Taylor Swift has broken a national record with more than 4 million users vying to gain access on Wednesday to highly coveted presale tickets to her Sydney and Melbourne shows.
The second round of tickets went live for Swift’s three Sydney shows at 10am, amid unprecedented demand. By 1.43pm, all general Frontier presale tickets for Sydney had sold out, Ticketek Australia said in a tweet.
The presale for Swift’s two Melbourne shows began at 2pm, with general tickets selling out by 4.17pm.
Ticketek said it “managed to repel more than half a billion bot attempts”, which come from scalpers, as “more than 4 million people across Sydney and Melbourne were trying to secure tickets today”.
The singer’s Eras tour has had Swifties in a frenzy since Monday, when a limited American Express presale with the official seller Ticketek was plagued by problems, with the Amex site crashing half an hour before tickets were due to go on sale.
Traffic was even higher on Wednesday than it was on Monday, with more than 800,000 in a lounge queue at 8.30am.
Capacity for her three Sydney shows is around 250,000, while her two Melbourne shows will fit 200,000 fans.
The general release of the US singer’s much-anticipated Melbourne and Sydney shows, to take place in February next year, is scheduled for Friday. Despite the level of demand on Wednesday, Ticketek confirmed with Guardian Australia there would still be tickets available for general release on Friday.
✨More to know! ✨
— The Eras Tour (@TSTheErasTour) June 27, 2023
Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour kicks off tomorrow! Make sure you’re prepared for PRE-SALE !
Sydney - 10AM
Melbourne - 2PM #SydneyTStheErasTour #MelbourneTStheErasTour #TSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/sKctdyrh5E
Swift’s fans tried a range strategies to win a booking. Antonia Touma’s dining table was laden with six different devices, each fully charged and placed in the queue for tickets since 6am on Wednesday.
“We started planning it all yesterday. We had group chats, texting when we need to do this, what needs to be done, whose laptops we’re using, what devices we connected,” she said.
“Six devices ups our chances, we have to stay hopeful.”
Fellow Swiftie Amite Skinner found the experience “super stressful”.
“I have always loved Taylor Swift. She has only been here once before and I sadly missed out,” she said. “I feel absolutely exhausted and deflated so far. It’ll all change if I end up getting tickets.”
But the waiting game paid off, with Skinner securing four tickets just after midday.
A Ticketek spokesperson said fans hoping to snag a ticket should be aware “queuing is a necessary part of the purchasing process”.
“Fans must remember to not leave the Lounge page or refresh their browser. The page will refresh itself frequently to let more fans through to purchase.
“Once fans are in the Lounge, they should sit tight and wait to be let through to the event page. And then once they’re through they need to remember to keep an eye on the timer and complete their purchase within the time frame.”
The New South Wales and Victorian governments moved to crack down on scalping on Tuesday after resale prices in excess of $3,000 were listed. It’s a far cry from the $79.90 to $379.90 price range for a regular ticket.
The Victorian government designated the concerts as “major events”, triggering anti-scalping provisions in state legislation.
Anti-Scalping measures have been put in place for the Australian #TSTheErasTour dates! pic.twitter.com/5qYC645Ws1
— The Eras Tour (@TSTheErasTour) June 27, 2023
The NSW government’s consumer affairs office has confirmed it is investigating ticket listings on the reselling platform Viagogo.
On Tuesday Guardian Australia reported that tickets to Swift’s Sydney and Melbourne concerts were being sold through the platform at hugely inflated prices just hours after the Amex presale opened – in some cases up to 249% the cost of the most expensive VIP ticket packages.
NSW anti-scalping laws restrict ticket resales to a maximum of 110% of the value of the original ticket price.
Viagogo said it was reviewing listings and would take action as necessary.
By 10.30 on Wednesday morning, no Sydney tickets had been uploaded to Viagogo, while more than 1,000 fans were on the waiting list for reseller Tixel.
Lucky fans who had secured tickets to Swift’s Sydney shows on Wednesday morning took to social media to celebrate their victories, while other aired their anxiety.
The tour will be Swift’s first appearance down under since 2018.
and that positive news will be that jess and ella will be attending the eras tour in sydney, australia pic.twitter.com/XHXZD2hJ0h
— camryn (@trampoline2007) June 28, 2023
So even if you weren't looking to get a Taylor Swift ticket this morning, you can't get on Ticketek anyway 😂. Good luck Swifities #ErasTour #Australia pic.twitter.com/1z4Cnuy5xz
— Rhiannon Hoffman (@whereisrhee) June 28, 2023
Swift will perform at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 16 and 17 February and at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on 23, 24 and 25 February. She has not announced further dates in any other Australian cities.
– Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
