In 1980, I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the Erwin Center in Austin. My ticket was $9. After camping out for 40 hours first in line, the seats were on the ninth row. We saw him as a family in 2008. Those tickets were $125 each. They were all the way across the arena… far, far from the stage.
Last week, I secured ‘Verified Fan’ status in the TicketMaster lottery to have the right to buy tickets for the February 2023 show at the new Moody Center in Austin.
As instructed, I entered the online waiting room 15 minutes early on the day of the sale. When electronically moved into the lobby, there were 1,000 people in front of me. With a four-ticket limit, I felt good about my seat location as the numbers slowly counted down. Then it was my turn to purchase.
The initial ‘best seats available’ were at a 45-degree angle from the stage, about halfway up in the lower level. Price for four: $2,100. I am a huge fan of the Boss; however, that’s just too much. So, I reduced the number to two tickets. That gave me the option to purchase at $230 each. I accepted… and after taxes and surcharges, will be seeing Bruce – for my 14th and final time – from behind the stage… at the bargain total cost of… $550.
After much criticism about prices that soared to $5,000 each across the 30-city tour, Springsteen’s long-time manager, Jon Landau, defended the ‘dynamic pricing’ policy of TicketMaster: “I believe that in today’s environment that is a fair price to see someone universally regarded as among the very greatest artists of his generation.”
It’s ironic that the legendary songwriter, who penned classics about humanity’s struggles to overcome unfair challenges, chose to take this approach at the expense of those who admire him most.
