Does Anyone REALLY think ticket prices are too high?

[ph4ever]

are ticket prices too high? HELL YES

Is there a thing "we" can do about it - not unless we quit going to the shows. Complaining won't help one bit.

so basically you pay the price or don't go to the show. Back in "the days" it was not unusual for me to attend a couple of shows (any artist not just Buffett) a month - now I'm doing good to see a couple a year. I pick and choose who I go see very carefully. I've seen Buffett countless times and his show really hasn't changed that much in the past 10 years so missing the actual show isn't that big of a deal for me anymore.

Missing seeing my friends in the lot IS a big deal, so I've decided that I may just go party in the lot and listen to the show from the lot in the future. Lawn tickets are out of the question - Don and I are both too old and our health is such that we really can't deal with all the bs that now goes on in the lawn.

[spooner the dog]

everyone knows that the true buffett fans are in the lawn seats anyway..

[spooner the dog]

um er no offense..

[ragtopW]

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.

[ragtopW]

um er no offense..

[buffett81611]

This is a very interesting topic…especially with the wide variety of perspectives. I’m a huge James Taylor fan and I remember the first concert of his I went to—1992—and I paid $26 to sit 15 rows away from him at an outdoor amphitheater. It was the first of about 20 concerts of his over the past 15 years, mainly on the lawn or very far away.

In the summer of 2004, he was in Denver and I decided to pay eBay scalper prices to get two seats seven rows from the stage. He did a One Man Band tour in the Midwest in the spring of 2005, and I paid over $120 a ticket face value to sit ten rows from the stage in a 2200 seat small community theater. It was great to see him that close with a full band and then just him, his guitar, and tons of stories. I’ll be back to the lawn with my kids now for the rest of the shows.

I’m a recent Buffett fan and when he was playing in my hometown in a club that seats 450 people, it was a no brainer to spend $540 for two standing spaces eight feet away from him. It was the best concert of over 150 shows I’ve been to. Tiny place, he was in great form, got to look him in the eyes, shake his hand and say “thank you.” Roll the Mastercard priceless commercial.

The value of something is based on what someone is willing to pay for it. As a baseball card collector with over 25,000 baseball cards, I learned that lesson the hard way as a child. What the price book said was always more than I could actually sell my baseball card for. Previous comments about what the market will bear and Jimmy—and not the scalpers—getting the biggest piece of the pie are right on.

While the last three concerts I described above were “once in a lifetime” experiences, they were worth every penny I spent. I got them at a great value, relative to what I received out of it.

How valuable is it to me now to see Jimmy Buffett with 20,000+ fans? I might pay $20, but I’d rather listen on Radio Margaritaville for free. After what I experienced, I can’t imagine going to a concert like that and having much fun. But for me, it’s about Jimmy’s songwriting and the music he sings.

The buzz word of the 21st century entertainment business is experience. A trip to Disney isn’t a vacation, it’s a “total family experience.” A cruise is “an experiential voyage.” As a pastor, I don’t lead a church service, it’s a “worship experience.” And on and on the list goes.

It seems for many of the Parrothead-type Buffett fans, the “experience” is most of the fun…the parking lot seven hours before the show…the drinking…meeting folks from BN…the costumes. Perhaps the best way to go might be to take a week off and travel from venue to venue, buy the parking pass, enjoy the “experience” and get the best Sirius sound system possible in your car for the show itself.

It would be an interesting poll on BN to see what the favorite part of “the Jimmy Buffett concert experience” is for you. The concert environment, how you dress up, how you check out and buy the escapism for a day or two, the songs Jimmy sings, meeting other people, partying like you’re in college once again, the sense of community… I think this would go a long way towards determining the value of the ticket price, and if it’s overpriced in people’s mind.

I don't think I'd pay $40 to see Jimmy in a crowd of 20,000 people. I’ve already started saving and planning for the Aspen show in December 2007.

Thanks to anyone still reading…

[jimsig]

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.

A local Boston DJ clued me in on how most of this stuff works. It is mainly the promoter (Live Nation in some cases) who sets the ticket price, or has a big hand in doing so in conjunction with the artist. That's why ticket prices are similar. In most cases an established artist, like Jimmy, gets paid even if one person showed up. The last time the Stones came through and played Foxboro they had only sold less then half the tickets with about a week to go before the show. So the promoter was going to take a bath on this show. So he lowered ticket prices and gave a ton to the local stations to give away. By at least filling seats at a lower price he was then recouping some of his money and the thought is that some one who saved money on a ticket would buy a shirt program etc. By giving seats away through the local stations he trades ad time for tickets and again hopes that people will hear that seats are still available and buy them and again the winner may even buy merchandise that other wise would not have been sold. Because of this the Stones ended up selling a bunch of seats in the week leading up to the show and almost sold it out. The Who had a similar problem back in December in Boston. Slow sales at the beginning were attributed to the fact that both acts had played the area numerous time the previous 18 or so months. Most stations get a number of seats to give away but next time you hear your local station having a major giveaway of tickets, like one set every hour, that may be why.

The last U2 tour in the states the spring leg went on sale in about January. Before that leg even started they put the winter leg on sale, in all it was less then 2 months after. The reason for this was the promotor had to pay U2 for the first leg and wanted to make money back quickly.

He told me that his station always joked about Jimmy putting his shows on sale so early. he said that at Great Woods they should put next years tickets on sale as you are walking out of this years show.

[Glorfindel7]

everyone knows that the true buffett fans are in the lawn seats anyway..

The thing about the Lawn was that it was COMPLETELY packed at Tinley to a point where you found your spot and didn't move for the next couple of hours.

Now the pavilion seat I got gave me enough room to breathe (plus I was protected in case of the rain that was expected that night.)

Just my two cents, simple law of supply and demand, the more demand with the less supply, the more likely that prices will rise.

[inked-parrotthead]

Have to say the tix are a bit steep,but the entertainment value of the concert is the greatest Ive ever experienced...I pay the price make a 2 or 3 day party out of it ,Mrs.Inked and I party like crazed spring breakers,and dont really think about what we payed just,cant wait to do it again!!!

[drunkpirate66]

What if the venues charged to park? Seriously.

Would people who feel that ticket prices are too high complain if it was broken down like this:

40 bucks to park.
40 buck tailgating fee (since most venues lose huge on the fact that people eat and drink for free - all day . . .)
40 bucks for the ticket.

120$

I certainly don't mind 126$ considering all you get. Now what if the tickets were 80$ and you still had to pay to park and pay a tailgating fee? Hmmmmmm?

[Cincy'sOwnDrunk]

All tickets are too expensive, whether it be Buffett orost anyone else. I used to be able to attend evry concert I anted, now I just have to pick a couple of the best. Of course, Buffett is one of them. (Sometimes the ONLY one). I paid 5.00 to see him at Kings Island the first couple of times. Most concerts back then were only $10 for some of the better bands. $30.00 is plenty for anybody in concert.....

[Quiet and Shy]

All tickets are too expensive, whether it be Buffett orost anyone else. I used to be able to attend evry concert I anted, now I just have to pick a couple of the best. Of course, Buffett is one of them. (Sometimes the ONLY one). I paid 5.00 to see him at Kings Island the first couple of times. Most concerts back then were only $10 for some of the better bands. $30.00 is plenty for anybody in concert.....

Unfortunately, the entertainment world doesn't agree with you. It's similar to what's happened with baseball and basketball salaries and ticket prices...they can get more money so they do.

[parrothead216]

Another factor is the fact that most of these venues have maybe 4/5/6000 seats in the shed. Those would be $126.00. The balance of the 20 to 25,000 people pay $36.00!

126.00 x 6,000 = $756,000.00
$36.00 x 14,000= $504,000.00

That's only $1,260,000.00 Ticket gross! Also, don't forget that the Sponsors, guests , families, friends, promotional tickets, take maybe 2000 seats out of that mix!

If Jimmy gets 90% as Q&S said that's :$1,134,000.00 and leaves the venue with $126,000.00 to pay all their expenses and make a profit! Of course the venue does have the concessions and parking also as revenue!

As you can see the people in the shed, defray the cost of the concert, so they can have 36.00 lawn seats!

[drunkpirate66]

The town of Mansfield (Great Woods), MA deploys about 20 police officers to control traffic and ride their bikes around the parking lot and look the other way at 20,000+ breaking open container laws, public nudity laws, numerous fire code violations, etc. That costs money. I realize that most Parrot Heads are very respectful and take their trash with them but let's be honest . . . has anyone ever actually taken a look around after the show. The clean up alone probably costs about 5 figures for the larger parking lots - not to mention inside the venue (those poor bathrooms!). Not to beat a dead horse but I still can;t believe that places like Great Woods don't charge for parking. 15,000 cars (I am guessing) X 40$. Thats alot.

[NelliBli]

Again, the discussion is continuing as if the tickets are actually attainable at $36- $126. Although someone said it depends on the venue, Philly is an absolute NO-GO at those prices. You simply cannot buy the tickets at those prices! If a concert is sold out in under 3 minutes (the Ticketmaster computer guy was not even able to log on before the Sold Out message came up) where are all the tickets? Available on line for many times the face value. I too, am in the position of being unable to stand on th lawn any longer (hip replacement). I realize I'm singing to the choir, but I'm hoping Jimmy will go back to stadiums this year. I certainly never thought I'd say that, and was really bummed out when he announced a stadium tour in 2005! It was great. I guess, in the future, a stadium tour is my only hope....

[Triathlete-Parakeet2]

The town of Mansfield (Great Woods), MA deploys about 20 police officers to control traffic and ride their bikes around the parking lot and look the other way at 20,000+ breaking open container laws, public nudity laws, numerous fire code violations, etc. That costs money. I realize that most Parrot Heads are very respectful and take their trash with them but let's be honest . . . has anyone ever actually taken a look around after the show. The clean up alone probably costs about 5 figures for the larger parking lots - not to mention inside the venue (those poor bathrooms!). Not to beat a dead horse but I still can;t believe that places like Great Woods don't charge for parking. 15,000 cars (I am guessing) X 40$. Thats alot.

I agree. The parking lot after Charlotte was a disgusting mess. Wearing only flip flops and walking blind through the dark, muddy, parking lot and trying not to cut my heel on those damn corona bottles. like 20,000 of them.

[LIPH]

When Buffett's concerts stop selling out in 5 minutes, then I'll believe tickets are too expensive.

[conched]

All tickets are too expensive, whether it be Buffett orost anyone else. I used to be able to attend evry concert I anted, now I just have to pick a couple of the best. Of course, Buffett is one of them. (Sometimes the ONLY one). I paid 5.00 to see him at Kings Island the first couple of times. Most concerts back then were only $10 for some of the better bands. $30.00 is plenty for anybody in concert.....

Times...they are a changin.

Back in the days, I used to pay 29 cents for a gallon of gasoline too and get a free glass with each purchase!!

Check out prices from the 60s and you'll see just how much ALL THINGS HAVE GONE UP!

http://www.1960sflashback.com/1967/Economy.asp

I guess it's all relevant, and I will splurge for Buffett tickets, but I still get enough music by paying $22.50 to go to a show at Gruene Hall. You get a stripped down version of the BIG production and bands that don't have to drive across the country with LOADS and LOADS of equipment.

The thing I really thought was managed wrong last year was to charge $126?? for tickets anywhere in the pavilion at Dallas. That made no sense.

But, you can't always get what you want...

[Quiet and Shy]

Another factor is the fact that most of these venues have maybe 4/5/6000 seats in the shed. Those would be $126.00. The balance of the 20 to 25,000 people pay $36.00!

126.00 x 6,000 = $756,000.00
$36.00 x 14,000= $504,000.00

That's only $1,260,000.00 Ticket gross! Also, don't forget that the Sponsors, guests , families, friends, promotional tickets, take maybe 2000 seats out of that mix!

If Jimmy gets 90% as Q&S said that's :$1,134,000.00 and leaves the venue with $126,000.00 to pay all their expenses and make a profit! Of course the venue does have the concessions and parking also as revenue!

As you can see the people in the shed, defray the cost of the concert, so they can have 36.00 lawn seats!

Yep, my understanding is venues and promoters make their big money on concessions and t-shirt sales.

Jimmy's take isn't quite that high because that $126 includes things such as parking, tax, and venue fees ($16 from my Tampa ticket...so JB would get 90% of $110). I'd suspect the "venue fees" ($8 ) includes some of the added security and cleanup costs for a Buffett show.... Also, sponsor tickets have been "paid" for upfront via their investment in the tour (so that is a wash), and all friends, family, guests etc. now pay for tickets due to a change in the 2006 tax code (that made ticket gifts taxable income).

Re. parking lot charges, my guess as to why they're included in ticket prices is to prevent non-ticket holders from filling up the lots. With Buffett tickets being as expensive as they are and people loving the party around it, I'm sure that could become an even bigger issue than it already is. (Parking is usually separate for stadium shows because lots and venues are operated by different companies). And also, not collecting $s at the lot gate keeps traffic flowing better and keeps the parking lot folks from handling cash.

[dawgfan]

The town of Mansfield (Great Woods), MA deploys about 20 police officers to control traffic and ride their bikes around the parking lot and look the other way at 20,000+ breaking open container laws, public nudity laws, numerous fire code violations, etc. That costs money. I realize that most Parrot Heads are very respectful and take their trash with them but let's be honest . . . has anyone ever actually taken a look around after the show. The clean up alone probably costs about 5 figures for the larger parking lots - not to mention inside the venue (those poor bathrooms!). Not to beat a dead horse but I still can;t believe that places like Great Woods don't charge for parking. 15,000 cars (I am guessing) X 40$. Thats alot.

I agree. The parking lot after Charlotte was a disgusting mess. Wearing only flip flops and walking blind through the dark, muddy, parking lot and trying not to cut my heel on those damn corona bottles. like 20,000 of them.

Parking in ATL this year was $25.00, and as for the mess left in the parking lot it was ridiculous.