Sam Fender's Newcastle pre-sale is pushed back to Thursday after a 'sophisticated bot attack' crashes the Gigantic ticket site
Sam Fender and Olivia Dean. Fender, 32, pushed his Newcastle St James' Park pre-sale to Thursday after bots swamped the Gigantic ticket platform, with StubHub already listing £85 standing tickets at £199.14.
Bots overwhelmed the Gigantic ticketing platform within minutes of the 9:30am Wednesday launch, locking genuine fans out of the Newcastle pre-sale despite many having pre-ordered Sam Fender's forthcoming fourth album specifically to gain early access. Fans reported "bad gateway" errors, being ejected mid-purchase, and money leaving accounts with no confirmation emails arriving.
StubHub is already listing St James' Park standing tickets at £199.14 — more than double the £85 face value.
The chaos follows Fender's intervention last week to strip out a premium front-standing tier after calling inflated prices 'bulls***'.
RAYE's Royal Albert Hall sale was hit by a similar AI bot attack earlier this month, with 1.8 million fake registrations logged for a 5,000-capacity show.
