Buying & on-sales · Ticket resale glossary
Verified Fan
Also known as: Ticketmaster Verified Fan, Fan registration
Verified Fan is Ticketmaster's registration-based presale. Fans register for a tour ahead of time, Ticketmaster screens and selects registrants, and the selected fans receive a unique access link or code for the presale.
It was introduced to keep bots and bulk buyers out of high-demand on-sales: codes are tied to one account and phone number, and not everyone who registers gets selected (some are waitlisted).
For the market, the share of fans who don't get selected is itself a demand signal: tours with heavy waitlists tend to sell out in the presale and trade well above face value on the secondary ticket market.
How Verified Fan registration works
The process runs over several days before the on-sale, and every step has a deadline. Missing the registration window means missing the presale entirely.
- Registration: a sign-up page opens when the tour is announced; you register with your Ticketmaster account and a mobile number.
- Show choice: you pick the city or date you want, sometimes with a limit on how many shows you can register for.
- Selection: after the window closes, Ticketmaster screens registrations and chooses who gets access.
- Notification: selected fans receive a unique code or link, usually by text, shortly before the presale.
- Waitlist: fans who aren't selected are waitlisted and may get access later if tickets remain.
How fans are selected
Ticketmaster doesn't publish the selection criteria. It says the system uses account history and activity to filter out bots and accounts that look like bulk buyers, and then selects as many fans as the available inventory can roughly serve.
In practice, the ratio between registrations and tickets matters most. When far more people register than there are seats, most registrants are waitlisted regardless of how genuine they are.
Verified Fan vs a regular presale
A regular presale is open to anyone with the right presale code or card, and the code often circulates widely. Verified Fan narrows the pool before the sale: only selected accounts can enter, and each code works once.
What doesn't change is the buying itself. Selected fans still wait in a virtual queue, still face a purchase limit and can still miss out if the allocation runs out before their turn. Some tours combine Verified Fan with transfer restrictions or face-value-only resale.
Worked example
Picture a two-night stadium run with 60,000 tickets per night. As an example, 900,000 people register. Ticketmaster selects enough fans to cover the available seats and waitlists the rest, so roughly one registrant in ten or fifteen gets a code. Both nights sell out in the presale and there is no general sale. On resale sites, the get-in price opens at several times face value, because hundreds of thousands of registered fans have no other way to buy.
What Verified Fan means for resale
Fewer tickets reach resellers directly, and the ones that do often come with restrictions. Tickets may not be transferable until close to the event, which is why many resale listings for these tours use delayed delivery.
For market analysis, the waitlist is a strong signal. Heavy waitlisting means unmet demand that will flow onto the secondary ticket market, and often an extra date announced within days.
Catch it with Eventory
Eventory tracks Ticketmaster events through every sale stage and alerts you the moment tickets are added or restocked after a Verified Fan presale.
Frequently asked questions
How does Ticketmaster choose Verified Fans?
Ticketmaster doesn't publish the exact criteria. It screens registrations using account history and activity to weed out bots and bulk buyers, then selects a number of fans in line with the tickets available for each show.
What does waitlisted mean on Verified Fan?
Waitlisted means you weren't selected for the presale. If tickets remain after selected fans have bought, waitlisted fans can receive a code later. On very high-demand tours that often doesn't happen.
Does Verified Fan guarantee tickets?
No. Being selected gives you access to the presale, not a ticket. You still queue, and the allocation can sell out before your turn, especially for the best sections.
Can you resell Verified Fan tickets?
It depends on the tour. Some allow normal transfers and resale, others restrict transfers until shortly before the event or only allow resale at face value through Ticketmaster. Check the terms for each event.
Is Verified Fan only on Ticketmaster?
Verified Fan is Ticketmaster's own programme and runs in many of its markets. Other ticketing companies and some artists run similar registration-based presales under their own names, with the same idea: sign up first, then a selection of fans gets access.