Taylor Swift returns to Atlanta next month after a five-year drought when she brings her Eras Tour to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, one of 20 other stops across America. Diehard fans with deep pockets can still see her if they are willing to fork out big bucks for resale tickets. 

The controversy surrounding Swift’s Eras Tour ticket sales has made Congress question the site’s ticket-selling abilities. The crash during the sale has shown Ticketmaster’s flaws. Since the crash in November, Ticketmaster has been under scrutiny for the failure of the Eras Tour vending. 

“I’ve heard a lot about people being upset with Ticketmaster after tickets went on sale,” Paige Dunn, junior, said. 

The Senate is reviewing the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation (a live entertainment company) because both customers and Congress claim that Ticketmaster has not been fighting the online robots that disrupt ticket sales. Swift’s upcoming tour has reportedly sold the most tickets on Ticketmaster for an artist in a single day causing the entire website to crash. This has left many fans feeling angry and devastated. 

“My sister was trying to get us tickets, and we didn’t end up getting any after we tried for hours,” Dunn said. 

Swift announced her latest tour dates for the 2023 shows back in early November, and fans were excited to see her return to the stage after more than four years of waiting since her 2018 Reputation Tour. Swift plans to perform a total of 52 shows across the country.  

“I’ve never been to a Taylor Swift concert. I really wanted to go to this one,” Dunn said. 

Ticketmaster’s announcement of the tour’s presale prompted millions of fans to register for a code to get early ticket access. On the first day of the presale, more than two million tickets were sold, more than the site expected, causing it to crash leaving plenty of fans empty handed. According to Swift’s tour promoter, Louis Messina, Ticketmaster reportedly sent out too many presale codes to fans but did not have enough tickets available. 

Outraged fans took to social media to voice their frustration on the botched sale.  

“I was very worried I wasn’t going to get a ticket; it took many of my family members trying to get a ticket for me,” Hannah Kittleson, junior, said. 

Many said they were on the site for hours but could not get through to get tickets. Swift responded to fans on her Instagram story after seeing the complaints. 

“There are a multitude of reasons why people had such a hard time trying to get tickets, and I’m trying to figure out how this situation can be improved moving forward,” Swift said. 

Some fans are still holding hope for new tour dates and are crossing their fingers that Swift adds some more tour dates.