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Will this slow the scalpers? Ticketmaster imposes a 72-hour delivery window on Olivia Rodrigo tickets.
As the chaos mounts for tickets to Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS tour, Ticketmaster attempts to take a stab at scalpers by imposing a 72-hour delivery window on tickets — tickets will only be issued 72 hours before the concert takes place, regardless of the purchase date. Further, those tickets will only be available electronically.
“Delivery delays are commonly used by artists to allow for a thorough review of the sale and to ensure all ticket purchasers have adhered to ticket limits and terms,” said a Ticketmaster representative in a statement to Good Morning America. “The decision was taken by the tour’s operators as an ‘added level of protection.’”
Though unusual, the 72-hour rule has been invoked in the past, namely for Doja Cat, Ed Sheeran, and Jack Harlow tours, among others.
But it’s yet unclear how the rule will solve the issue of scalping, as secondary ticket sellers often sell “speculative” tickets — which Live Nation has actively been taking action against with the FAIR Ticketing Act. Additionally, for such a highly anticipated tour, there may well be an enormous increase of tickets appearing on the secondary market once that three-day limit expires.
This move is only the latest attempt by the ticketing conglomerate to combat the secondary market, after the significant issues encountered while fans tried to secure tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. During that stampede, servers malfunctioned while fans waited for hours to purchase tickets, often finding them sold out after the fact. Live Nation and Ticketmaster pointed fingers at bots for the expensive secondary market ticket prices, which reached five figures.
Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS tour launches in Palm Springs, California, on February 23 next year. While an additional 20 dates have been added to the initial roster of tour dates, all available dates have already sold out.