Photo Credit: Arthur Harutyunyan
Ticketmaster says its SmartQueue technology will help it avoid a Taylor Swift ticketing disaster for its Eurovision partnership.
The Eurovision Song Contest events at M&S Bank Arena in May will use Ticketmaster’s SafeTix and SmartQueue technology. Ticketmaster says its encrypted tickets feature powerful fraud and counterfeit protection. Meanwhile, it’s SmartQueue technology will provide an “enhanced booking experience” for fans in the UK.
Tickets for the nine live shows will go on sale 12 pm GMT on March 7. The UK is hosting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine, the winner from last year. Presenters include Graham Norton, Julia Sanina, Hannah Waddingham and Alesha Dixon. Tickets are only available to purchase on Ticketmaster.co.uk—no matter which country you are booking from. Tickets are priced from £30 to £290 for the Semi Final shows and from £80 to £380 for the Grand Final shows.
Ticketmaster is only allowing users to book tickets for one show at a time. For the live televised shows, customers can only purchase a maximum of four tickets in a single order. The six preview shows have a maximum of six tickets per order.
The Grand Final Live Show takes place on May 13 where the whole world will discover who has won the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Following the news that Ticketmaster would handle ticketing, fans took to social media to beg the company not to mess it up.
“The Eurovision tickets are going to be sold by Ticketmaster so thoughts and prayers to all of us that Tuesday then,” reads one disappointed Eurovision fan. 3,000 tickets for those that fled their home in Ukraine when Russian troops invaded in February 2022 will be available.
Fans of Taylor Swift took swift legal action against Ticketmaster for their complaints during the Eras tour ticketing process. Multiple crashes led to many people being unable to secure tickets, so much so that the company revised its buying process when Beyonce announced her touring comeback.