Forget breaking the internet, Taylor Swift broke Ticketmaster and it was the talk of social media for weeks on end. Disgruntled fans flocked to social media platforms to express their anger and frustration about not being able to buy tickets to Swift's newly announced The Eras tour after the ticketing site collapsed. Now the story is getting the documentary treatment in a new episode of Impact x Nightline: Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster Disaster and Retro Revolution available to stream now on Hulu.
As you can see in the preview below, the Impact x Nightline episode speaks with Swifties and examines what we know about this epic breakdown that led to anger, frustration and a whole lot of scrutiny focused on the nation's leading ticket retailer.
If you're not familiar with the Swift saga, on November 15 fans — known as Swifties — gathered around their computers and phones to purchase tickets to her new concert, The Eras tour, through Ticketmaster. There was a ticket presale that allowed select fans to purchase tickets early, but by the time the general public could buy tickets, the tickets were sold out.
Thanks to bots and the secondary ticket market, tickets were bought up with such speed that fans were left in waiting rooms for hours on end, in some cases upwards of eight hours, only to find that the tickets were gone.
This led to an outpouring of outrage from Swifties who'd been waiting to buy tickets, and while their anger was understandable the situation highlighted an even bigger issue when it comes to the ticketing giant making tickets available to people who were buying up tickets to sell on the secondary market.
Here's the episode description: "Breaking down the anatomy of a ticketing fiasco after Taylor Swift's The Eras tour seemed to break the platform; inside the booming business of nostalgia and why retro games are back in style."
The Impact x Nightline episode arrives as dozens of fans filed suit against Live Nation, Ticketmaster's parent company, alleging, in part, that the ticket retailer was in violation of the Unfair Competition Law. Not only that, but they're also accused of violating antitrust laws, price fixing, fraud and more.
In other words, you don't mess with the Swifties.
Impact x Nightline: Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster Disaster and Retro Revolution is streaming now on Hulu.
