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Live Nation<\/a> CEO Michael Rapino suggests that concerts are underpriced despite rising ticket costs.<\/p>\n Rapino made the comment at CNBC Sport and Boardroom\u2019s Game Plan<\/a> conference on Tuesday (Sept. 23), while comparing the prices of concerts to live sporting events.<\/p>\n \u201cIn sports, I joke it\u2019s like a badge of honor to spend [$70,000] for Knicks courtside,\u201d Rapino said. “They beat me up if we charge $800 for\u00a0Beyonc\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued, “When you read about the ticket prices going up, it\u2019s still an average concert price [of] $72. Try going to a Laker game for that, and there\u2019s 80 of them [in a season].\u201d<\/p>\n COMPLEX SHOP:<\/b> Shop the brands you love, anytime and anywhere. Uncover what’s next. Buy. Collect. Obsess.<\/a><\/p>\n Rapino added that while streaming offers little financial return, live performances now make up the overwhelming majority of artists\u2019 earnings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe artist is going to make 98% of their money from the show,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just did Beyonce\u2019s [Cowboy Carter] tour. She\u2019s got 62 transport trucks outside. That\u2019s a Super Bowl she\u2019s putting on every night.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cNo matter what you bring to that table that day, you unite around that one shared experience. For those two hours, I tend to drop whatever baggage I have and have a shared moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith Entertainment Group CEO Ryan Smith echoes a similar sentiment, saying, \u201cIn sports, we\u2019re really media companies. We\u2019ve got talent, we\u2019ve got distribution. We\u2019re putting on a show or a wedding or something every night.\u201d<\/p>\n The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation last Thursday (Sept. 18), accusing them of deceiving consumers about ticket prices and collaborating with scalpers to inflate resale costs, harming both artists and fans alike, according to NPR<\/a>.<\/p>\n The FTC outlined three key illegal practices, such as Ticketmaster\u2019s alleged \u201cbait and switch approach,\u201d advertising deceptively low ticket prices that jump by 30% or more during checkout due to hidden fees. The agency says as a result, Ticketmaster \u201chas reaped massive profits by misrepresenting the total price of tickets to consumers, who pay billions of dollars each year in mandatory fees not reflected in the list price.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit also claims Ticketmaster knowingly enabled scalpers and brokers to bypass limits intended to keep ticket sales fair. The FTC says the company benefits from \u201ctriple dipping\u201d on fees\u2014by charging service fees when scalpers initially buy tickets, again when they resell them on Ticketmaster\u2019s own secondary market, and a third time when fans buy those marked-up resale tickets.<\/p>\n The FTC estimates that between 2019 and 2024, Ticketmaster collected $3.7 billion in fees from resale transactions alone.<\/p>\n In 2022, fans of Taylor Swift<\/a> filed a lawsuit accusing Ticketmaster and Live Nation of price gouging for the Eras Tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Ariana Grande<\/a> said she was \u201cbothered by\u201d the secondary ticket resellers<\/a> for her upcoming Eternal Sunshine Tour.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been on the phone every second of my free time fighting for a solution. I hear you and hopefully, we will be able to get more of these tickets into your hands instead of theirs. It\u2019s not right,\u201d Grande wrote in a statement shared on her Instagram Story. \u201cI just wanted you to know that my team and I see it and that I care very much and we will do, and are doing everything we can.\u201d<\/p>\n ComplexCon returns to Las Vegas on October 25\u201326, 2025, with over 300 brands and live performances by Young Thug, YEAT & Friends, Peso Pluma, Central Cee, Ken Carson, and more.\u00a0Get your tickets now<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two Words Were Barred From Diddy’s Trial. It Could Have Changed Everything<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Dame Dash Tells Cam’ron and 50 Cent ‘I Don’t Wanna Fight With Y’all No More’: ‘This Sh*t Is Corny’<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\nRelated News<\/b><\/h2>\n