Ticketmaster: the matchup, the stakes, the verdict

Your morning catch-up: Former Ticketmaster CEO says '28 Olympic ticket prices make sense, gift ideas for Mother’s Day and more big stories. Ticketmaster has emerged this Friday as one of the stories drawing attention in Israel.

Key facts

• Your morning catch-up: Former Ticketmaster CEO says '28 Olympic ticket prices make sense, gift ideas for Mother’s Day and more big stories.
• “I am proud of the fact that our city got the Olympics,” said Fred Rosen, the former chief executive who built Ticketmaster into an industry behemoth. “And I am also proud of the fact that people understand it’s not something the city can afford to subsidize.”
• Organizers promised LA 2028 tickets would be accessible and affordable.
• Though he has been retired from Ticketmaster for years, critics may cite a decision this month in which a federal jury found that Beverly Hills-based Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary operated a monopoly over concert venues.
• Rosen declined to comment on that outcome, but said that the company he built had never faced sustained complaints from the primary customers it serves — venue owners, teams and performers who chose to have Ticketmaster sell seats to their events.

What we know

Going deeper, Organizers promised LA 2028 tickets would be accessible and affordable.

On the substance, though he has been retired from Ticketmaster for years, critics may cite a decision this month in which a federal jury found that Beverly Hills-based Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary operated a monopoly over concert venues.

Beyond the headlines, Rosen declined to comment on that outcome, but said that the company he built had never faced sustained complaints from the primary customers it serves — venue owners, teams and performers who chose to have Ticketmaster sell seats to their events.

More precisely, the organizers of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles continued to roll out tickets, with packages of preferred seats and suites going on sale this week.

It is worth noting that a pair of seats to one men’s basketball semifinal could cost you $5,000.

By the numbers

At this stage, two preferred seats to the women’s basketball final are listed on the LA28 website at a total of $6,000.

On a related note, And a night that will feature four finals at SoFi Stadium’s swim complex will cost two people up to $4,750.

Going deeper, one of the prime revenue streams that LA28 organizers will use to make sure the Games make money — and don’t require a subsidy from L.A. or the state of California — is to charge fair-market prices for tickets, Rosen said.

On the substance, He argues that old-fashioned supply and demand will determine the pricing of the LA28 tickets and customers should understand that. “A ticket is a commodity and no one pays more for a ticket than they want,” said Rosen. “Floor seats cost more money than people pay to sit up in the nosebleeds.

What they're saying

“I am proud of the fact that our city got the Olympics,” said Fred Rosen, the former chief executive who built Ticketmaster into an industry behemoth. “And I am also proud of the fact that people understand it’s not something the city can afford to subsidize.”

“These events rarely end up being a great deal for the people who live in the cities where they’re staged,” said Brett House, a professor specializing in macroeconomics and international finance at Columbia Business School.

“It is very hard to quantify the benefits that organizers claim will accrue to cities,” House added. “Of course, we can put numbers on some of the elements, but the numbers almost never come out as high as the organizers and the international organizations behind them promise that they will be.”

The wider context

On a related note, Couldn’t LA28 put more tickets for sale at its minimum price of $28 to help lower-income people?

Going deeper, Rosen has watched enough big event sales to opine that many of those tickets will not put working-class fans in the stands, but simply allow buyers to resell them for huge profits in the after-market, which LA28 plans to open in 2027.

On the substance, California’s billionaire tax proposal attracts 1.5 million signatures.

Beyond the headlines, Under the proposal, Californians with more than $1 billion in wealth would pay a one-time 5% tax on their total wealth.

More precisely, If the proposal makes it on the November ballot, it sets the stage for an intense, costly battle over whether the state’s billionaires should pay for services that lower-income residents depend on.

The bottom line

• Though he has been retired from Ticketmaster for years, critics may cite a decision this month in which a federal jury found that Beverly Hills-based Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary operated a monopoly over concert venues.
• The organizers of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles continued to roll out tickets, with packages of preferred seats and suites going on sale this week.
• A pair of seats to one men’s basketball semifinal could cost you $5,000.
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