Steve Wynn declares war on ticket brokers

[spartan1979]

I think too many of us are overreacting to this. What I see Wynn doing is going on brokers sites or ebay, finding specific seats that are being sold at a huge markup and cancelling those seats.

[RinglingRingling]

My problem isn't with the brokers trying to make money (by selling a ticket for a few dollars more than they paid for it)... My problem is when they try to make an OBSCENE amount of money by buying up all the tickets and then selling it for hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars more than they paid for it because of supply/demand.

But it's a tough sell trying to check everyone who bought a ticket. Far better would be to ask ticket seekers to help police the ticket resellers themselves by lodging complaints against the sellers prices with the venue....

(Again, I would expect to pay about 150 dollars for a 125 ticket from a broker, but 700 is a bit much, especially when Wynn and Brooks will NEVER see this money....)

Why is it your problem that someone would spend that amount to see Garth.

Garth is far worth more 125 a ticket for a huge venue. I was expecting tickets to be over 200. Few years back, I had a line on tickets for some of the Kansas City shows. Let me tell ya ---thats a real tourist destination in the WINTER. I had a line on 3rd row seats for $2000 a piece. I was ready to spend it on it because the gal I was seeing really wanted to see Garth, and she never had. Me seeing Garth a handful of times already, didn't flinch at that price because I knew it was well worth it.

duuude... that is just sad... in so many ways.

[ph4ever]

My problem isn't with the brokers trying to make money (by selling a ticket for a few dollars more than they paid for it)... My problem is when they try to make an OBSCENE amount of money by buying up all the tickets and then selling it for hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars more than they paid for it because of supply/demand.

But it's a tough sell trying to check everyone who bought a ticket. Far better would be to ask ticket seekers to help police the ticket resellers themselves by lodging complaints against the sellers prices with the venue....

(Again, I would expect to pay about 150 dollars for a 125 ticket from a broker, but 700 is a bit much, especially when Wynn and Brooks will NEVER see this money....)

Why is it your problem that someone would spend that amount to see Garth.

Garth is far worth more 125 a ticket for a huge venue. I was expecting tickets to be over 200. Few years back, I had a line on tickets for some of the Kansas City shows. Let me tell ya ---thats a real tourist destination in the WINTER. I had a line on 3rd row seats for $2000 a piece. I was ready to spend it on it because the gal I was seeing really wanted to see Garth, and she never had. Me seeing Garth a handful of times already, didn't flinch at that price because I knew it was well worth it.

duuude... that is just sad... in so many ways.

Garth puts on a kicka$$ show. I can see where a Garth fan would pay that for 3rd row seats. Heck I can see parrotheads paying that for Buffett.

[The Lost Manatee]

I have no problems with ticket brokers charging whatever they can get. I do have a problem with the current rigged system where the brokers are getting blocks of choice seats before the public has a chance to buy them. To me, this is the problem. If the ticket outlets truly limited ticket sales to 8 per person or whatever number and enforced it and didn't do pre-sales, then I would say that it's a decent system however given that brokers seem to get big blocks of seats before the tickets even go on sale, there is something wrong here. I also consider it a conflict of interest for ticket outlets to "own" venues and thereby force artists to work with them if they want to perform at a venue. I, for one, wouldn't mind going back to the way the Grateful Dead sold their tickets years ago, the mail.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

If I book an airline ticket or a cruise, I already have to let them know who is using the ticket and provide ID at entry -- what's so different about a concert ticket?

The difference is that you have to cough up personal info for your airline or cruise ticket because of security concerns. There are no name checks on security at a concert. Before security became a concern you could sell your airline ticket in the want ads if you couldn't use it.

[dean_siu]

If I book an airline ticket or a cruise, I already have to let them know who is using the ticket and provide ID at entry -- what's so different about a concert ticket?

The difference is that you have to cough up personal info for your airline or cruise ticket because of security concerns. There are no name checks on security at a concert. Before security became a concern you could sell your airline ticket in the want ads if you couldn't use it.

In Vegas, people willingly give up a lot more information than this at every casino.....when you sign up a players club, they ask for your name, address, phone, email, cell phone and more. Many ask for birthdays and anniversaries...while some even ask for social security number. If people willingly give up all this info to get a players club card, I don't think many of them will have a problem showing ID to see Garth.

[chippewa]

If I book an airline ticket or a cruise, I already have to let them know who is using the ticket and provide ID at entry -- what's so different about a concert ticket?

The difference is that you have to cough up personal info for your airline or cruise ticket because of security concerns. There are no name checks on security at a concert. Before security became a concern you could sell your airline ticket in the want ads if you couldn't use it.

Yes, that's certainly an obvious hole in our national defense that could easily be fixed by making concert tickets non-transferable and an ID required. I'd think a 20,000 seat arena makes a more appealing terrorist target than a relatively small airplane.

[SchoolGirlHeart]

If I book an airline ticket or a cruise, I already have to let them know who is using the ticket and provide ID at entry -- what's so different about a concert ticket?

The difference is that you have to cough up personal info for your airline or cruise ticket because of security concerns. There are no name checks on security at a concert. Before security became a concern you could sell your airline ticket in the want ads if you couldn't use it.

Yes, that's certainly an obvious hole in our national defense that could easily be fixed by making concert tickets non-transferable and an ID required. I'd think a 20,000 seat arena makes a more appealing terrorist target than a relatively small airplane.

Unlike the concert venue, the airplane can be used as a missile.

[dean_siu]

Here's the latest on the controversy. The one buyer they spoke to in the article was not happy about the requirements....but if you read the comments, most people there are happy with Steve Wynn's actions.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oc ... -feelings/