Sam Fender had to delay ticket sales for his Newcastle gigs after bots hit Gigantic and crashed the site. Fans hoping to see his St James' Park shows faced a fresh sale window, while a small group who had already paid got to keep their seats.
The trouble hit the Proper Massive Stadium Tour '27 presale, which gave early access to people who preordered Fender's fourth album. Tickets for other venues went ahead through sites such as Ticketmaster.
And there was more drama before the sale. Fender had already pushed back against some proposed ticket prices, leading to the removal of a pricier front-standing section.
Garth Brooks faced a similar mess in Kansas City. His team said most of the 90,000-plus accounts waiting for seats at an extra T-Mobile Center matinee were bots. AXS halted sales, and the added show was later scrapped.
Brooks took the blame for suggesting that extra concert, which he had hoped would help fans who missed the first sale. Anyone who bought seats for the canceled gig will get an automatic refund. His two main Kansas City shows remain scheduled.
But demand elsewhere kept moving. Three Seattle gigs sold out fast, leading to a fourth booking. His team said those sales had taken his yearly ticket count beyond 500,000.
Salt Lake City had already seen bot trouble during another Brooks sale. The team stopped sales for a third Delta Center gig, kept valid tickets in place, and added another concert. Brooks has since called for laws that target bot use in ticket sales.
Raye also had a wild ticket headache in London. Her Royal Albert Hall show offered just 5,000 seats, yet the presale list hit 1.8 million entries. She blamed scalpers using AI tools to make vast numbers of fake accounts.
The fan sign-up ran through co:brand, while the venue said it spends heavily on defense against automated traffic. Its view was that ticket laws also need to do more to tackle such abuse.
Across the US, federal trade officials and seven states have sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster under the BOTS Act. They allege that brokers got past purchase caps with the platform's knowledge. Both firms reject that claim.
Ticketmaster has also said its systems blocked close to 260 million bot access attempts per day, a figure it used in court to defend its anti-bot work.
Meanwhile, UK officials have proposed limits on ticket resale prices and the number of seats one person can resell. Artists such as Fender, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and Radiohead have backed tighter rules.
A draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill is part of that effort, though it still needs review before lawmakers can formally take it up. For fans, the issue remains clear. Fake buyers can disrupt a sale before genuine customers even reach checkout.
The trouble hit the Proper Massive Stadium Tour '27 presale, which gave early access to people who preordered Fender's fourth album. Tickets for other venues went ahead through sites such as Ticketmaster.
And there was more drama before the sale. Fender had already pushed back against some proposed ticket prices, leading to the removal of a pricier front-standing section.
Garth Brooks faced a similar mess in Kansas City. His team said most of the 90,000-plus accounts waiting for seats at an extra T-Mobile Center matinee were bots. AXS halted sales, and the added show was later scrapped.
Brooks took the blame for suggesting that extra concert, which he had hoped would help fans who missed the first sale. Anyone who bought seats for the canceled gig will get an automatic refund. His two main Kansas City shows remain scheduled.
But demand elsewhere kept moving. Three Seattle gigs sold out fast, leading to a fourth booking. His team said those sales had taken his yearly ticket count beyond 500,000.
Salt Lake City had already seen bot trouble during another Brooks sale. The team stopped sales for a third Delta Center gig, kept valid tickets in place, and added another concert. Brooks has since called for laws that target bot use in ticket sales.
Raye also had a wild ticket headache in London. Her Royal Albert Hall show offered just 5,000 seats, yet the presale list hit 1.8 million entries. She blamed scalpers using AI tools to make vast numbers of fake accounts.
The fan sign-up ran through co:brand, while the venue said it spends heavily on defense against automated traffic. Its view was that ticket laws also need to do more to tackle such abuse.
Across the US, federal trade officials and seven states have sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster under the BOTS Act. They allege that brokers got past purchase caps with the platform's knowledge. Both firms reject that claim.
Ticketmaster has also said its systems blocked close to 260 million bot access attempts per day, a figure it used in court to defend its anti-bot work.
Meanwhile, UK officials have proposed limits on ticket resale prices and the number of seats one person can resell. Artists such as Fender, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and Radiohead have backed tighter rules.
A draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill is part of that effort, though it still needs review before lawmakers can formally take it up. For fans, the issue remains clear. Fake buyers can disrupt a sale before genuine customers even reach checkout.
