The Taylor Swift Ticketmaster fiasco has hit Europe

I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending: Ticketmaster is having trouble meeting demands overseas. The Eras Tour, the blockbuster event headlined by traveling conqueror Taylor Swift, takes on Europe in 2024. One would think after all the difficulty and scrutiny Ticketmaster faced amid the initial Eras Tour ticket sale, the company might have stepped its game up for future Swift sales. Alas, no, our European brethren seem to be suffering just as much as American Swifties did.

Ticketmaster was set to stagger the presale for the first four dates of the French leg of the Eras Tour, with two dates going on sale at 9 AM and another two dates going on sale at 11 AM. Unfortunately for best-laid plans, the service still wasn’t up to snuff for the one million Swifties in the online queue, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Less than 15 minutes into the first sale, French Ticketmaster tweeted, “Some of you may be having issues with the site this morning—we are working on it and will let you know.” After an hour and reportedly no movement in the queue, the company tweeted, “The Taylor Swift sale | The 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Eras Tour for Paris La Défense Arena has been put on hold. We will keep you posted with a new on-sale time as soon as possible. All codes not already used will remain valid.” Sales for the Lyon tour stops were also put on hold.

This comes a day after U.K. fans also reported numerous issues with their Eras Tour Ticketmaster experience, per The Guardian. Swifties on social media posted about technical issues with the virtual “waiting room,” website crashes, and a complete inability to get through the disabled access line. Ticket resellers also proved to be a serious issue, as tickets going for around $140 USD wound up on resale site Viagogo for more than $4,000.

When U.S. fans—many of whom have brought lawsuits against Ticketmaster—dealt with similar issues in their attempts to buy tickets, Swift released a statement expressing her frustration at the company. “I’m not going to make excuses for anyone because we asked them, multiple times, if they could handle this kind of demand and we were assured they could,” the pop star said of the Live Nation service. “It’s truly amazing that 2.4 million people got tickets, but it really pisses me off that a lot of them feel like they went through several bear attacks to get them.”

“Several bear attacks” would seem like an exaggeration, except some Swifties are apparently risking actual life and limb for Eras Tour tickets. Per Consequence, fans waiting in the physical queue for tickets in Brazil were threatened by scalpers “with weapons, including metal clubs.” Others reportedly saw resellers “disguise themselves as senior citizens or people with disabilities in order to get preferential access in the ticket line.” According to The Brazilian Report, tickets sold out in 40 minutes, and the resale situation led one congressperson to propose increased penalties for scalpers. (Ticketmaster can’t be blamed in this case: Brazilian fans led a social campaign against T4F, a Brazilian live entertainment company.)

The bottom line is, The Eras Tour is clearly the hottest ticket in town. It’s a gold mine for Ticketmaster—and other international live entertainment companies—but it also means ticket sellers are feeling the heat from one of the most vocal and dedicated fanbases in the world. U.S. Swifties were already mobilizing legal action, and now that international Swifties might be motivated to join the movement… Well, it could definitely spell bad news for Ticketmaster.