“Take Warning”: Attorney General Jeff Jackson Demands Answers from Ticketmaster After Hurricanes Fans Report Issues Preventing Ticket Purchases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 4, 2026
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Hurricanes season ticket holders say they were pushed to the back of the line while trying to buy tickets to the Stanley Cup Final and left with resale tickets costing thousands.

RALEIGH - The Carolina Hurricanes are in the Stanley Cup Final, but many season ticket holders who had presale codes so they could buy seats before anyone else say they couldn't get tickets because of issues with Ticketmaster's queue. Attorney General Jeff Jackson is demanding answers from Ticketmaster about presale queues, technology issues, and how it monitors and responds to bots and other bad actors that try to disrupt the sales process.

"Season ticket holders did everything right. They had the codes, they showed up on time, and the system left them in line for hours and without tickets," said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. "Ticketmaster's got one week to respond to our questions."

According to complaints to our office and press reports, fans tried to log in on time, but, after technical errors, got pushed to the back of the line. Many waited hours, reached the front, and found the primary tickets already gone.

The only option left was resale, but some of those tickets were listed for thousands of dollars.

This is the same company that had well-documented technical issues with the queue and ticketing of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. It is the same company that a unanimous jury just found liable for breaking antitrust law and overcharging consumers for years.

Attorney General Jackson sent Ticketmaster a letter today demanding that the company explain:

• How many reports of technical failures it received during the Hurricanes presale.

• What it did to investigate those failures, and what it found.

• Whether it compensated any affected season ticket holders.

• How many season ticket holders were eligible to buy, how many tickets were available, and how many actually went to season ticket holders.

• Why many season ticket holders couldn't buy primary-market tickets.

• How it monitored the sale for bots, and what it did when it suspected them.

In April, a federal jury in New York found Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster liable on every claim, ruling that the companies illegally monopolized primary ticketing and large amphitheaters and overcharged fans for years. North Carolina was one of 33 states, along with the District of Columbia, that took the companies to trial after the U.S. Department of Justice settled mid-trial. The case is now in the remedies phase, where the court decides what Live Nation and Ticketmaster must do to restore competition, up to and including breaking the company apart.

"Ticketmaster controls a huge part of how tickets get sold," said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. "If it wants to collect the fees, it can answer the questions."

Hurricanes fans who had problems buying Stanley Cup Final tickets can file a complaint at https://www.ncdoj.gov/complaint.

Attorney General Jackson also issued a scam alert warning fans to be careful of resale scams that leave people out thousands of dollars and without any legitimate tickets to games.

A copy of the letter is available here.

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