Newly leaked internal messages reveal two Live Nation ticketing directors bragging about “price gouging” customers.
“These people are so stupid. I almost feel bad for taking advantage of them,” Live Nation regional director Ben Baker wrote in a 2022 Slack message to a fellow director.
“I gouge them on ancil prices,” Baker added, referencing ancillary prices like parking or preferred seating.
The chats from Live Nation, which is the parent company of Ticketmaster, were made public during the company’s ongoing federal antitrust trial. Though the ticketing company asked the judge to exclude the messages, the Justice Department opposed the request, and the messages were made public after a petition by media organizations.
In the back-and-forth exchange, Baker and fellow regional director Jeff Weinhold gloated over how they gouged customers through ancillary fees, including exorbitant upcharges for lawn chair rentals, preferred seating, parking, and VIP access.
Weinhold boasted that he charged customers “$50 to park in the grass” and “$60 for closer grass.”
For one concert in Virginia, Weinhold said he increased VIP parking prices to $250.
“Robbing them blind, baby. That’s how we do it,” he added.
Baker, who is now the company’s head of ticketing, overseeing more than 150 amphitheaters across the country, even boasted of upcharging customers for aisle seats, which he called “Preferred Seating.”
Weinhold said he didn’t anymore because he’d received complaints from “angry people” who said they only sold “marked-up tickets.”
“Yeah, that’s the point,” Baker replied. “If you want to buy before 10 am, pay me! lol.”
“I gouge them on ancil prices to make up for it,” Weinhold added.
Center stage in the government’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation-Ticketmaster is the Taylor Swift presale misfire in which the site crashed due to bots looking to resell tickets on the secondary market. Fans experienced excessive wait times and numerous technical difficulties.
Ticketmaster blamed the incident on botting, but federal prosecuters said it was evidence of how their ticket monopoly lead to an inferior product for consumers.
Several other artists have spoken out against exorbitant ticket prices, including Beyoncé, Pearl Jam, and Oasis.
Baker, who was expected to testify this week, had his appearance postponed after the Justice Department reached a $200 million settlement with Live Nation on Monday.
The settlement would be paid out to states, allow third-party sellers to access the ticketing platform, and cap service fees for amphitheater tickets at 15% of the ticket price.
More than half of the country’s states have rejected the settlement, saying it was inadequate and would “benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers.”
In a statement to The Daily Beast, a Live Nation spokesperson distanced the company from the leaked chats and said the fee cap exemplified the company’s commitment to customers.
“The Slack exchange from one junior staffer to a friend absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate,” the spokesperson said. “Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly.”
