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Don’t blame “bots” for the quick sellout of tickets for the Los Angeles Rams game with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Aug. 17 preseason game between the two high-profile NFL teams at Aloha Stadium was declared a sellout Friday morning, less than 24 hours after tickets had gone on sale Thursday morning online and at the 50,000-seat stadium. It is believed to be the fastest sellout for a sports event in the stadium’s 45-year history.
Some tickets that originally sold for $30 and
$40 Thursday morning on Ticketmaster were priced at $124 and above on Friday. Seats in prime locations were being advertised for as much as $3,300 each.
Several fans disappointed at either being unable to secure tickets or having to pay higher than face value on secondary sites blamed bots for the ticket rush. Bots are computers programmed to fast-break through a multitude of tabs, so when launched in large numbers they can inundate a ticket-selling site, forcing customers to go to resale or secondary sites that charge significantly higher prices.
“Once again the bots have bought up a bunch of tickets at a major event in Hawaii,” Betty Bookmyer wrote in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Ticketmaster is the world’s largest broker for entertainment and sports tickets and was the agent for Rams-Cowboys tickets. A spokeswoman did not respond to questions about sales, bot activity or what precautions it takes to defeat bots.
People familiar with ticketing trends but not authorized to speak said the number of Rams-Cowboys tickets available for resale was seemingly low, suggesting a largely normal ticketing process for what was guaranteed to be a popular event: a rare NFL game in Hawaii pitting a local fan favorite against “America’s team.”
Stephen Levins, executive director of the state Office of Consumer Protection, said his office, which received several complaints about bots from frustrated fans shut out of tickets for the Bruno Mars concerts last year at Aloha Stadium, had not received any about the football game as of noon Friday.
“I don’t know whether bots are being used for this (game),” Levins said.
Aloha Stadium manager Scott Chan said he had not fielded any complaints and could not pinpoint any bot activity. “When it became official that Dallas would be the opponent, we felt there would be a sellout,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Rams said, “We are sold out with the exception of tickets that are being held back for youth purposes and players/coaches. There is a chance we will be able to turn those back at a later point, but as of now all tickets for the general public were purchased.”
The NFL Pro Bowl often sold out during its 35-year run at Aloha Stadium, though not as quickly and not at all in its final game in 2016. The University of Hawaii hasn’t had a sellout at its home field since 2007, and none in so little time.
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