Ticketmaster Live Nation Antitrust

[Reks Ryan]

Justice Dept is filling an antitrust suit against Ticketmaster.   Although the linked article specifically talks about the concert business, I  Hope this helps reduce the cost of NFL tickets on the resale market.

 

 

I am not generally pro-regulation.  But I do believe that Ticketmaster has unfair advantages and their business model has many aspects of a monopoly.    Prices to attend sporting events and concerts have gone insane the last few years.   In my opinion, way above where true free-market conditions would have taken prices.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-sues-break-live-nation-143239439.html

[dma0034]

I wonder if stubhub is next (or part of it). 

 

Ticketmaster and Live Nation being together completely rigs the system. Artists can't work against Ticketmaster because Live Nation controls so many venues. 

 

Tickets have gotten so expensive. I don't go to concerts but NFL and NHL games are crazy costly. Them you see an extra 100 because of fees

[Virgil]

If the outcome of this is 

 

1 - Less fees

2 - Scalper prevention

 

I’m all for it.  I’ve avoided so many events because of both

[Just Jack]

I was looking at concert tickets the other day on TM for a local show, and it seems the artists/bands can make TM not allow markups for reselling.  This concert had some tickets marked "Face Value Exchange".

 

How Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange Works – Ticketmaster Help

Edited May 23 by Just Jack

[GottaRun]

The fee for selling a low priced ticket seems reasonable... but then the fee for selling a higher priced ticket goes through the roof... it's the same transaction.

[MikePJ76]

Gee could have just listened to Pearl Jam 30 years ago..  

 

But everyone hung them out to dry and none of the other big bands/artists in any genre stood with them.  

 

 

[Rampant Buffalo]

Let's say you have a market with many choices. For example, imagine a city with 100 pizza places. One pizza place in particular decides to behave badly, for example by jacking up its prices or by lowering the quality of their product. That pizza place is going to lose sales to its competitors. That's accountability.

 

Sometimes, companies manage to break free from this form of accountability. They are able to behave badly while going unpunished. This normally happens when consumer choice has been curtailed or eliminated. Ticketmaster is an excellent example of this. I am happy this lawsuit was filed, and I hope the Justice Department is successful.

[BuffaloBillies]

Ticketmaster can kiss my a** for so many reasons/experiences.

Not going to type for 10 minutes explaining it all.

Hope they get hosed hard. Real hard.

[billsfan89]

Live events are just so insanely unaffordable. It is about time the US starts to enforce anti-trust laws. But just to keep this to Ticketmaster/Live Nation these companies needlessly drive up the cost of tickets while also not doing anything to prevent scalping. In fact these companies encourage scalping in many instances. 

[NoSaint]

2 hours ago, Just Jack said:

I was looking at concert tickets the other day on TM for a local show, and it seems the artists/bands can make TM not allow markups for reselling.  This concert had some tickets marked "Face Value Exchange".

 

How Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange Works – Ticketmaster Help

my least favorite recent was banning resale below face for an event that wasn’t sold out. Like couldn’t use any other vendor and had to be at or above cost for a GA show… fun eating the cost of those tickets when plans changed

[Malazan]

3 hours ago, Just Jack said:

I was looking at concert tickets the other day on TM for a local show, and it seems the artists/bands can make TM not allow markups for reselling.  This concert had some tickets marked "Face Value Exchange".

 

How Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange Works – Ticketmaster Help

 

I do believe you still have to pay ticketmaster's fees on it. The original buyer also paid those fees. Never forget, giant corporations do not do things in your favor.

[HardyBoy]

I'm 40 years old and was recently asked how many concerts I have been to... I've been seeing shows since I've been 16 years old or so, let's round that up to 20 to account for not seeing shows during covid and when my two kids were super little for a few months (lol, except my youngest was born in December 2019, so there is overlap there).

 

At an extremely conservative estimate at one concert a month, that's 12 a year for 20 years and puts me at 240... frame of reference, I saw about 10 concerts this year already just from Jan through May... I'm counting a show as anything that isn't like me going to a farmers market where there is music, unless I intentionally went for that music and watched the entire show... I'm talking big venues like Darien Lake, Great Woods, Coral Sky and most recently Walnut Creek where I live in Raleigh now, but also smaller theaters and concerts at bars (I'm not counting if there is live music randomly at a bar either, like I legit had to make an effort to see the band)...

 

Ticketmaster and Live Nation suck so much, they're predatory, they sell these platinum tickets at crazy markups, while holding back the inventory or selling it to brokers to artificially manipulate supply... there's a whole bunch of stuff... getting fees like 10 times over... in most cases the best move is to wait until the day of the show to get tickets at the venue, for concerts at least... there are absolutely some hard to get tickets still, Billy Strings in Raleigh last summer for that Saturday show was super tough... but I just walked around adlibbing funny lines to a song I made up called "Who's got my extra, my heady extra" and got enough people laughing that finally someone was like I got one that I'll sell you $10 below face cause our friend bailed and we're looking to sell it to someone for a fair deal and screw him he'll owe us $10 for bailing last minute...ramble ramble

 

Anyone going to the phish festival in Delaware this August by any chance? 

[PromoTheRobot]

4 hours ago, Reks Ryan said:

Justice Dept is filling an antitrust suit against Ticketmaster.   Although the linked article specifically talks about the concert business, I  Hope this helps reduce the cost of NFL tickets on the resale market.

 

 

I am not generally pro-regulation.  But I do believe that Ticketmaster has unfair advantages and their business model has many aspects of a monopoly.    Prices to attend sporting events and concerts have gone insane the last few years.   In my opinion, way above where true free-market conditions would have taken prices.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-sues-break-live-nation-143239439.html

 

Even going to a $25-30 club show, your playing another 40% in fees. Absurd.

[Just Jack]

2 hours ago, Malazan said:

 

I do believe you still have to pay ticketmaster's fees on it. The original buyer also paid those fees. Never forget, giant corporations do not do things in your favor.

 

Nope, you pay what the original person paid with their fees, no additional fees in the ticket price for your purchase.  

[PBF81]

5 hours ago, Virgil said:

If the outcome of this is 

 

1 - Less fees

2 - Scalper prevention

 

I’m all for it.  I’ve avoided so many events because of both

 

LOL, they've become the scalpers.  All nice and "legal" too.  

 

 

[stevewin]

5 hours ago, GottaRun said:

The fee for selling a low priced ticket seems reasonable... but then the fee for selling a higher priced ticket goes through the roof... it's the same transaction.

I just went through buying tickets for 1st 2 rounds of hockey playoffs.  The other crazy thing is the resale fees (both selling and buying) is waaaay higher than the team issued tickets.  Then the team slowly releases very small amounts of face value tickets undercutting the resale - but the price constantly fluctuates with 'demand pricing'.  It is so ridiculous - it is like they just make it up as they go - and the fact they can literally charge anything for fees IS criminal

[PBF81]

There was a big hubbub a decade or so ago, I recall reading a piece about how once tickets for an event go on sale "publicly," other companies that were owned by Ticketmaster as subsidiaries, bought the tix en masse, particularly all the front rows and top seats for concerts and the like, in a matter of a few minutes electronically, and then put them up for resale with all the fees etc.  Don't know whether they ever did anything about it, but recall reading about it.  

 

 

[Governor]

6 hours ago, Virgil said:

If the outcome of this is 

 

1 - Less fees

2 - Scalper prevention

 

I’m all for it.  I’ve avoided so many events because of both

Ticketmaster IS the scalper now and they’re creating artificial demand with presales, charity tickets, and holding tickets back on the sale date.

47 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

LOL, they've become the scalpers.  All nice and "legal" too.  

 

 

Exactly right. They control both markets now.

[Governor]

3 hours ago, HardyBoy said:

I'm 40 years old and was recently asked how many concerts I have been to... I've been seeing shows since I've been 16 years old or so, let's round that up to 20 to account for not seeing shows during covid and when my two kids were super little for a few months (lol, except my youngest was born in December 2019, so there is overlap there).

 

At an extremely conservative estimate at one concert a month, that's 12 a year for 20 years and puts me at 240... frame of reference, I saw about 10 concerts this year already just from Jan through May... I'm counting a show as anything that isn't like me going to a farmers market where there is music, unless I intentionally went for that music and watched the entire show... I'm talking big venues like Darien Lake, Great Woods, Coral Sky and most recently Walnut Creek where I live in Raleigh now, but also smaller theaters and concerts at bars (I'm not counting if there is live music randomly at a bar either, like I legit had to make an effort to see the band)...

 

Ticketmaster and Live Nation suck so much, they're predatory, they sell these platinum tickets at crazy markups, while holding back the inventory or selling it to brokers to artificially manipulate supply... there's a whole bunch of stuff... getting fees like 10 times over... in most cases the best move is to wait until the day of the show to get tickets at the venue, for concerts at least... there are absolutely some hard to get tickets still, Billy Strings in Raleigh last summer for that Saturday show was super tough... but I just walked around adlibbing funny lines to a song I made up called "Who's got my extra, my heady extra" and got enough people laughing that finally someone was like I got one that I'll sell you $10 below face cause our friend bailed and we're looking to sell it to someone for a fair deal and screw him he'll owe us $10 for bailing last minute...ramble ramble

 

Anyone going to the phish festival in Delaware this August by any chance? 

Yes, I’m doing the 3 nights Bethel and then heading to Delaware. 
 

I agree with everything else too. It’s time to totally dismantle that operation.

[LeGOATski]

When I attempt to buy tickets I have so many options. 

 

It's hard to relate to this.