a long wait to try and secure tickets for the singer\u2019s 2023 Eras tour in the US, after Ticketmaster faced \u201chistorically unprecedented demand\u201d. <\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of fans attempted to secure tickets through the Live Nation-owned ticketing company, causing the platform to crash. Fans were able to join the queue after signing up for Ticketmaster\u2019s Verified Fan pre-sale.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During the onsale, thousands were left waiting in the queue for tickets to Swift\u2019s first tour in five years, which will span 52 dates in the US. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some fans were left waiting in the queue for up to eight hours, with tickets costing between $49 (\u00a341\/\u20ac47) and $449.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ticketmaster\u2019s Verified Fan system was set up to deter bots and scalpers, however the Guardian<\/a> reported that some tickets are already listed on resale sites like StubHub for as much as $22,700.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ticket sales for shows on the West Coast were delayed by three hours, in order to ease the pressure on Ticketmaster. A pre-sale for Capital One credit card-holders was postponed from Tuesday until today (Wednesday).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Following the troubled Taylor Swift pre-sale, US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for Ticketmaster to be broken up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In a tweet<\/a>, Ocasio-Cortez said: \u201cDaily reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, its merger with Live Nation should never have been approved, and they need to be reigned in. Break them up.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Congressman David Cicilline also highlighted the \u201cmonopoly\u201d and said in a tweet<\/a>: \u201cTicketmaster\u2019s excessive wait times and fees are completely unacceptable, as seen with today\u2019s Taylor Swift tickets, and are a symptom of a larger problem.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no secret that Live Nation-Ticketmaster is an unchecked monopoly.\u201d<\/p>\n The Congressman added: \u201cThe merger of these companies should never have been allowed in the first place, which is why I have joined Frank Pallone, Jerry Nadler and Bill Pascrell to call on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Live Nation\u2019s efforts ti jack up prices and strangle competition.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pascrell has fervently opposed the merger, and has regularly called for an investigation and the break up of Ticketmaster and Live Nation. Earlier this year<\/a>, he urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and DOJ Antitrust Division to consider overturning the merger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n