Does Anyone REALLY think ticket prices are too high?

[RinglingRingling]

It's not so much that the $40 lawn is not affordable, it's that they are unattainable. My daughter lives in Philly, and stood in line (people at different places) with people who usually get 30 or so tickets all totalled. In my daughter's line, the FIRST person in line did not get tickets! It was essentially sold out in under 3 minutes. NONE of our people got tickets. As has been said many times, the scalpers had plenty of tickets... AND the affordable $40 ticket then becomes $150 plus! At $126, the pavillion (perhaps almost affordable) then becomes $800 plus per ticket. I love Jimmy, and first saw him in 1979, but he is getting beyond my price range. I also have to travel to Philly. I have LOTS of great memories!

depends on the venue. Last year, we got a pair of decent pavillion seats at Alpine Valley for less than face, about the cost of what the tickets would have been if Jimmy had done the increase between years he did from 2002-2003,2003-2004, and 2004-2005.

[ToplessRideFL]

I did have the pleasure of going to shows 'back in the day' as well as when it became a cultural event to see JB&TCRB. Of course, it's relative - my back in the day was the early 1980s. So someone who saw JB before then even has even more hindsite and history of his evolution as a performer, songwriter and, ahem, ticket prices.

1977 I think the ticket was $15. Keep in mind min wage was $3 per hr

[Sidew13]

Have yet to witness any level of class of at a Buffett show and am very grateful about it.

You mean a total stranger shooting you in the mouth with a supersoaker loaded with some unknown drink isn't classy?

[RinglingRingling]

Have yet to witness any level of class of at a Buffett show and am very grateful about it.

You mean a total stranger shooting you in the mouth with a supersoaker loaded with some unknown drink isn't classy?

or a guy with huge beads around his neck handing out "sips" of good anejo tequila?

[photogal]

It seems to be how should I say this.."Our" favorites from our age group (apx.38 to 55ish) that charge more because they know we can afford it.
Anyone my teens listen to are way cheaper even when they play the same type of arena. I just love it when they moan that someone cost $30 or $40 dollars.
And the killer for me is I have a ticket stub from seeing Jimmy open up for the Eagles for $8.50!!!!!!

And funny thing today my friend and I were thinking of seeing Rod Stewart NEXT saturday in Boston and there are LOTS of seats left in every price range which just happens to be $65 to $125.

[Dezdmona]

It's not so much the ticket price itself it's the reason the price is so high.

It's the frivilous lawsuits over the years by people that slipped on spilled beers that cause the insurance to be so high, and all the middlemen that have to take their cut.
The artist has to pay the members of the band, as well as managers, promoters, advertising, and a host of other folks.

My husband has done home loans for band members and other people associated with some pretty famous artists (including the wonderful pholks who cared for JB's parents) and seen their incomes and I can tell you it's less than you probably think. Sometimes we don't think about all the people that an artist is paying.

I bet that $7 beer doesn't have to stretch in as many different directions.

I'll never complain about the price of a JB ticket.

[photogal]

ok so how come Nickelback is 38 and 48 dollars and Rod Stewart is 65 and 125 in the SAME arena??? Wouldnt they have the same expenses?

oh just checked...Bob Seger is 38 and 74 in the SAME arena???
Now he could have charged $126 and didnt.
Just a little fyi

[f2cdlzrd]

Ok, I am Vice President of my local PHC and we are allotted tickets to Charlotte based on membership. Some of our club members say that if Jimmy comes to our area this year they WILL NOT pay such a high price for tickets and refuse to attend. I, for one, will see Jimmy Buffett if I have to eat beans and rice for a month. A couple years ago I would go see him 4-5 times a year. I agree I cannot go as much as I used to because of price but that will definitely not keep me from attending at least one show. I mean, he is 60 years old and I am making up for lost time. I attended my first show in 2000 and regret every one I missed before that time. Just my opinion.

[Quiet and Shy]

Are ticket prices high? Yep. In two years pavilion prices went from $66 to $86 to $126...basically a 100% increase. (Lawn prices have held at $36 the past two tours.) The affordability obviously depends on each individual's situation and priorities and I'm sure it's now a lot tougher for some.

That said, are Buffett tickets too expensive? Generally no because the shows basically still sell out and therefore the price isn't yet too high for the market. Face it folks, the game has changed.

With the advent of the internet, the pricing of concert tickets (which had traditionally been a closed and fixed price market) has opened significantly (think of how much easier it is today to price airline tickets....). It's now easy to move tickets between the primary (Ticketmaster) and secondary/scalper market (regardless of local scalping laws). True market prices became much more transparent making margins huge for high-demand shows (like Buffett). Scalpers became highly motivated to buy tickets from Ticketmaster to get that margin...making it that much harder for individual fans to get tickets. Some fans still got lucky and were able to get tickets directly from Ticketmaster (at artificially low prices, e.g. the recent $36 lawn prices), but with the internet artists essentially no longer set the price for their tickets; the market does.

So does Jimmy make more money from the recent ticket price increases? Sure. But if I have to pay the market price I'd rather pay him than a scalper because he's the one providing the value. Also, today's higher ticket prices create less incentive for ticket scalpers to compete with concert attendees for tickets sold by Ticketmaster. And finally, it's now easy to guarantee I can get a ticket to a show...although it may well be at the market price.

[Pablo Escobar]

I mean, who really can justify paying $300-$500 just for a 90 min concert? Seriously? Even if Bob Marley was reincarnated and played a show at the HOB, and asked $100 for tickets I wouldn't do it. (If you're rich..need not apply here). There's gotta to be a time when ticket prices will tpaer off due to the demand not being there...but since most of us love live music, this may never happen..and the story goes...

Jimmy can raise prices all his wants b/c he's laughing all the way to the bank...but they'll be a cut off, and soon people will be tired of paying $150+ for a ticket to see an act (Buffett). God I'd hate to see the ticket prices for Jimmys farewell tour. God.

I love the Dave Matthews Band, and I've been to over 80 shows and they are about to raise ticket prices to a god awful high $70 a ticket (from $15 in 1991..but its been a gradual increase). So I've decided to see other bands that are cheaper in the ticket price realm.

I've decided since ive seen DMB countless times, I really don't need to see them anymore. Time for something new. The same goes for Buffett, I've seen him 30 times...the sets haven't changed THAT much, and paying that much to see him isn't what it used to be for me..so i'll refrain for maybe 1 show a year than 5-10 I used to do a year for Bubba. Add to the fact, I bought my first house and my priorities have changed...for the people who like to pay that much for the ticket: more power to you

[Triathlete-Parakeet2]

listen... even if $126 used to get you two tickets, even $1,126 wont get you a ticket in 5 years when Jimmy's retired. So Im gonna keep goin to as many shows as possible. hey, and the lawn seats are still real cheap. $36 and a ten dollar rain parka is a i need! you have more fun on the lawn anyway. even the Charlotte show when it poured for 2 hours, Phans in my hotel were still raving abou it. i was dry, and it seemed like they had more fun? (and more money left!)

[parrothead216]

How many times do I have to say it!

The Venue sets the ticket prices to cover their expenses.

Jimmy Charges X dollars to preform. HE pays His people out of HIS MONEY!

The Venue Pays their people out of there share.

If Jimmy plays for $1,000,000.00 a show, the Venue then sets their prices accordingly to also make some money.

Remember, Jimmy is Always a sell-out. That means more Ticket Takers, Ushers, Concession People, Clean -Up people, Security, Port-O -Lets Parking people etc. etc. etc.

There also, is the what the traffic will bear attitude! He also, is playing in many, not all, expensive cities. ( New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Philly, WPB)
These are not inexpensive cities to do anything in. When the tour is being planned , the venues get and Idea of how much tickets need to be, so that THEY can also make some money!

When the prices are determined, you will sometime find that in maybe Indy will be slightly less, then Chicago. But that would be set by the Venue! Possibly, because they have had shows there that didn't do well over a certain price point!



Finally, Not all Venues seat the same amount! Some don't have a lawn, but there will always be variables that may impact on the actual price.

[Triathlete-Parakeet2]

i dont know about those port o potty's. i'm still trying to get the smell of parrothead pee of my car! i'm never parking in a corner again!

[ragtopW]

Yeah, ticket prices are too high.
That is, they're too high for me to continue to go to 4-5 concerts every year.
I'll continue to go to Alpine Valley and Chicago.
But that's it.
No more buying plane tickets (which are RIDICULOUSLY high), lodging, AND a concert ticket.
Just the gas to get to Tinley Park and Alpine.
Anybody else that wants to pay $126.00 to go to several concerts-God Bless them-but not me.

see you in Dallas???

[Big Jimmy]

Enough already! I am sick of people whining they cant afford 126 for the best seats and are too good to sit in the lawn for 40. If you can not afford 40 for lawn seats how can you afford a computer? I have sat in the lawn at least one show a year for many years now, and yes there are some idiots there, but you can move to a place where they are not.
I still like to sit in seats to be closer, and I wish they were cheaper, but they are not. So instead of seeing JB plus 4-5 other acts in a year, I only see 2 or 3. JB's tickets are in line with most other acts, except he plays a lot of places with lawns that you can still get a cheaper ticket for.
If all tickets were 126, then fire away, but dont complain about 40.00 in this day and age.
I swear there are people who would complain about the taxes they have to pay if they hit the lottery

Its not 40 bucks for the lawn-- Its what the lawn does to a persons body. After playing hockey for many years, My body can not sit/stand on an uneven waste of land where the lawn is usually torn up.

So the only option I have if I want to see the show is spend 126 for the face-- then another almost 25 in frickin service charges.

[Coconuts]

What I won't tolerate is people whining about how much Jazz Fest tickets cost. It's still the best deal on the continent and the 48 states (I didn't say 'lower 48' because I've never been able to find the 'upper 48' for some reason). Considering all the music of one day, major act or not, it's the best deal in the world.

We spent almost as much on our New Orleans trip to Jazz Fest for 5 days last year as we did in Tokyo for 9 days (in fairness, we did have free lodging in Tokyo) - and it was worth it! We're just deciding which weekend we want to go this year!

Edit- Forgot to add that we both commented on what a great deal it was- got to see Warren Haynes, Irma Thomas, Paul Simon (doing Bridge Over Troubled Water with Irma Thomas and Alan Toussaint!) and Jimmy for like $31. You can't even get a lawn seat for that for any of them!

[photogal]

ok so how come Nickelback is 38 and 48 dollars and Rod Stewart is 65 and 125 in the SAME arena??? Wouldnt they have the same expenses?

oh just checked...Bob Seger is 38 and 74 in the SAME arena???
Now he could have charged $126 and didnt.
Just a little fyi

Did ya all miss my post, like go with the math. Lawyers for the defence go ahead.

[Quiet and Shy]

ok so how come Nickelback is 38 and 48 dollars and Rod Stewart is 65 and 125 in the SAME arena??? Wouldnt they have the same expenses?

oh just checked...Bob Seger is 38 and 74 in the SAME arena???
Now he could have charged $126 and didnt.
Just a little fyi

Did ya all miss my post, like go with the math. Lawyers for the defence go ahead.

Well, my guess on Bob Seger is he wouldn't have sold many tickets at $126 each...he just doesn't have the live following Jimmy does. It's all supply and demand and ticket prices are set for each act based on what they think fans are willing to pay.

As far as the venues setting ticket prices...I think that's only partially true. Many venues share ownership (e.g. Live Nation) but even venues owned by other companies seem to come up with the same ticket prices (generally $36 and $126 last year), so there's some standardization there across the industry. Also, the artist generally gets 85%-90% of the gate (I'd bet Jimmy gets 90%) so Jimmy's cost to the venue is by far the biggest factor in determining final ticket prices.

[ragtopW]

ok so how come Nickelback is 38 and 48 dollars and Rod Stewart is 65 and 125 in the SAME arena??? Wouldnt they have the same expenses?

oh just checked...Bob Seger is 38 and 74 in the SAME arena???
Now he could have charged $126 and didnt.
Just a little fyi

Did ya all miss my post, like go with the math. Lawyers for the defence go ahead.

Well, my guess on Bob Seger is he wouldn't have sold many tickets at $126 each...he just doesn't have the live following Jimmy does. It's all supply and demand and ticket prices are set for each act based on what they think fans are willing to pay.

As far as the venues setting ticket prices...I think that's only partially true. Many venues share ownership (e.g. Live Nation) but even venues owned by other companies seem to come up with the same ticket prices (generally $36 and $126 last year), so there's some standardization there across the industry. Also, the artist generally gets 85%-90% of the gate (I'd bet Jimmy gets 90%) so Jimmy's cost to the venue is by far the biggest factor in determining final ticket prices.

also factor in Insurance and Security costs..
WE are in the Parking lot at.. nineish??? eleven is late.
the Nickleback fans?? not so much..

more coverage = more cost..

[Wino you know]

see you in Dallas???

I'd love to, Wayne, but there are some things going on that are going to require me to stay close to home for a while, and, as such will only be going to Alpine and Chicago, both of which are only a 3-4 hour drive.