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Fans pay big bucks for best seats


By JAMI KUNZER
jkunzer@nwherald.com


When it comes to the summer concert season, Rolling Stones fans can always get what they want – if they are willing to pay the price.

Technically, concerts seldom are "sold out" anymore. With one click of a computer mouse, fans can buy front row tickets to their favorite acts, sporting events and the like from a growing number of "brokers" and databases on the Internet.

And based on ticket sales so far this summer, they are willing to pay thousands of dollars to do so.

Can't imagine paying big bucks for the chance to touch Mick Jagger's leg or shake his hand?

Dave Howe of Prairie Grove can.

"I think people put different values on things," Howe said. "They say, 'How can you pay that kind of money for a two-hour event?' If you have an opportunity to get an autograph or get up close ... you can't put a price on that."

The Rolling Stones, like several legendary acts this summer – think U2, Paul McCartney, Neil Diamond, the Eagles – are expected to draw from a generation weaned on rock 'n' roll. And that generation should give the concert industry the boost it needs after last year's profits trailed expectations.

This is a generation that camped out at the box office for the chance to snag the lower-priced lawn seats. All grown up, they now have the means to splurge a little.

"If I have to sit on the lawn or somewhere far away, it's not worth it to me," said Howe, who has been scouring the Internet for tickets to see Paul McCartney.

Many fans never even try to buy from the box office because they know the good seats likely will be gone, said Jennifer Swanson, senior communications manager for TicketsNow.com, based in Crystal Lake.

Touted as one of the largest databases of its kind, TicketsNow.com, at www.ticketsnow.com, is a licensed broker that brings buyers and sellers together in a virtual shopping center on the Internet.

"A service like ours provides a consummate fan the ultimate experience to sit in the first row," Swanson said. "Many people are willing to pay for that because it is a life experience."

The business began in 1992 in the one-bedroom Woodstock apartment of its president, Mike Domek. Domek went online in 1999 and now oversees roughly $100 million in sales a year.

The Web site's highest priced ticket so far this year is for the Stones' Sept. 10 show at Soldier Field. The asking price: $3,135 as of Friday.

Even that is not the priciest seat the service has sold. Someone once paid $3,200 for a seat for a Super Bowl seat.

Those looking for lower-priced tickets still turn to box offices and Ticketmaster, a unit of New York-based IAC/InterActiveCorp that deals directly with event venues and promoters, not brokers. It is the largest ticket seller.

"That is the only way you can guarantee you're getting a legitimate ticket," Ticketmaster spokeswoman Bonnie Poindexter said.

Still, base ticket prices have more than doubled over the past decade with the average price hitting $52.39 for the top 100 tours in 2004, according to Pollstar, the concert industry trade journal.

The rising prices, as well as the cost of parking, food, souvenirs and gas, might have swayed potential concertgoers to stay home last year.

The cost certainly has deterred Lawrence MacArthur of Fox River Grove, a Stones fan.

"It think it's out of control," he said. "I wouldn't say the price excludes it, but I did notice the Stones were going to be quite expensive. I think you can buy a lot of records for that money."

Unlike Howe, MacArthur said he is willing to sit on the lawn where he can meet fellow fans.

"The sound is pretty decent, and you get some idea of what's happening on stage," he said.

The higher ticket prices did bring in more revenue last year – about $2.8 billion, up from $2.5 billion the year before, said Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of Pollstar.

But the bottom of the business fell out in the middle of April last year, and the summer lagged behind, he said.

"Some of the shows were overpriced, and the public started to say: 'We're not going to support it,' " he said.

With a push for lower-priced tickets ongoing, Bongiovanni predicts a different outcome this summer – a recordbreaking $3 billion worth of business.

Those in the industry say a recent Illinois law that allows individuals, not just licensed brokers, to sell tickets online could increase competition and lower prices as well.

Some ticket brokers argue the Ticket Sale and Resale Act could weaken consumer safeguards.

Licensed brokers, especially the 175 that belong to the National Association of Ticket Brokers, follow industry standards of conduct and guarantee tickets, said Gary Adler, the association's general counsel. The group has 175 members.

"In this day and age, where everybody who has a ticket is a ticket broker and there's all this Internet fraud, we try to bring people who deliver what they promise," Adler said.

Those same safeguards are not in place for individuals selling on sites, such as eBay, several brokers say. But most agree it is too early to predict the outcome of the new legislation.

One thing is certain. As fans like Howe can attest to, people will and have paid big money see the big name acts, such as the Stones, which hold the record for the highest grossing tour by bringing in $121.2 million in 1994.

"All the old faithfuls and all the stand-bys, I'd pay an arm and a leg to go," Howe said.