Ticketmaster queue – Ticketmaster’s global president said the company never formally stated that queue positions are randomly assigned, reigniting controversy over the fairness of its Virtual Waiting Room—coming right after a major legal finding against Live Nation’s market power.
The debate over whether Ticketmaster fans truly get a fair shot at high-demand tickets is flaring again after the company’s top global executive questioned a belief many fans rely on.
In a public post dated May 13. Saumil Mehta. Ticketmaster’s global president. pushed back on what he said is a longstanding claim that queue positions are randomly assigned.. “I don’t know where this notion that queue positions are random came from,” Mehta wrote.. “I have never said it, and I have asked internally and cannot find it written in help content etc.”
His comments landed in the middle of a moment when the broader Ticketmaster-Live Nation ecosystem is already under intense scrutiny.. In April 2026. a Manhattan jury found that the market dominance of Ticketmaster’s parent company. Live Nation. crossed the line into illegal monopoly power.. The ruling concluded Live Nation’s control of ticketing and promotion stifled competition and drove up prices. costing customers an estimated $1.72 extra per ticket on average.
Now, attention is shifting from how tickets are marketed and sold to the mechanics of who gets in line—and what fans think they’re being promised.
Mehta’s statement clashes with earlier messaging from Ticketmaster, which appeared to say the Virtual Waiting Room worked differently.. In an April 2018 response from its official account. Ticketmaster told users that its Virtual Waiting Room “randomly assigns you a place in the queue” to make ticketing “as fair as possible” and help prevent bots.
That earlier language has been cited for years by fans trying to interpret what “queue fairness” really means in practice.. If the assumption that positions are random is wrong—or if the company’s messaging has changed over time—it raises fresh questions about whether the system operates the way many users believe it does.
Ticketmaster has not publicly detailed the exact factors used to determine queue position. leaving fans with a black box they often confront during presales and major tour launches. when demand far outstrips available tickets.. While users have long reported patterns suggesting queue placements may not vary significantly between accounts. those claims have not been independently verified.
Mehta’s comments, though narrow, may intensify calls for Ticketmaster to explain how queue placement works in clearer, more concrete terms—especially for consumers who describe feeling locked out of sales despite waiting online.
The resurfaced dispute over the “random” label also feeds into a larger. ongoing push by lawmakers and regulators to understand how concerts are priced and sold.. Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s influence has been a focal point for years. including during high-profile events such as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. which drew political attention and fueled investigations into the live events marketplace.
Even though the latest monopoly verdict does not automatically break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. it adds weight to pressure on the companies’ structure and practices.. Separate scrutiny has targeted ticket distribution and pricing as well. with questions about whether current systems advantage high-volume buyers or partners over ordinary consumers.
For now, Ticketmaster has not said whether it will clarify its Virtual Waiting Room process following Mehta’s May 13 post.. But with a legal finding already heightening scrutiny and fans again challenging whether the queue is truly fair. the controversy over how access to tickets is determined is unlikely to fade anytime soon.
Ticketmaster Live Nation Virtual Waiting Room queue positions Saumil Mehta monopoly verdict presales ticketing fairness transparency U.S. regulators