Sam Fender announced that a planned pre-sale for his upcoming Newcastle concerts was relocated after what he described as a "sophisticated" attack on the website handling ticket sales. The disruption affected the platform used to distribute advance tickets and led organisers to change the pre-sale arrangements.
Fender made the comments on social media, saying the attack targeted the ticketing site and impeded the original sale process. He said the decision to move the pre-sale was taken in response to the technical incident rather than any issue with ticket availability.
Bot attacks, in which automated programs overwhelm or subvert online ticketing systems, have become a recurring problem for live events. Such assaults can slow or crash sales platforms and are often used to acquire large blocks of tickets for resale, leaving many genuine fans unable to buy at face value.
The live-music and ticketing industries have been under pressure to deploy more robust anti-bot measures and verification systems to protect consumers and ensure fair access. Promoters and ticketing firms typically update procedures after incidents to limit future disruptions, although implementation and effectiveness vary.
Fender's team did not immediately provide further technical details about the attack or the new pre-sale arrangements. The episode underscores wider challenges organisers face in safeguarding online ticket sales as demand for major shows remains strong.