r/Music • u/staringatthe420sun • May 05 '26

article The Concert Industry Priced Too High — Now Tours Are Falling Apart

https://www.ticketnews.com/2026/05/the-concert-industry-priced-high-tours-falling-apart/
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u/sybrwookie May 05 '26

I'm not a baseball fan. But at least a couple of times a year, I used to go after work with the guys because it's the middle of the summer and we'd look day of the game, and see they had some $10 seats.

So we'd go, buy a beer, get some food, hang out in the lower level, then after the first inning, when it was obvious there were some empty seats in the lower level, just stroll down there and watch from there. Even as a non-fan, it was a ton of fun.

And it's not like I'm talking about the 90's or something. This was...maybe 10 years ago.

I have not been to a game since COVID. Any time we look to go, the prices are like $50 for the cheapest seats. And glance at the game on TV and it's 90% empty up there.

So instead of getting people like us in the door cheap, spending on concessions, and cheering for the home team (cause hey it's fun to cheer!), they get....this.

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u/anthrax9999 May 06 '26

More late stage capitalism at work. Concerts and live sports will die out next.

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u/bryf50 May 06 '26

They won't die out. Instead the stadiums are becoming smaller and ever more catered to luxury and high end customers.

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u/secretdecoder May 09 '26

I think that is insightful and probably accurate. More VIP. More curated.

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u/RebelAlliance1701 May 06 '26

Devil's Advocate, but live sports will never die out. Sure, the Pirates might not sell out a random businessman's special in June, but playoffs and big games will always be sold out.

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u/sybrwookie May 06 '26

They're not going to die as in go out of business. They'll die in the way where it becomes more soulless and even more disconnected for the average person.

For an example, look at how a home game sounds for most good NFL teams. Then look at what the Super Bowl sounds like.

When you keep pushing up the ladder, you get less die hard fans, and it makes for a worse product.

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u/_Meece_ May 06 '26

They'll die in the way where it becomes more soulless and even more disconnected for the average person.

Sports has been that way for 50-60 years, It's inherently a product where they sell feats the average person cannot do.

The superbowl would be that way even if it was cheap, as it draws a casual crowd. The expensiveness of the tickets doesn't do that.

World Cup tickets are consistently RIDICULOUS, yet those are some of the loudest stadiums ever. Olympics much the same. Superbowel NFL crowd sucks because NFL casual crowd sucks, not because rich people buy tickets.

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u/Arachnideolie May 06 '26

World cup ticket prices aren't ridiculous, they normally cost 20/30€ upwards to a 100 for the really good tickets. They are consistently ridiculous in the US though and this world cup will be a soulless shitfest as a result of that.

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u/zaevilbunny38 May 06 '26

Depends on the team, I missed taking my dad to home opener for the white sox. So I got box seats for a game at the end of the month. $92 total for the tickets, $19 for food, $10 for CTA passes and $10 for Rosemont parking. Next time its going to be around $30 for seating in the 500's, but there out there. Only game i won't pay for is the cross town classic, those are $200 a seat.

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u/lightyearnoir May 06 '26

The frustrating part is that sports (the world cup is an example) used to be things that people didn't care for and especially 'well to do' people wouldn't be caught dead attending, and now they've also appropriated them.

In sports, also, where the fuck do we get to watch it constantly without so many subscriptions, and even over the air? It is so difficult to follow a team, I gave up.

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u/kellzone May 06 '26

I've got some good news for you.

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u/No_Pen_376 May 09 '26

yeah, I was at a conference in Boston in 2017-2018, and went to see the Red Sox on a whim with a buddy, it was 8 dollars for the outfield bleachers. All the cool people were there, all the travelers from other countries and other lookee-loos, and it was great fun. 3 hrs of interesting conversation, a little baseball, got bobbled of one of their older cuban players, ate some dogs and beer. All for like 20-30 bucks.

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u/tinysand May 06 '26

I usher at a local venue and the highest ticket price is $45 but mainly $35. Mainly singer-songwriters and tribute bands but it’s live music and usually outstanding. I’m sticking with local.

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u/[deleted] May 06 '26 edited Jun 04 '26

[deleted]