What to know about tickets, the tour and what Swifties are talking about.
Expand AllSwifties who are attending Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Oct. 18-20 at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium may be feeling some apprehension about the upcoming shows in light of some incidents at other venues hosting the tour (and at the Hard Rock itself).
Last July chaos erupted at the Copa America Final, organized by CONMEBOL, at the Hard Rock Stadium when thousands of unruly fans, many without tickets, stormed the gates, scaled walls, hurtled over turnstiles and slithered through air ducts — even leaving behind an empty baby carriage in the guts of the stadium’s vent system — to get into the match between Argentina and Colombia.
KNOW MORE: Lax security for walk-ins led to breach, chaos at Hard Rock Stadium’s Copa America final
Then in August three Swift Eras Tour concerts in Vienna were canceled after two people were arrested on suspicion of planning terror attacks on large events in the Austrian capital, the BBC reported.
Fans may have questions about what security will be like at the Hard Rock for these uber-in-demand concerts: Have new policies been instituted as a result of previous breaches? Can you hang with other fans (“Tay-gate”) outside the show and listen without a ticket like thousands have at other Eras concerts? How much security will there be inside the Hard Rock? What if you lose your ticket or your phone dies?
Officials at Hard Rock Stadium held numerous post-Copa meetings to discuss security over the summer, though the Copa debacle didn’t directly determine security measures coming to the venue for the Oct. 18-20 Swift concerts.
“Every event at Hard Rock Stadium has a unique security plan, which is built in collaboration with the event organizer/promoter, local law enforcement and stadium security and operations,” a spokesperson for Hard Rock Stadium said in an email to the Miami Herald.
“One event (i.e. Copa America) does not necessarily have a direct impact on another event. The security plan in place for the Eras Tour has been constructed understanding the specific needs and concerns of this event, which was aided by learnings from previous Eras Tour concerts and similar events.”
Post Copa, the stadium has hosted five Miami Dolphin games — two of which were sold-out prime time games, which have more ticketed guests than a sold-out concert given the stage takes up much of the playing field and blocks several rows.
There will be no Tay-gating at the Hard Rock shows, meaning there’s no place for ticketless fans to commune outside the stadium.
Yes, we know that’s been a ritual at many other Eras Tour dates, none more famously than the Olympiastadion Eras date in Munich in July. Thousands of fans without tickets camped out and perched on rolling hills and along the banks of the Nymphenburg Canal outside the stadium. The vantage point was high enough to give fans a view inside the bowl — and gave the star the chance to see these fans, too.
“We’ve got people in a park outside the stadium, thousands of people listening from out there,” Swift told her German audience, People reported. “I just feel so incredibly welcomed, and we’re gonna spend all night trying to make it up to you.”
For every three people that had a ticket to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia during the May 2023 Eras concerts one came to hang out outside just to hear what was happening inside the stadium, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Some 20,000 outside on blankets and chairs, 70,000 inside with tickets.
But the ritual hasn’t happened everywhere.
London’s premiere venue for mega concerts, Wembley Stadium banned the popular Tay-gating gatherings of fans without tickets at its five August 2024 Eras dates, citing a 2017 Manchester Arena bombing and the Vienna threat.
New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium put the kibosh on the ticketless fan gatherings at her three dates there in May 2023.
“Sorry Swifties — No Ticket, No Taylor-Gating,” New Jersey state police posted on Instagram and social media ahead of the MetLife dates, USA Today reported. “Only patrons with concert tickets for the day of the event will be granted access to the parking lots. Tickets will not be sold at the stadium.”
Hard Rock Stadium is set far off the street and surrounding grounds. Miami Gardens lacks Munich’s rolling hills peering into the Dolphin’s stadium. So even without something like the Copa Final, it was unlikely Tay-gating was going to be feasible at our Eras Tour dates.
Here’s what Hard Rock has to say about ticketless fans and traditional tailgating — which will be permitted.
Tay-gating: There are no listening areas outside the stadium for people without concert tickets. Fans without tickets will not be permitted to gather anywhere around or outside Hard Rock Stadium to listen to the concert.
Tailgating: Tailgating is permitted in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lots only for fans with a prepaid parking pass and valid concert ticket for that same night. Police and stadium security will patrol the parking lots and instruct fans without concert tickets to leave stadium property.
Security and entry
Here’s what else the venue wants you to know should you be planning to go to any of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour dates at the Hard Rock Stadium.
▪ Fans should expect multiple security check points in order to enter the concert.
▪ Your ticket will be scanned more than once to enter the stadium: As you enter the property — either in a vehicle with a prepaid parking pass or as a pedestrian if you arrive via ride share or another method of transportation and walk onto the grounds of the stadium.
▪ Concerns? Guest experience representatives will be available at all check points to assist fans with questions.
Gate information▪ Parking gates will open at 3:30 p.m. each concert day.
▪ Stadium gates will open at 4:30 p.m. each day.
▪ A valid ticket for that night’s show will be required to enter parking gates and stadium gates.
As at all events at the Hard Rock Stadium, and many other venues like theaters, in a post-COVID world, digital tickets are standard now and stored on your phones’ “wallets.”
People who go to concerts know the routine by now. But say your phone runs out of juice or gets lost.
Probably not likely. But mishaps happen.
The stadium is experienced. There will be staff at every gate and point of entry that can help fans with any issues to resolve these problems. Here’s what the stadium spokesperson says you will need, though:
So long as the tickets are in that person’s name and they know what email address the tickets were purchased under a guest service person can look up their account and verify if a ticket exists under that account.
Also, you will have to show an ID to prove that you match that account holder.
Read Next Miami-Dade County 5 things to know about Taylor Swift’s upcoming Miami concert tour September 26, 2024 10:40 AMThis story was originally published October 3genesis, 2024, 4:30 AM.
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