Tickets for Bruce Springsteen's Oct. 2 performance at the Hartford Civic Center don't go on sale until Sept. 8, but they're already listed as available through the website ctlive.com, which is advertised on the entertainment portion of The Courant's website.
Click through and you'll end up on a website of TicketNetwork Direct, which lists Springsteen tickets in specific sections of the Civic Center for between $565 and $215 — prices that far exceed the face value of $97.25 to $67.25 a ticket.
And The Courant gets a chunk.
TicketNetwork Direct, of Vernon, is part of the so-called secondary ticket market, which refers to reselling tickets that have already been purchased through "primary" vendors, such as TicketMaster. In other words, it's scalping, though resellers prefer to think of it as providing tickets at fair market value. (It's unclear how the site is able to offer Springsteen tickets at all, given that they haven't actually gone on sale to the public yet. I've requested comment and will update if and when I hear from TicketNetwork Direct.)
In this case, the Vernon company hosts ctlive.com, The Courant markets it on courant.com and the two share revenue.
That means The Courant is sharing in the proceeds of scalping concert and sports tickets to its readers. That's not such a shock, given the paper's ownership: Corporate parent Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Cubs, long ago set up its own secondary ticketing system to profit on reselling tickets for Cubs games.
Ethically, profiting from ticket scalping is exceedingly questionable for The Courant. It might also be illegal. Connecticut law allows tickets to be resold for $3 or 20 percent more than face value, whichever is greater. Charging $565 for an $97 Springsteen ticket is a markup of more than 480 percent.
The catch is that, technically, neither TicketNetwork Direct nor The Courant is selling the tickets. They are merely providing (or promoting) what amounts to an online clearinghouse, connecting buyers to sellers and collecting a transaction fee. That doesn't change the murky ethics of it for the paper, however. It's a shame that single-minded pursuit of profit has now overtaken The Courant's mission statement, which promises, in part, to "maintain the highest standards of ethics, accuracy, fairness, service and timeliness."
Ticket Network Direct should be put out of business for its unethical tactics and poor customer service
Posted by: stef | February 28, 2008 at 12:35 AM
On a somewhat related note... I've gotten no fewer than three official MLB emails over the last week encouraging me to buy and sell playoff tickets on StubHub, the "Official Ticket Marketplace of MLB." Maybe revenue from this "partnership" is part of their latest scheme to get a new stadium for the Marlins...
Posted by: Brian | October 02, 2007 at 03:47 PM
Bruce has died & what is now performing w/ The E St. Band is a self absorbed, egotistical piece of human waste who takes himself way too seriously. He has long ago discarded any respect he had for his TRUE fans & allowed his name to be put on SOUP BOWLS just to make a few trillion more. My hope for him is that he has a massive stroke on opening night & gets to spend the rest of his life & his trillions on having someone feed him & change his depends!!!!!
Posted by: Bert Gari | September 10, 2007 at 03:20 PM
Springsteen used to be so vigilant in thwarting the scalpers. I wonder if he knows or cares about these sites at this point, or even if he gets a cut. The one daughter is a polo player, so he is as far from the "working man" as Prince Charles at this point.
Posted by: Susan | August 31, 2007 at 07:06 PM
new album, tour and book. gonna be a busy bruce rocktober!
Posted by: Mark | August 31, 2007 at 12:32 AM
Promoters, venues, agents, managers and rock critics get special access to the best tickets. What you should really champion is a law that requires promoters and buildings to show the public what tickets they are putting on sale and what tickets they are holding back. That would reduce the price on the secondary market
You also forgot to say that the secondary market sells tickets for less than face value you can buy a $225 face value ticket for Genesis in Hartford from CTlive.com for less that ½ its asking price. After reading your blog you make me think Fox News is really “Fair and Balanced”
Eric replies: I'm not championing any kind of law whatsoever. If someone wants to pay $1,100 for a pair of Springsteen tickets, great. I just don't think it should be part of The Courant's business strategy.
As I noted, the secondary market says that it sells tickets for fair market price, and that's true. If half-price Genesis tickets are what the market will bear, then the face value of a $225 Genesis ticket is more than people are willing to pay. Too bad for the reseller who's losing money, but such is the free market.
Posted by: Dave Sims | August 30, 2007 at 08:25 PM