Did VAN HALEN Profit From TICKETMASTER's Failed Deal With Scalpers?

August 31, 2009

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, VAN HALEN netted an extra $1 million dollars in the fall of 2007 when up to 500 of the best seats to each of about 20 of the band's concerts were pulled from the Ticketmaster system and passed directly to ticket scalpers.

The brokers allegedly kept 30% of the marked-up sale price for themselves, and the remaining 70% was divided among Ticketmaster, the band and its handlers.

The move, according to the report, was part of Ticketmaster's initiative, codenamed "Project Showtime," to capture a piece of the sky-high prices charged by scalpers, which can exceed a ticket's face value by hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. They could then compete against Live Nation's nascent ticketing business by offering to share the scalpers' revenue with entertainers and venues.

Read the entire report from The Wall Street Journal.

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