Ticketmaster is the world’s largest ticket sales and distribution company, handling tickets for many of the top concerts, sporting events, and more. With so many tickets being sold through their platform, there are inevitably going to be some tickets that go unsold for various events.
Why do some tickets go unsold?
There are a few key reasons why some tickets may not get purchased for a concert on Ticketmaster:
- The event didn’t sell out – There may simply have been less demand than there was supply of tickets. The artist may not be popular enough in that region to sell out the venue.
- Overpricing – Ticket prices may have been set too high for the actual demand.
- Last minute cancellations – Some ticket holders may have had to cancel their plans to attend the event last minute due to unforeseen circumstances.
- Extra tickets held – Venues and event organizers often hold back some tickets for various purposes, including giveaways, fan clubs, or releasing more tickets later. These withheld tickets can go unsold.
- Speculative listings – Ticket resellers may list speculative tickets on Ticketmaster to try and capitalize on demand, but if they can’t sell them they may go unused.
In most cases, some amount of unsold tickets is normal and expected. Venues and organizers anticipate a certain percentage of unsold seats when planning events.
What happens to unsold tickets?
If tickets remain unsold as the event date approaches, Ticketmaster employs a few strategies to try and sell them:
- Lower Prices – They may strategically lower prices on certain unsold tickets to help drive sales.
- Release Extra Tickets – They may release some of the tickets being held back by venues to help fill seats.
- Targeted Promotions – They may offer special deals or promotions targeted to certain fan groups or demographics to try and sell remaining tickets.
In the days and hours leading up to an event, significant discounts may be offered through Ticketmaster to help liquify unsold inventory. It’s quite common to see unsold tickets being offered at steep discounts like 50% or more on the day of a concert.
If tickets still remain unsold by the time the event happens, there are a few things that can happen to those unused tickets:
Returned to the Venue
Any unsold tickets get returned to the control of the venue. The venue can then use these tickets in a few different ways:
- Sell at the Door – Put unsold tickets up for sale at the box office on the day of the event.
- Comp tickets – Use tickets as free comps to give away to guests, promoters, etc.
- Upgrade Seats – Use extra tickets to upgrade seats for existing ticket holders.
Having some extra tickets on hand can be helpful for the venue on event day for last minute operational needs.
Removed from Circulation
If the event is sold out, the venue may opt to simply remove unsold tickets from circulation. This prevents them from being resold and preserves the exclusivity of a “sold out” event.
These removed tickets end up going unused. The seats may remain physically empty during the event.
Resale Continues
In some cases, Ticketmaster may continue efforts to resell unsold tickets right up until event start time. While customers can no longer physically receive tickets, electronic tickets can be sold and delivered instantly.
Ticketmaster partners with many ticket resellers who may continue listing available tickets on the site after the initial onsale period ends.
This provides continued opportunity for monetization of unsold tickets.
Donated
For some events, unused tickets may end up getting donated to charities, community groups, or other third parties:
- Charity auctions – Tickets donated to charities to use for fundraising auctions.
- Giveaways – Tickets donated for contests and giveaways.
- Community groups – Tickets donated to schools, churches, or other local groups in the community.
Donating tickets can create goodwill and PR for artists, teams, venues, and Ticketmaster itself.
Factors that influence number of unsold tickets
Many factors can influence the number of tickets that may go unsold for a given event:
- Artist popularity – Very popular artists tend to sell out venues easily. Niche acts may struggle to fill up large venues.
- Venue size – Booking acts into appropriately sized venues is key. An oversized venue leads to more unsold seats.
- Ticket prices – Higher prices will price some fans out of buying tickets, although cheaper tickets have their own risks.
- On-sale timing – Tickets going on sale too far in advance or too close to the event can increase unsold inventory.
- Promotion – Good marketing and promotion helps drive awareness and sales. Poor promotion leads to unsold tickets.
- On-sale competition – Many on-sales on the same day creates consumer choice and can spread demand across events.
- Economy – A weak or uncertain economy lowers consumer discretionary spending and ticket sales.
Understanding demand and setting prices and timelines strategically can help optimize sales and minimize unsold ticket volumes.
Risks of having too many unsold tickets
While some amount of unused tickets is normal, having too many unsold tickets creates some problems:
- Lost revenue – Each unsold ticket represents missed income for artists, promoters, venues, and Ticketmaster.
- Wasted inventory – Unused seats that could have been sold and filled.
- Poor optics – Visible empty seats or small crowds looks bad for all stakeholders.
- Artist dissatisfaction – Performing to small crowds frustrates artists.
- Reputation risk – Customers associate unsold events with lack of interest or “failure.”
Organizers aim to achieve high percent-capacity attendance at events. Too many unsold tickets signals an issue with demand forecasting, pricing, or promotion.
Typical percent unsold
Industry experts estimate popular concerts tend to sell around 85-95% of available tickets on average. The remainder goes unsold:
- 10% unsold is considered a very well-sold event.
- 15% unsold is average for well-promoted concerts.
- 20%+ unsold often indicates issues with demand forecasting or pricing.
Stadium concerts can be even more challenging to completely sell out. Upwards of 20% unsold is not uncommon for very large venues.
More niche genres and artists can see unsold rates of 25-40% or more in arenas and amphitheaters.
Trends impacting unsold tickets
The live events industry is evolving, impacting unsold ticket volumes. Some key trends include:
- Data analytics – Predictive modeling helps forecast demand and optimize pricing to sell more tickets.
- Dynamic pricing – Adjusting prices up or down based on real-time demand helps liquidate inventory.
- Secondary market – Reseller sites like StubHub provide expanded resale opportunities for unsold primary tickets.
- Paperless tickets – Digital tickets allow instant distribution of previously unsold inventory.
- Lower fees – Reducing hated nuisance fees helps drive more primary market ticket sales.
Technology is giving promoters more sophisticated tools to optimize sales, while consumer-friendly initiatives like lower fees also support getting more tickets initially sold.
Conclusion
In summary, unsold concert tickets on Ticketmaster can be returned to the venue, removed from circulation, donated, or continue to be resold right up until show time. Typical unsold rates are 10-20%, but can be higher for niche artists or large venues. New technology provides much greater ability for the live events industry to forecast demand accurately and price and market events optimally to minimize unsold ticket volumes.
