What, Another Ticketmaster Ticketing Uproar?
Two media outlets merged resources to expose another Ticketmaster ticketing drama that some are calling a PR nightmare. The supply-and-demand system of brokering tickets to fans has become a topic of endless debate and a tool for increased profit for the dominant ducats deliverer. But can the system remain as is?
By FYI Staff
According to a CBC news story, box-office giant Ticketmaster is recruiting professional scalpers who cheat its system to expand its resale business and squeeze more money out of fans. The allegation is made in a carefully documented investigation undertaken by a joint CBC News and Toronto Starteam.
In July, the news outlets sent a pair of reporters undercover to Ticket Summit 2018, a ticketing and live entertainment convention at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Posing as scalpers and equipped with hidden cameras, the journalists were pitched on Ticketmaster's professional reseller program.
The story reports that company representatives told them Ticketmaster's resale division turns a blind eye to scalpers who use ticket-buying bots and fake identities to snatch up tickets and then resell them on the site for inflated prices. Those pricey resale tickets include extra fees for Ticketmaster.
You can read the CBC story here, and The Toronto Star’s even steamier revelations here.
Ticketmaster has vehemently denied the allegation that it is party to any of the above, but the claims cannot sit well with corporate sponsors who attach their name to tours and venues. Meantime, there is no shortage of well-heeled fans willing to cough up absurd amounts of money to obtain the best seats available in the house starring some of the wealthiest superstars on the planet.
