Question of the Day: What percent of the total price paid for concert tickets on Ticketmaster is made up of fees?
Are you fed up with fees?
Answer:
28% on average. This means that two $100 tickets would cost $256 instead of the $200 face value of the tickets.
Questions:
- Do you think the fees Ticketmaster charges are fair? Why or why not?
- How might artists benefit or lose out because of these ticket fees?
- Should there be regulations on how much companies can charge in fees for events?
Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Behind the Numbers (The Hustle):
Ticketmaster can also collect fees on multiple transactions because of its controversial secondary sales market. The gross for fees on its secondary market was up 132% in Q3 compared to the same time period in 2019.
The Hustle surveyed 606 people about their experiences with Ticketmaster; 601 (99.2%) said they believed its fees were too high. When we analyzed fees on 40 tickets to recent concerts, including the Eras Tour, the average fees took up ~28% of a ticket’s face value.
About the Author
Dave Martin
Dave joins NGPF with 15 years of teaching experience in math and computer science. After joining the New York City Teaching Fellows program and earning a Master's degree in Education from Pace University, his teaching career has taken him to New York, New Jersey and a summer in the north of Ghana. Dave firmly believes that financial literacy is vital to creating well-rounded students that are prepared for a complex and highly competitive world. During what free time two young daughters will allow, Dave enjoys video games, Dungeons & Dragons, cooking, gardening, and taking naps.
SEARCH FOR CONTENT
Subscribe to the blog
Join the more than 11,000 teachers who get the NGPF daily blog delivered to their inbox:
