New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. is demanding answers from Ticketmaster for the outrageous prices for Bruce Springsteen tickets. He’s written a letter to Ticketmaster CEO Michael Rapino asking for answers to three key questions.
Some of the tickets are over $4,500 and have hit $5,000 and are a part of Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing.” Ticketmaster stated that “events on our platform may have tickets that are ‘market-priced,’ so ticket and fees may adjust over time based on demand.” Ticketmaster also says “prices and formats are consistent with industry standards for top performers.”
Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010 and were sued for allegedly violating antitrust laws and using “predatory” sales practices last year by plaintiffs from multiple states.
The congressman is acting on behalf of music fans who “should have the ability to enjoy live entertainment without ticket- sales practices that rip off consumers,” he writes in his letter, which he also posted on Twitter. He adds that Ticketmaster’s Official Platinum Seats program “has resulted in fans paying exorbitant prices. Additionally, the fine print of your program allows additional amounts of fees to be ‘added on top of the already elevated prices.'”
His three questions for the Ticketmaster CEO are: “For Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s 2023’s tour: a.) How many shows will be played in venues owned, operated, or exclusively booked by Ticketmaster? b.) For how many of these shows is Ticketmaster the primary ticket seller or the exclusive ticket seller?”
His final question for Ticketmaster is: “Does your company inform customers as to how many tickets will be available for sale, at what time, and how they will be priced so they can make informed purchasing [decisions]?”.
This isn’t the first time Pascrell has turned his attention to ticketing practices. He previously called for an anti-monopolistic breakup of Live Nation suggesting that their size and influence led to safety issues that created incidents such as Dave Chappelle getting attacked on stage and the Astroworld tragedy.
The Congressman stated at the time, “Congress has to come up with some way to break up Live Nation” according to the New York Post.
Read the Congressman’s letter below, which he posted with the caption, “Today I’ve demanded answers from Ticketmaster on the monopoly’s role in the Springsteen tour fiasco where fans were charged upwards of $5,000 for seats.”
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