Taylor Swift Fans Win Lawsuit Over Ticketmaster’s Eras Tour Ticketing Chaos

Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans have scored a major legal win in their lawsuit against Ticketmaster over the disastrous presale of her Eras Tour tickets in 2022. A federal judge in California ruled on Monday, November 24, that the fans’ antitrust claims against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, are strong enough to move forward.

The lawsuit was originally dismissed in May as legally weak, but the revised complaint now challenges Ticketmaster and Live Nation for their alleged monopolistic control over ticket sales and major concert venues.

According to the fans, this monopoly created a “massive disaster” when the Ticketmaster system crashed during the Eras Tour presale, leaving many Swifties unable to buy tickets at face value.

Ticketmaster had argued that the fans’ claims relied too heavily on the U.S. government’s ongoing antitrust case, which targets Live Nation’s agreements with arenas and amphitheaters. However, U.S. District Judge George H.

Wu rejected that argument, writing, “None of these allegations clearly indicate that the government action excludes conduct related to stadiums. Furthermore, while noticeably absent from the [complaint] is the word ‘stadium,’ the court fails to see any meaningful distinction between arenas, amphitheaters and stadiums that would render baseless plaintiffs’ reliance on the government action.”

While the judge allowed the antitrust claims to proceed to evidence discovery, he dismissed other parts of the lawsuit. Breach of contract and fraud claims were thrown out because Ticketmaster never made enforceable promises regarding bots, scalpers, or fan priority access. “Plaintiffs have failed to sufficiently allege that Defendants made promises with no intent to perform,” Judge Wu wrote. “Plaintiffs’ reliance on the aftermath of the presales…cannot support a plausible fraud theory.”

Jennifer Kinder, a lawyer representing the fans, told Billboard, “We are ecstatic to finally be moving towards our day in court. Ticketmaster has spent the past two years trying every legal trick to have their case dismissed. Judge Wu has ruled they will not be able to escape a jury trial. The people of Los Angeles will decide the legality of Ticketmaster’s monopoly.”

Neither Ticketmaster nor Taylor Swift’s representatives commented on the ruling. Swift, however, voiced frustration during the original presale chaos in November 2022. “It’s really difficult for me to trust an outside entity with these relationships and loyalties, and excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse,” she wrote on Instagram.

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