Taylor Swift's performance June 22, 2011, at XL Center helped Hartford rank No. 1 on StubHub's list of the "most rockin' cities" of 2011. (Photo by Cloe Poisson/cpoisson@courant.com)
Nobody buys scalped tickets like we do: StubHub, the ticket resale website, has named Hartford its “most rockin’ city” of 2011, thanks in large part to demand to see Taylor Swift’s sold-out performance last June at XL Center.
The ranking, based on gross ticket sales per capita (tickets sold via StubHub, of course), marks the second-straight year Hartford has come in first, following a No. 1 finish in 2010. (StubHub says Hartford actually came in No. 2 in 2010 when the company re-calculated the rankings using gross ticket sales per capita instead of just gross ticket sales. By that measure, Hartford also came in No. 1 in 2009, instead of No. 12.)
It’s nice to be No. 1, but the ranking doesn’t actually mean much, apart from the fact that “Hartford” (a loose market designation that also includes Mohegan Sun) is evidently good for StubHub’s bottom line: 2011 was the StubHub’s biggest year ever for sales of concert tickets, which are up 29 percent since 2007, according to a press release.
More interesting are the efforts of ticket-resellers, including StubHub, to lift restrictions on the secondary ticket market, including their vocal opposition to paperless tickets designed to prevent scalping.
Here are StubHub’s 10 “most rockin’ cities” for 2011, paired with the “most popular” (that is, top-selling) event:
1. Hartford – Taylor Swift
2. Boston – Kenny Chesney
3. Miami – U2
4. Atlanta – Taylor Swift
5. Las Vegas – iHeartRadio Music Festival
6. Kansas City, Mo. – Kenny Chesney
7. Minneapolis – U2
8. Detroit – Kid Rock
9. Pittsburgh – U2
10. Orlando – Taylor Swift
8 Responses to Hartford Again Ranks First In Sales Of (Scalped) Concert Tickets, Says StubHub
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And this distinction is likely to continue. Tried to get tickets for Van Halen to Mohegan Sun. They were “sold out” within 30 seconds, apparently. Then, within a day or so, there was a posting for extortionately priced tickets on both StubHub and EBay. It seems like nearly every ticket to the entire venue is posted on StubHub/EBay. It isn’t likely that so many people “inadvertantly” bought tickets and now have to find a forum to sell them, but more likely that every scalper in the world bought up every ticket they could and is trying to line their coffers.
This could be a very interesting story considering there are two brokers of note here in CT – Stubhub set up shop in Granby and the infamous Ticket Network with our State $$ for creating 200 new jobs.
Bigger point is that Stubhub and TicketNetwork are buying up all inventory here and selling back to you suckers who don’t know Jack. Check out http://www.fansnap.com – for an aggregation of ticket brokers and buy them last minute for the best deal.
Ticketman 420,
Just for giggles, I went to the fansnap website. Ironically enough, the lowest priced ticket in the whole arena is sold through….. (drumroll please)…. StubHub!
Fact Correction: Ticketman420’s assertion that TicketNetwork is “buying up all inventory” is factually incorrect. TicketNetwork, like FanSnap and StubHub, is an aggregator of tickets and an online marketplace. TicketNetwork does not buy or own tickets in its online exchange, it merely serves as a marketplace for consumers and sellers to engage in online transactions for live entertainment tickets.
More than once I have spent 5X face value for tickets. Although I am not complaining about the actual price because the shows and concerts were worth it, what bothers me is that the artists and people associated with actully making the show happen are getting the short end of the stick. Ultimately, it’s about fairness.
I’ve also been to a show and seen seats empty that were advertised on the same site i bought from for 10X value. Empty! This is disheartening for some performers and a shame for plenty of people that would be glad to fill those seats.
Dear Music Supporter,
The artists set the ticket prices, every single time. Some don’t want to seem “greedy”, so they set prices low. Others scalp their own tickets. Some, price accordingly.
Bottom line – if the artists price tickets correctly, there would be no room for scalpers to make a profit. Problem solved, but who wants to be the bad guy?
“Every single time”? I don’t have exact firsthand knowledge of this, but I think the promoter/venue sets the ticket prices in the majority of cases.
It’s actually a combination. Put simply, artists (through their management) and promoters negotiate an amount of money for which the artist will perform in a given venue. Promoters then set ticket prices based on that amount of money and the capacity of the venue.
While it’s true that tickets priced “correctly” (at fair market value, presumably) would leave little room for scalpers to profit, it would also result in tickets prices even higher than they are now, meaning even fewer fans would be able to afford them.
Also, it’s not as if artists are just socking away millions of dollars from promoter guarantees. Particularly for bigger-budget tours — for example, the Rolling Stones or Madonna — the artist’s asking price to perform reflects the cost of putting together and running a huge stage show.