5 months ago
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(NewsNation) — Concert tickets person gotten much expensive successful caller years, but Live Nation's CEO insists they're inactive a bargain compared with sports.
"The performance is underpriced, has been for a agelong time," Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said recently astatine CNBC and Boardroom’s "Game Plan" conference.
Rapino argued that euphony is "underappreciated," noting that fans dainty sports spending arsenic a presumption symbol.
"I ever joke, sports, it's similar a badge of grant to walk 70 expansive for a Knicks courtside," helium said. "They'd bushed maine up if we complaint $800 for Beyonce."
He thinks the manufacture inactive has "a batch of runway left" connected pricing and said that the mean performance terms is $72: "Try going to a Lakers crippled for that."
Industry data, however, suggests top-tier shows outgo acold more.
In 2024, the mean summons terms for the apical 100 touring artists was $135.92 — up 41% from $96.17 successful 2019, according to Pollstar, a unrecorded amusement commercialized publication.
Tickets astatine smaller venues similar clubs ($43.95) and theaters ($75.09) were cheaper, but stadium ($128.54) and arena ($98.78) shows — wherever stars similar Taylor Swift execute — drove the averages higher.
Rapino acknowledged that summons prices are rising but attributed it to greater accumulation costs and concern successful the instrumentality experience.
"We conscionable did the Beyoncé tour, she's got 62 transport trucks extracurricular — that's a Super Bowl she's putting connected each night," helium said. "Ten years ago, determination mightiness person been 12 trucks."
Most artists are adjacent sacrificing borderline to elevate their shows, Rapino said, adding: "I've ne'er met an creator that said, 'How affluent tin I get tonight?'"
Rapino's comments haven't landed good online, with galore expressing frustration astatine performance summons prices they already spot arsenic excessively high.
"Apparently concerts are lone for affluent radical present too," 1 Reddit idiosyncratic wrote.
Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster successful 2010 and believes itself to be the largest unrecorded amusement institution successful the world. That dominance has besides made it a predominant people of user ire implicit consolidation successful the unrecorded events industry.
Last year, the Justice Department filed an antitrust suit accusing Live Nation of operating arsenic a monopoly. The institution has denied wrongdoing, and the lawsuit is inactive ongoing.
More recently, the Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan radical of authorities attorneys wide sued Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, saying they are forcing consumers to wage much to spot unrecorded events done a assortment of amerciable tactics.
The FTC last week accused Live Nation and Ticketmaster of selling "illegally harvested tickets" astatine a "substantial markup" successful the secondary market, causing consumers to wage "significantly much than the look worth of the ticket. "
Ticketmaster controls 80% oregon much of large U.S. performance venues’ superior ticketing, according to the FTC. From 2019 to 2024 alone, consumers spent much than $82.6 cardinal purchasing tickets from Ticketmaster.
