Predatory ticket resellers cost artists, confused fans millions, NITO study shows

Concert ticket resellers like StubHub, Vivid, and SeatGeek earn tens of millions of dollars each year at the expense of fans, artists, and venues, according to a new study by the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO).

NITO and the organizations it joined to form the FixTheTix coalition are concerned that most consumers can only spend so much on concert tickets each year. So when tickets are bought and resold at a higher price by predatory resellers, consumers can afford to attend fewer concerts, which hurts fans, artists, and venues.

Key Findings

Ticket resellers had a cumulative profit of $41,000 on average per show across the 65 shows analyzed by NITO and charged fans an average of two times the original ticket price.

The study found that at one arena show in New York City, 1,053 tickets were resold at an average price 712% higher than the average face value price. Collectively, resellers profited, and fans overpaid $936,351.00 on that single show.

NITO also documented multiple instances of tickets sold at ten times the original price. One ticket was resold for $1,014.49 when the average face value price was just $79.55.

Confused Consumers

Consumers are so confused by the information they find online and the entire ticket-buying process that they often pay more for a ticket than they need to. NITO found many tickets resold by secondary sellers at inflated prices for shows where tickets were still available from the primary ticket seller.

That confusion is amplified by the use of deceptive search engine optimization and paid placements by resellers within searches that prioritize secondary ticket listings over the primary ticket seller, according to NITO.

Is There A Solution?

The study found that when concert ticket resale is regulated, fans can better understand who the primary ticket seller is and use fan-to-fan face-value ticket exchanges to buy tickets at the price the artist intended.

While NITO is ultimately calling for federal regulations that put more control in the hands of the artist, some states are already taking steps to limit predatory concert ticket resales.

At a show by The Cure in California, where resale restrictions are allowed, the number of tickets resold and reseller profits were 92% – 99% less than in New York, Illinois, and Colorado, which do not allow restrictions on resale.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.