Still haven't found what you're looking for? U2 tickets purchased in a panic

MINNEAPOLIS -- Katie Schmidt's love of the rock group, U2, may not be unique.  And it turns out, nor is her increasingly desperate desire to see the Irish band when they make a stop at the new TCF Bank Stadium in June.

"It's just a little scary, because I was planning on buying tickets on Saturday, right when they went on sale, and I'm concerned there won't be any left," Schmidt said from her home in Burnsville on Thursday.

Call it rock economics or a band in demand, but what Katie and thousands of others have learned this week -- is that the U2 tickets for the Minneapolis concert have already been purchased in a panic before they even officially go on sale.

For starters, the band itself gave first dibs to its most loyal fans on its own website.

The University of Minnesota also decided to offer early tickets to U students and Gophers season ticket-holders.  That practice is widely considered an industry standard; both the Target Center and Xcel Energy Center confirm they frequently offer the perk to their respective season ticket-holders.

"Our students have paid for the stadium and our season ticket holders are important to us.  They're very loyal fans to us, and it's important to us that they have the opportunity to buy tickets for events in this stadium," said Phil Esten, the U of M's Associate Athletic Director.

But fans say the pre-sales process also turned into a Pandora's box.  The passwords used by students and season ticket-holders were leaked on the Internet, allowing others to capitalize on the early perk. 

KARE 11 set out for answers on the process and current ticket availability.  Ticketmaster, which is handling the ticketing for the concert, declined to comment and instead referred us to the concert's promoter, Live Nation.

John Vlautin, a spokesperson for Live Nation, responded in writing to several of our questions.  In response to our questions about the leaked password, Vlautin initially had "no comment."  He later indicated that "it commonly occurs" with big concerts. 

Vlautin also confirmed that Minnesota Wild season ticket-holders had been given a pre-sale opportunity, saying "a very limited number of tickets were provided."  He did not respond to questions as to why that was the case.

But in response to the biggest question for fans -- would there still be tickets available on Saturday -- Vlautin said yes, "thousands and thousands of tickets will be available for sale to the general public."

That's good news for those without the pre-sale "in" -- including Katie Schmidt.

"I'll take what I can get," she said, looking ahead to the rush on Saturday.

Tickets go on sale for the general public at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Navigating the ticketing process

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