When Ticket Prices Keep Going Up and Up, Here’s What You Can Do

More than a dozen years ago, I had the opportunity to interview renowned bassist Victor Wooten. He has since become a friend, and we chat from time to time about the music business. A few conversations back, he told me he was playing with Bela Fleck on a New Year’s Eve show in Nashville and invited me to attend.

It was an amazing performance at the Ryman Auditorium, but watching the exuberant crowd reaction hit me like a blast from the past: The show reminded me of the glory days of rock ’n’ roll, when bands were breaking out of nowhere and fans couldn’t get enough.

Nowadays not so much. The music business is in a funk — a deep one — as fewer fans buy recordings and more just stream them for free or next to nothing. Selling tickets has been one bright spot for artists hoping to make a living at their craft, but even that has its limits.

In fact, these days it seems like someone somewhere is always getting pissed off about ticket prices. Some fans are outraged by high prices and fees; others are angry that they can’t get tickets

Ticket prices are rising, and they don’t look like they’ll be slowing down any time soon. In fact, a recent study from SeatGeek found that the average resale price for an NFL game ticket is now $180.97, up 27 percent from just last season.

And that’s not all there is to celebrate for the National Football League in terms of its financial success. According to Forbes, the league has made $15 billion over the past year — and it owes much of that success to sky-high ticket prices.

In this piece, we’ll explore why football tickets cost so much (and why they continue to get more expensive); we’ll also take a look at some ways to save money on your next NFL ticket purchase.

Ticket prices are on the rise, and this trend is not likely to stop anytime soon. In fact, ticket prices are so expensive that some people have even taken to hiring a personal concierge to secure them. If you’re like most people, you can’t afford that kind of luxury. So what can you do?

Here are some tips for getting tickets at a reasonable price:

1) It pays to be an early bird. It’s not uncommon for tickets to go on sale months in advance of an event. When this happens, it’s often a good idea to buy as early as possible, especially if the event is popular and will sell out. Buying early has two benefits: first, it increases your chances of getting tickets before they sell out; second, it gives you more time to pay off the balance of your ticket(s).

2) If you don’t want to risk missing out on tickets, consider buying a season pass or becoming a member of the venue where the event is taking place (for example: joining a museum or theater). Many venues offer perks such as discounts and early access to tickets for members and subscribers.

3) Some venues also offer incentives for

As I scan the headlines, I can’t help but notice that another major concert tour has raised its prices. This time it’s U2 and their latest “Joshua Tree” tour. They’ve raised their top ticket price to $285! What gives?

The answer is pretty simple: it’s all about the bottom line. Artists are becoming more savvy about finding out how much the market will bear when they go on tour. The average fan will say, “Well, if I can afford to pay X, then it must be worth it to me.” But what if you could get into a show for less than X? Would you still buy the ticket or wait for another chance?

To combat rising prices and sell tickets, many acts have turned to dynamic pricing — where prices change depending on demand. This means that if you see a show that has 2nd-level tickets available at $49.50 and then a few days later those same seats are selling for $79, that means demand has picked up and the price went up accordingly. And guess what? If supply exceeds demand, you might find those same seats discounted down to $29 in the final week before the show in order to generate interest

If you’re not a fan of live events, it might be time to start becoming one.

For years, the cost of attending concerts and sporting events has been steadily rising, to the point where many of us can no longer afford to go.

Thanks to this trend, the small (and large) joys of going to a live event are starting to become rarer and rarer. Worse yet, paying for these events is becoming harder and harder; even when we can afford them, they often take up a huge portion of our monthly budget.

If you love theater, music and sports but you’re struggling to make ends meet, it might be time to consider more affordable alternatives. Here are 10 ways you can still enjoy live events without breaking the bank:

The days when a movie ticket cost less than a pack of gum are long gone, and most theater-goers have grown accustomed to high prices. But the cost of movie tickets has been growing especially fast lately. The average American spent $8.97 for movie tickets in 2018, according to the National Association of Theatre Owners, up from $7.96 in 2017 and $6.88 in 2008.

Cinemark, Regal, AMC and other major theater chains raised their prices by roughly 50 cents over the past year. That’s on top of a 50-cent increase the previous year, said Patrick Corcoran, spokesman for the National Association of Theatre Owners.

Theater owners say they’re just responding to the times: They’ve had to raise prices to pay for enhanced recliners, advanced projection systems and food options like alcohol, which can’t be brought in from outside like popcorn or candy.

But what do you do if you are a moviegoer who doesn’t want to pay more? Here are some options:

A few years ago, after I bought tickets to see the Broadway show “Hamilton” in Chicago, a friend congratulated me on my luck. I would be seeing it before it became “impossible” and the tickets got too expensive, she said.

But then the show opened in New York, and those tickets became “impossible.” And then it went on tour across the country, and those tickets also became “impossible.”

It was no longer possible to see a Broadway show without paying a lot of money or pretending that you are an 11-year-old child who is coming to New York for the first time.

The price increase isn’t limited to Broadway shows. Concerts have gotten more expensive, as has baseball (and now beer at baseball games). Last year, when the Northwestern football team made it to its first bowl game in decades, my friends and I were shocked by how much it cost us to attend. (The Wildcats lost.)

Public transportation is getting more expensive, too.

I know what you are thinking: If something costs more money, that means people are willing to pay more money for it. It is just capitalism at work! And maybe you are also thinking: