Ticket resale has become a hot topic in recent years as major ticket sellers like Ticketmaster seek to control the secondary market. With exclusive contracts and dynamic pricing, Ticketmaster aims to cut out third-party resellers and keep more profit for themselves. But this has caused frustration for music fans who are often forced to pay well above face value to get tickets. So will Ticketmaster cave to public pressure and open up ticket resale?
What is ticket resale?
Ticket resale refers to the secondary market for event tickets, where tickets are resold by third parties rather than directly by the official seller. This includes online marketplaces like StubHub as well as street scalpers outside venues. Ticket resale emerged in the 1990s with the rise of the internet, which allowed scalpers to easily connect with buyers online instead of just locally.
Initially, resale provided fans an outlet to offload extra tickets. But today’s secondary market is dominated by large resellers using bots to instantly buy up huge inventories. Resellers then relist the tickets, sometimes at over 10 times face value. Ticketmaster estimates that 20% of tickets for major shows are scooped up by scalpers right at sale.
Why does Ticketmaster oppose resale?
As the largest primary ticket seller, Ticketmaster sees itself losing out in two ways from unauthorized resellers:
- Lost profits – Scalpers capture some of the profit by reselling at marked-up prices.
- Bad reputation – Fans get angry about rapidly selling out shows and high resale costs.
Ticketmaster also asserts that ticket scalping crosses over into unethical territory. The company sees resellers as parasites profiting off artists’ hard work and fans’ loyalty. In their view, all tickets should go to “genuine” fans rather than scalpers just looking to make money.
How does Ticketmaster discourage resale?
Ticketmaster utilizes several tactics to crack down on scalpers and retain control over ticket sales:
Exclusive agreements
Ticketmaster secures exclusive ticketing deals with major venues and artists so all sales go through their platform. This shuts out competitors and gives Ticketmaster full authority over ticket access.
Identity checks
Fans must verify identification during ticket purchase to prevent scalpers from scooping up tickets under fake names. Ticketmaster also restricts how many tickets one person can buy.
Dynamic pricing
Ticket prices “dynamically” rise and fall based on demand, limiting profit opportunity for scalpers. Fans dislike the unpredictable costs, but it succeeds at recapturing profits for Ticketmaster.
Non-transferable tickets
Many tickets now require the purchaser’s credit card for entry and forbid resale. This makes the tickets worthless for scalpers looking to resell.
Premium platinum tickets
Ticketmaster itself sells “Platinum” tickets at market value prices. This brings resale profits directly to Ticketmaster instead of scalpers.
Does Ticketmaster currently allow any resale?
While Ticketmaster takes extensive measures against unauthorized resellers, they do operate their own ticket resale marketplace. Ticketmaster allows fans to resell tickets via their Ticket Exchange platform. Sellers can set their own price, and Ticketmaster takes a percentage fee.
However, Ticket Exchange comes with major limitations. It is only available for select events where the artist opts in. And season ticket holders for sports teams often cannot resell their tickets on Ticketmaster. So the platform excludes many of the high-demand events where ticket resale thrives.
What factors support Ticketmaster opening resale broadly?
There are some factors that may compel Ticketmaster to allow broader ticket resale in the future:
Increasing public frustration
Fans widely criticize Ticketmaster for rapidly selling out shows and enabling scalpers. If public opinion continues to shift against their policies, Ticketmaster may be pressured into providing fans more resale options.
| Year | Public favorability of Ticketmaster |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 35% |
| 2019 | 30% |
| 2020 | 25% |
Legal challenges
Ticketmaster faces growing legal scrutiny over alleged anti-competitive practices. If forced to open up Ticketing, resale could be an olive branch to regulators.
Artist pressure
Some artists may push Ticketmaster to allow broader resale to improve fan access. Major artists like Bruce Springsteen carry significant leverage in negotiations.
Changing company leadership
New executives coming into leadership at Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation could re-evaluate the company’s resale policies.
What factors may continue restricting resale on Ticketmaster?
On the other hand, there are also strong incentives for Ticketmaster to maintain tight control over the secondary market:
Profitability
Ticketmaster generates massive revenues under current policies. Resale restrictions may continue as long as exclusive deals remain highly lucrative.
Contractual obligations
Ticketmaster’s existing long-term venue and artist contracts likely limit their ability to open resale broadly. Renegotiating these deals would be challenging.
Company philosophy
Ticketmaster views itself as protecting artists and fans by limiting scalpers. This ethos is deeply embedded in the company culture.
Investments in self-resale
With its Platinum Tickets and Ticket Exchange platforms, Ticketmaster has already invested in capturing the resale market internally. This reduces the incentive to support external resellers.
Conclusion
In the near future, Ticketmaster appears unlikely to broadly open event ticket resale. Enabling a freer secondary market would represent a dramatic about-face from Ticketmaster’s longstanding restrictions. Powerful financial incentives and contractual constraints provide the company little reason to allow third-party resellers to profit off their exclusive ticket rights.
However, over the long term, mounting public discontent, legal challenges, and artist pressure could potentially push Ticketmaster to reluctantly open resale access. Even a gradual shift seems improbable given Ticketmaster’s rigid control of ticketing. But the company has shown some willingness to adapt with controlled resale platforms like Ticket Exchange. If public opinion continues to sour, Ticketmaster may eventually take bigger steps to improve access and ease restrictions. For now, music fans will likely remain frustrated by the limited and costly avenues to purchase concert tickets.
