How many tickets remain unsold for the Taylor Swift Eras Tour? That’s a question that has been at the forefront of at least some minds in the wake of the disastrous presale for the 2023 trek in November, and one that the Wall Street Journal tried to tackle, despite the utter lack of transparency from companies like Live Nation and Ticketmaster on such matters. And it looks like the number might be very high indeed.

“The Journal estimates there are 163,600 tickets left across 52 dates—or a little over 3,000 tickets on average per show,” writes Anne Steel for WSJ (paywall). “That amount, which doesn’t include tickets held back by the promoter or artist team, is about 6% of the total.”

Six percent of the total may not seem like much, but it’s extremely important to consider the clause in the middle of the second sentence in the paragraph above. Six percent of the available tickets were held back, not including those held back by the promoter or artist team.

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This likely means a far, far higher number of tickets remain unsold for The Eras Tour, which is likely why ticket resale websites have been seeing such enormously high prices for what inventory has been listed for sale. Swift fans have been led to believe that they have no choice but to pay whatever asking price is presented to them, because of the enormous scarcity implied by a sales process that broke Ticketmaster’s website and saw demand so high that the general sale was canceled entirely after the “verified fan” presales saw so much action.

New York state Sen. James Skoufis has already gone on record predicting that thousands of tickets were likely held back from sale during the initial wave of blowback following the Eras Tour debacle.

“Holdbacks are one of the dirtiest secrets in the industry,” he wrote in an opinion piece published shortly after the presale. “It’s likely that at each of Taylor Swift’s 52 upcoming concerts, thousands of tickets will be “held back” and never released to the general public… According to a report compiled by the New York Attorney General’s Office, over 50% of tickets to top shows between 2012-2015 were not reserved for the general public. Holdbacks should be banned or severely limited.”

In rare instances where data has been made available, holdbacks have been shown to make up a huge percentage of tickets, particularly for high profile events. A government audit released in Hawaii showed that over half of available tickets – in some instances as much as 93 percent – were held back from consumers, while “bots” played no meaningful role. Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office published a comprehensive study on ticketing that came to similar conclusions – holdbacks are an enormous factor in consumer ticketing issues, and are directly responsible for consumers often believing events are sold out, or close to sold out, when they are far from it – triggering fans to purchase tickets at inflated prices.

Efforts to limit holdbacks have thus far struggled against the massive lobbying dollars spent by companies like Ticketmaster and its parent Live Nation. But Sen. Amy Klobuchar has recently dropped hints that lawmakers are already working on legislation at the federal level to address the issue.

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Taylor Swift The Eras Tour Dates

Friday, March 17 – Glendale, AZ | State Farm Stadium !&
Saturday, March 18 – Glendale, AZ | State Farm Stadium !&
Friday, March 24 – Las Vegas, NV | Allegiant Stadium %&
Saturday, March 25 – Las Vegas, NV | Allegiant Stadium %&
Friday, March 31 – Arlington, TX | AT&T Stadium %+
Saturday, April 1 – Arlington, TX | AT&T Stadium %+
Sunday, April 2 – Arlington, TX | AT&T Stadium %+
Thursday, April 13 – Tampa, FL | Raymond James Stadium %+
Friday, April 14 – Tampa, FL | Raymond James Stadium %+
Saturday, April 15 – Tampa, FL | Raymond James Stadium %+
Friday, April 21 – Houston, TX | NRG Stadium %+
Saturday, April 22 – Houston, TX | NRG Stadium %+
Sunday, April 23 – Houston, TX | NRG Stadium %+
Friday, April 28 – Atlanta, GA | Mercedes-Benz Stadium %+
Saturday, April 29 – Atlanta, GA | Mercedes-Benz Stadium %+
Sunday, April 30 – Atlanta, GA | Mercedes-Benz Stadium %+
Friday, May 5 – Nashville, TN | Nissan Stadium $&
Saturday, May 6 – Nashville, TN | Nissan Stadium $&
Sunday, May 7 – Nashville, TN | Nissan Stadium $&
Friday, May 12 – Philadelphia, PA | Lincoln Financial Field $&
Saturday, May 13 – Philadelphia, PA | Lincoln Financial Field $&
Sunday, May 14 – Philadelphia, PA | Lincoln Financial Field $&
Friday, May 19 – Foxborough, MA | Gillette Stadium $&
Saturday, May 20 – Foxborough, MA | Gillette Stadium $&
Sunday, May 21 – Foxborough, MA | Gillette Stadium $&
Friday, May 26 – E. Rutherford, NJ | MetLife Stadium $&
Saturday, May 27 – E. Rutherford, NJ | MetLife Stadium $+
Sunday, May 28 – E. Rutherford, NJ | MetLife Stadium $+
Friday, June 2 – Chicago, IL | Soldier Field #?
Saturday, June 3 – Chicago, IL | Soldier Field #?
Sunday, June 4 – Chicago, IL | Soldier Field #?
Friday, June 9 – Detroit, MI | Ford Field #?
Saturday, June 10 – Detroit, MI | Ford Field #?
Friday, June 16 – Pittsburgh, PA | Acrisure Stadium #?
Saturday, June 17 – Pittsburgh, PA | Acrisure Stadium #?
Friday, June 23 – Minneapolis, MN | U.S. Bank Stadium #?
Saturday, June 24 – Minneapolis, MN | U.S. Bank Stadium #?
Friday, June 30 – Cincinnati, OH | Paycor Stadium ^+
Saturday, July 1 – Cincinnati, OH | Paycor Stadium ^+
Friday, July 7 – Kansas City, MO | Arrowhead Stadium ^+
Saturday, July 8 – Kansas City, MO | Arrowhead Stadium ^+
Friday, July 14 – Denver, CO | Empower Field at Mile High ^+
Saturday, July 15 – Denver, CO | Empower Field at Mile High ^+
Saturday, July 22 – Seattle, WA | Lumen Field *+
Sunday, July 23 – Seattle, WA | Lumen Field *+
Friday, July 28 – Santa Clara, CA | Levi’s Stadium *+
Saturday, July 29 – Santa Clara, CA | Levi’s Stadium *+
Thursday, August 3 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium *?
Friday, August 04 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium *?
Saturday, August 5 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium *&
Tuesday, August 8 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium *&
Wednesday, August 9 – Inglewood, CA | SoFi Stadium *&