Hundreds of Bad Bunny fans turned away from concert due to ticketing issues

Hundreds of Bad Bunny fans were reportedly turned away from his concert in Mexico City on Friday night (December 9) due to issues with tickets that were purchased from Ticketmaster.

The sold-out gig took place at the 87,000-capacity Estadio Azteca, where fans reported that security had told them that their tickets were either fake, duplicated or cancelled by Ticketmaster, Vulture reports.

Some fans apparently had their tickets confiscated at check-in because security believed they were counterfeit. Fans told CNN, however, that their tickets carried the green check mark that proves that they are genuine.

Photos and videos of the gig showed that it was nowhere near capacity, despite selling out.

UPDATE: The concert’s begun and it’s at 60% of its full capacity, this is BEYOND embarrassing and disrespectful to Bad Bunny and to his fans, SHAME ON YOU @Ticketmaster pic.twitter.com/UkBfwcbCIE

— jupiter | fan account (@summerricochet) December 10, 2022

Ticketmaster released a statement onto its social media channels apologising to any fans who had been turned away. The ticketing company claimed there was an unprecedented number of counterfeit tickets circulating, which caused confusion and resulted in gig-goers being denied entry despite having tickets that were valid. It said that fans could report their issues to Ticketmaster and claim a refund as long as they had electronic proof that they couldn’t get in.

Estadio Azteca released its own statement, explaining that any duplicated tickets automatically became invalid, resulting in any tickets from Ticketmaster being cancelled.

#AvisoImportante con respecto al concierto de @sanbenito (#BadBunny) en el @EstadioAzteca. pic.twitter.com/VjIoxBDR4V

— Ticketmaster México (@Ticketmaster_Me) December 10, 2022

Comunicado pic.twitter.com/OPKT8RKIPC

— Estadio Azteca (@EstadioAzteca) December 10, 2022

Ticketmaster also came under fire recently for its handling of the ticketing for Taylor Swift’s upcoming North American ‘The Eras’ tour. Many customers trying to buy tickets in the pre-sale encountered technical issues, including website outages and lengthy wait times. Following this, the general sale was cancelled due to “extraordinarily high demand” and “insufficient remaining ticket inventory”.

Now, over a dozen fans are suing Ticketmaster. Last week, they filed a lawsuit at Los Angeles County District Court which alleges that the company violated the California Cartwright Act and the California Unfair Competition Law during the pre-sale.

The plaintiffs have accused Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, of a host of allegations including fraud, price fixing, and antitrust violations.

Elsewhere, Bad Bunny was revealed at the end of last month to be the most-streamed artist in the world on Spotify this year, taking the title for the third year in a row.

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