Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., a fierce critic of the ticket industry, is asking the company to defend its practices, which have resulted in ticket prices reaching Bruce Springsteen. upcoming concert tour soaring so high $4,000 to $5,000.
In the letter To Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment, Pascrell asked the company to explain why tickets sold by its Ticketmaster subsidiary are so expensive and how they can so quickly go to the secondary market, also operated by Ticketmaster, at even higher prices .
“Hard-working Americans who are fans of Bruce and other popular artists should be able to enjoy live entertainment without ticketing practices that rip off consumers,” said Pascrell, D-9th Dist.
Ticketmaster used what was called “market pricing” who sent the ticket prices Springsteen and the E Street Bandtour up to $4,300 for many seats on the floor and lower levels identified as “official dam” and therefore dependent on prices that fluctuated with demand.
Pascrell said the policy has pushed the price of some tickets above $5,000.
“The confirmed pre-sale of tickets each morning has caused high levels of stress and frustration for our constituents as they see tickets disappear from the primary market website as if purchased, only to reappear at higher prices,” he wrote . “Your proven ticket resale program has also been very disappointing.”
He asked Live Nation to answer questions by Sept. 30 about how Springsteen’s tour tickets were priced and sold, and how much Live Nation and Ticketmaster controlled the venues and ticket sales.
Live Nation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
He screamed initially responded to reports of thousands of dollars in prices, calling on the federal government to separate Live Nation, which organizes concerts, from Ticketmaster, which sells tickets.
He appears author of legislative acts named after Springsteen to require the Federal Trade Commission to set regulations who manage the ticket sellers and those on the secondary market.
A Report of the State Accountability Service published in May 2018 found that up to 65% of tickets were withheld from the general sale, that brokers used software and staff to quickly buy tickets, and that some websites could rig internet searches to sell more expensive tickets from were the first.
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Jonathan D. Salant can be reached in jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JDSalant.
