The Price of "Entertainment"

Being close to Atlantic City, I have easy access to some great concert venues. In the past year I've seen Bob Dylan, B.B. King-Little Richard-Al Green on one show, Crosby and Nash, John Mellencamp. Each weekend there are no less than a dozen concerts or shows you can see. The most I've paid for a ticket was $95 face value (for Dylan and Mellencamp)for 2nd tier seating. This weekend Billy Crystal is doing two shows at the Borgata in a 3,700 seat venue. Tickets range from $225-335. Is Billy Crystal worth that much? He doesn't have a band to pay. I'm sure his set will be minimal; no pyro-technics. Is this pricing way out of line? or, does it coincide with gas prices? What would you pay to see Billy Crystal? I might go for $50....if I just won big at the casino.

I love Billy Crystal. I think he's smart and very funny (plus he's a well-known Yankee fan). However, I can't imagine myself parting with that much money to see ANYone. The problem is, I'm sure that many of the seats are comped, so I guess they have to make their money up somehow, although I guess that's true of any show.

I'd see Billy Crystal for $100.00 And I'd even accept the the amount in installments.

He's okay, but I wouldn't go out of my way to catch his show.

Ticket prices are getting out of hand. The most I've ever paid for a seat was $100 -- which was huge in 1993, but that was for the first (modern) Simon & Garfunkel reunion, up close, for which I would've paid any amount. That's a lot more than I paid to see Cavalaria Rusticana conducted by Anton Coppola in Asbury Park's Paramount Theater. Lou Reed is playing the same venue tonight for $45-75/seat. Tony Bennett in June? $123-198! Dammit.

I'll stick with the $35 general admission lawn section at PNC Arts Center, thanks. I see Rush almost every year there, but I'm not paying $90-125 for 'em. Clapton? $125-200 for seats; The Police? Up to $225. Yeah, the lawn sounds good.

That's a crazy price for Billy Crystal. We paid $125 for middlin' seats at NYC's Metropolitan Opera House last year, and the top was $250--and that was for an opera that had huge overhead. We paid $60 to see Stevie Nicks at Tim's Toyota Center Arena here (5k seat arena).

My seats cost me about $0.08. I watch them on TV.

SB, they don't charge those prices to make up for the comps that they give out. Believe me, the people that they comp those tickets to will make up for the cost 100 times over at the tables before and after the show.


What's more criminal to me than these $250 price tag tickets to see an entertainer or a band is the common prcatice by many MLB organizations of charging different prices for different games for the same seats depending on the opposing team that they will be playing.

For instance last year I inquired about tickets to a Mets / Braves game and found that the stadium was selling tickets in a certain section for $200 per seat. The same exact seats were being sold, for a Mets / Marlins game for $75 per seat.

As far as I am concerned, that's scalping by the organization itself. The Yankees do the same thing.

Criminal.

If you want to really compalin about the high cost of tickets for an entertainment venue, check out the practice by the Broadway Playhouses and the prices they now charge for certain sections. Out of control.

You're right, DC. It is criminal. We were down in Florida last year and wanted to get Rays tickets. They say right on their website that pricing and/or parking is different if they're playing the Red Sox or the Yankees.

Broadway shows ARE out of control, as are some of the other venues mentioned. We took my daughter to the Met to see the Nutcracker a few years ago. We had orchestra seats, but they were by no means front row. By the time we paid parking, tolls, tickets and dinner in NYC, we figured that the evening cost us close to $600.

How did things ever get so far? I don't know. It's so -- unfortunate -- so unnecessary. Times have changed. It's not like the Old Days. I just refuse -- to be a fool -- dancing on the
string, held by all those -- bigshots.

Not a penny.

The most I've paid for a show was something like $180 a seat to see Roger Waters almost two years ago. But I was in the third row, and Pink Floyd is probably one of the most well-known acts in the music world, on the same level as the Beatles and maybe Bob Dylan (I love Dylan, but he isn't nearly as easy to get into as the Beatles). Oh, not to mention how much money probably goes into Floyd's stage show.

I think tickets are generally over-priced, though. At least once you get past the "underground" phase of your career. On average, I'd say tickets to see bands that are known internationally, but not on a super-stardom level are like 20 bucks, and I think that's totally worth it when you figure they have to pay for the gas in the van--not a bus--that they're driving around the country, and maybe even into Canada. I always make it a point to hit up the merch-stands for a t-shirt too... Bands on that sort of level of fame deserve the money, because even though they're big enough to get on that radio station in every town that calls itself "alternative" a lot of them still have day-jobs.

I'd say those are the kinds of shows I usually attend. I much prefer a club where everyone stands and dances their asses off to a big stadium show... But that's me. The last concert I bought a ticket to was only $13, and it was for a band with a decent following.

That's pretty good considering what a prominent figure he is in music. Or, at least it's a lot less than I would expect. But I suspect that I like the Velvet Underground more than most audiences.

Plus a lot of people think he sucks live, so that probably explains the low price, now that I think of it.

Whatever, I still think it's a good price.

I've overpaid for sporting events, and I have bought tickets from scalpers and got a betterdeal from them than I have from ticket agencies like stub hub.

My problem is that the waiting list for Steeler tickets exceeds my life expectancy by many years. I occasionally get tickets from friends, but if my sons and I want to plan to go to a specific game, I know I have to shell out over $300-350 for a ticket from Stub Hub(and that's not the 50 yard line).

What's the difference between paying over the ticket price from an agency (legal) and a scalper (illegal)? Besides skin color and social standing, the government gets to collect an easy cut through taxes on the agents. Frankly, I find the scalpers harder working and just as honest as the ticket brokers.

I also get a kick out of the announcements piped through svarious sports venues warning fans not to buy from scalpersas their tickets may be forgeries and counterfeits.

Oh, I don't deny that I have. Back in 2000, when the Mets played the Yankees in the WS, I paid $1000 for a pair of tickets to sit behind home plate. I figured that I may NEVER EVER see a Subway series again in my life, so I went for it.

I try NOT to overpay for regular season games and will only consider doing so if it is a milestone type or a playoff / championship game. Truthfully though, the best seat in the house is on my couch!



I'm in the same boat with my GIANTS as far as the waiting list goes. And I have shelled out some $$$ for tickets through various agencies.



Really there is no difference. I just feel that when you buy from an agency or a scalper, you know that you have to pay a vig. I feel that you shouldn't have to overpay if you buy a ticket directly from the organization box office. What bothers me is that the organizations themselves claim that they frown upon scalping, make those announcements at the games, have undercover cops outside their respective arenas trying to nail scalpers, will suspend your season ticket if you sold it to a scalper who gets caught re-selling it, but yet many of those same oragnizations will sell a block of tickets to a scalper, and then themselves, as I mentioned for the same seats, depending on the popularity of the visiting team that is coming in to play. I find that a bit hypocritical.

I have more respect for the scalper himself than I do for the organizations.

I can imagine Colts tickets will be more this season with the new stadium...

I agree. I don't begrudge any man his profit. And yes, scalping is an illegal activity, and by definition of the law we can't call it a just profit.

At the same time the scalper, like businessmen, incur costs and risks (buying game tickets from fans on game days and the risk of arrest and prosecution). They work hard to get tickets and sell them in the course of a couple of hours, working buyers and sellers. It's a skill, involving direct and persuasive communication while realizing the market demands for the tickets. Those crooks really work hard for the money.

I think scalpers and touting organizations are a horrible thing, increasingly so as of late. You have to think about what they do, realistically speaking... They buy as many tickets as they can , sometimes until there are none left available from the original ticket distributors. Then, they are free to jack the prices up, sometimes to clearly unreasonable prices. This just makes it harder for the fans to get their hands on tickets, which is totally fucked.

The story I always tell people is of Radiohead's last American tour, which was summer 2006, if I remember correctly. Tickets were being sold on ticketmaster and on Radiohead's website for roughly forty bucks a pop, regardless of location relative the stage. This was a great deal, considering they played a lot of big venues, including Madison Square Garden. $40 tickets to sit front row at a MSG gig is a big deal, I think. Well, in less than an hour, tickets were sold out to both of the MSG shows plus both of the Boston shows. Knowing that Radiohead are notoriously scalped (they even put a discretion at the top of their ticket-sales page on their website which discourage scalpers, pleading that they reserve tickets for the "real fans") I checked out eBay, and sure enough, there were pages among pages of Radiohead tickets up for sale. The only problem is, the same $40 tickets were now going for absolutely insane prices. I saw first-tier tickets going for $1,500 a piece, and that was before betting had even closed. The cheapest I saw was around $200-$300, which wasn't a manageable price at the time... I don't think tickets should have even reached those prices, considering how affordable they were to begin with.

It's just ridiculous. It really puts a burden on fans and performers, in my opinion.

Scalping is not illegal in every state. It is now legal in Missouri.

I'm paying £50 to see Radiohead in June.

I saw Radiohead on Conan O'Brien for free

I saw yo' face for free.

worth every penny

I'm not really sure what the USD to Euro conversion rate is, but I can't imagine that's a steep price.

It looks like I am skipping out on Radiohead's tour this year. The closest they're coming to New York is north Jersey for the All Points West Festival. I was planning to go, only tickets were like $80 per day and about $200 for a three-day pass. Radiohead is playing (and headlining) Friday and Saturday night. I was aiming for Saturday night, because not only are Radiohead on the bill that night, but it is the only day that Animal Collective will be paying--and if I can see both of my favorite bands play at the same show, then I'd be pretty set. Saturday is also hosting the Roots, Chromeo, and Kings of Leon, all of which I wouldn't mind seeing. I'm not too familiar with the other bands that night, but I'm hearing pretty good things, considering that Saturday's tickets seem to have the highest demand. So, of course they sold out before I could manage to get any money together.

Friday has a pretty good set too... Aside from Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, The New Pornographers and The Go! Team are all bands I'd like to see, but the fact that Animal Collective aren't playing that night is a real bummer to me. Even still, tickets sold out not too long after Saturday's. And Sunday looks pretty bleak aside from a few acts like Cat Power.

Anyway, I'm a little bummed by not seeing Radiohead this year, but I haven't really been dwelling on it because of all the bands at the festival, I'm most interested in catching an Animal Collective set, and since they are from Brooklyn, they're constantly playing shows in New York, and rather than pay $80, tickets would be more like 10-20 dollars if I saw them play a normal gig.

It's not like the Old Days. I just refuse -- to be a fool -- dancing on the
string, held by all those -- bigshots.

I am Enzo. The baker. Do you remember me?

Well, it's good old British sterling for me, and I'm apparently paying the equivalent of $99 for a single ticket. It's the most I've ever paid to see someone.

Can upstate New York whiners claim to be "New Yorkers"? I don't think so. But to drag The Garden State into it?

LMFAO! I've literally just spat water over my laptop.

But towards the end, you were, uh paroled to help with the American uh war effort. So for the last six months you've been working in a pastry shop. Well now that the war is almost over, -- they want to repatriate you back to your old country. But you want to stay in this country, and you want to be married.

I understand everything.

wait till you see the beautiful cake I made for your daughter.GODFATHER.

Give it to a Jew congressman, in another district.

Hey New Yorkers. Besides Manhattan, what are a couple of the premier places to live in the city?

I live in the Country Club section of the Bronx, which is quite suburban, as far as the city goes. I still love it. It's more akin to Westchester or Staten Island (which is also a gorgeous borough), than it is to the rest of the Bronx. But to be honest, you can make a case for all of the boroughs. Queens for it's multi-ethnicity, Brooklyn for it's history, Manhattan, well, because it's Manhattan.

Now wait a minute. Do you speak of the same Queens that Eddie Murphy inhabited in Coming To America? Is it the same Brooklyn that Vinnie Barbarino inhabited? And the Bronx as in South Bronx?

I really get the impression that many or most parts of New York are crime infested denizens of quiet desperation. At least that's how they are generally ortrayed in the movies and on Law&Order. Is that worng?

That's ridiculous! Tickets for the U.S. tour dates are only going for an average of about $50.

But I suppose there is probably a larger demand for Radiohead tickets in the UK.

If I were to ever move into the city, I'd aim for Brooklyn, but purely for the arts & music scene there. A lot of great, lesser-known bands travel through Brooklyn.

Yes.

Don't believe everything you see on tv. Oh wait, you're the dude who believes Adriana LaCerva is still alive. Never mind.

So I guess all of Pennsylvania is just like portrayed in THE DEER HUNTER; uneducated and drunk, right?

I guess all Texans are as bright as Jessica Simpson, right?

Almost!