Tight-Lipped on Ticketmaster
One of the difficulties in writing about the controversy over Ticketmaster’s escalating service charges–a spate of class-action antitrust suits, as well as Pearl Jam’s ongoing “holy war” against the company–is that most of the local principals won’t talk. Ticketmaster refers inquiries to a publicist who won’t discuss specifics. And some key local organizations–Jam Productions, for example, a major Ticketmaster client–are keeping their mouths shut as well. In Jam’s case, it’s because the company’s caught between a rock band (Pearl Jam) and a hard place (Ticketmaster) that are both officially “good friends.” Most difficult is just getting the raw details of how Ticketmaster works. But some information is available.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
The company, as might be expected, treats venues differently according to their size. The Los Angeles Times has reported that Ticketmaster will sometimes pay large venues to maintain exclusive contracts. This apparently goes on in certain facilities in Chicago, though no one will specifically say so. For smaller venues, however, Ticketmaster actually charges them for the privilege of generating service-charge income. In these cases, the clubs pay Ticketmaster about 3 percent of the per-ticket price–30 cents on a $10 ticket–in addition to the $3 or so the company collects from consumers. Here, Ticketmaster makes money off everyone in sight.
Are the White Sox one of the organizations that Ticketmaster kicks money back to? Says Pizer, “I can’t comment on the nature of our contracts.”
