The company has explained the breakdown by saying that 1.5 million advance invitations went out, and that normally 40 percent of those invited show up and buy an average of three tickets each. But instead of the expected 1.8 million tickets sold, the site received 3.5 billion requests “four times our previous peak,” the company said according to Variety.
The explanation is believed to have been bots, as well as uninvited fans, visiting the site. The result was a long wait, and that some Swift-seeking fans were left without tickets.
After the initial ruckus, Ticketmaster managed to sell two million tickets, more than any artist sold in a single day.
But the company is now stopping the sale of tickets to the public, which would have started on Friday, citing the high demand combined with not enough tickets remaining.
On March 17 next year, Swift will begin her tour in Glendale, Arizona. She will also head out into the rest of the world after the US, but where has not yet been announced.
Swift, who dominated the MTV gala and wrote herself into the history books by holding every top ten spot on the Billboard chart at the end of October, recently released her tenth album, “Midnights.”