US singer-songwriter Beyonce performs during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 27, 2022. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. Senate sent an ominous warning to Ticketmaster claiming they are “watching” ticket sales after Beyoncé announced her “Renaissance” world tour earlier this week, in an effort to thwart issues similar to Taylor Swift’s pre-sale debacle back in November.
The Senate Judiciary Committee posted a cryptic tweet reading “we’re watching” in response to a tweet regarding fans preparing for a ticket-buying fiasco.
“We’re watching,” the committee’s account ominously tweeted.
The “Renaissance” tour kicks off in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 10. She’ll then hit up a slew of European cities before making her way over to North America, where her Sept. 27 show in New Orleans will mark the end of the tour, The Shade Room previously reported.
The scrutiny of Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation comes after ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” Tour, as senators claimed Ticketmaster is monopolizing the industry ever since they merged with Live Nation back in 2010.
Once the presale tickets went live back in November, all-out chaos ensued as people scrambled to secure their spot to see the “All Too Well” artist perform live.
Ticketmaster ultimately crashed due to the influx of Swifties, which the platform described as “historically unprecedented demand” in a tweet.
The debacle left millions of fans waiting hours in line for the tour’s pre-sale, but were left empty-handed due to glitches and unclear rules about pre-sale access. Ticketmaster ultimately ended up canceling the general sale due to what they called an “unprecedented demand.”
Ticketmaster had fans register as “verified fans” for pre-sale, which a record-setting 3.5 million people did, according to the New York Post.
“This whole concert ticket system is a mess — it’s a monopolistic mess,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said during the hearing.
“I believe in capitalism, and to have a strong capitalist system, you have to have competition,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). “You can’t have too much consolidation – something that unfortunately for this country, as an ode to Taylor Swift, I will say we know ‘All Too Well.’”
Meanwhile, Live Nation president Joe Berchtold said Ticketmaster could “do better,” but stopped short of calling it a monopoly.
Ticketmaster now owns around 200 major concert venues across the U.S. following its merger with Live Nation.
The company typically sells roughly 70 percent of tickets for all major venues, typically by way of exclusive contracts, per a federal lawsuit filed by ticket-buyers last year.
The amounts to upwards of 500 million ticket sales every year, with a international presence in over 30 countries.
And the demand for Beyonce’s “Renaissance” world tour is already projected to be extremely high.
Earlier this week, Live Nation said in an email to fans that the number of pre-sale ticket purchases have “already exceed the number of available tickets by more than 800 percent” in some cities, the Post reports.
“It is expected that many interested fans may not be able to get tickets because demand drastically exceeds supply,” the email reads.
New dates for the “Renaissance” tour are already being added, including a concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
