HOUSTON — RodeoHouston ticket troubles are being blamed, in part, on a malicious bot.
Some fans ran into a frustrating roadblock Thursday morning when their web pages would suddenly expire as they tried to buy tickets to see their favorite entertainers.
“There was a particularly malicious bot that affected the process,” said Rodeo Houston President Joel Cowley.
We turned to Eventellect to learn more about what bots do.
“The ultimate goal is to secure the tickets,” said co-founder Patrick Ryan. “And, generally, they’re being controlled by a scalper who then is selling the tickets on the secondary market or their customers.”
Eventellect helps sports teams manage their ticket inventories. Ryan said bots replicate what human ticket buyers do, but they do it hundreds or thousands of times faster and they do it automatically.
“And they’re generally doing it from servers based in third world countries where it’s harder to block their Internet IP,” said Ryan.
Ryan said the rodeo may be right to pin some problems on a bot, but simple supply and demand plays a role too.
That’s especially true when it comes to the concerts that quickly sold out.
“I think the rodeo’s done a good job at regulating re-sale considering the constraints,” said Ryan. “And that you’re just going to have to pay a premium for the hot shows.”
Ryan suggests fans wrangle a few friends and buy season tickets together in order to avoid issues or develop a relationship with a trusted ticket broker.
Additionally, there has been a lot of talk about the sold-out shows, but RodeoHouston says tickets for 18 shows are still available and some are selling for below face value.
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