Ticketmaster Plans Digital ‘Health Pass’ To Admit Fans To 2021 Shows

Ticketmaster is planning to require that fans show a digital “Health Pass” before they are admitted to shows in the summer of 2021.

There is no word yet if Live Nation and others will require similar testing for artists and crew.

Many concert promoters are planning to launch large scale events in the summer of 2021. To make that possible, Ticketmaster has been working on post-pandemic fan safety plans that use smartphone apps to verify either a fans’ vaccination status or if they can prove that they’ve tested negative for the coronavirus within the last 24 to 72 hours.

The plan will rely on three combined components: the Ticketmaster digital ticket app, third party health information companies like CLEAR Health Pass and IBM’s Digital Health Pass along with testing and vaccine distribution providers like Labcorp and the CVS Minute Clinic.

How It Works

Here is how Billboard describes the process:

After purchasing a ticket for a concert, fans would need to verify that they have already been vaccinated (which would provide approximately one year of COVID-19 protection) or test negative for coronavirus approximately 24 to 72 hours prior to the concert. The length of coverage a test would provide would be governed by regional health authorities — if attendees of a Friday night concert had to be tested 48 hours in advance, most could start the testing process the day before the event. If it was a 24-hour window,  most people would likely be tested the same day of the event at a lab or a health clinic.

Once the test was complete, the fan would instruct the lab to deliver the results to their health pass company, like CLEAR or IBM. If the tests were negative, or the fan was vaccinated, the health pass company would verify the attendee’s COVID-19 status to Ticketmaster, which would then issue the fan the credentials needed to access the event. If a fan tested positive or didn’t take a test to verify their status, they would not be granted access to the event. There are still many details to work out, but the goal of the program is for fans to take care of vaccines and testing prior to the concert and not show up hoping to be tested onsite.

Ticketmaster would reportedly not store or have access to medical records and each states is expected to have different requirements.