StubHub: The Official Scalper Of Madonna Tickets

Madonna, despite what Idolator’s resident Madge-hater might have you believe, has always been an innovator. First female star of MTV, biggest musical act to make soft-core porn of themselves commercially available, etc., etc. And her upcoming Sticky and Sweet tour will be notable for more than just bisexual kissing–her Live Nation overlords are prepared to revolutionize the way that you’ll overpay for tickets to an inevitably disappointing show!

I know in the past you’ve felt bad for those poor bastards selling tickets in the primary market, who are forced to charge only the face value of the ticket (plus those exorbitant additional charges) while those bastards on the secondary market can force people to pay prices that are even more jacked up. Well, Live Nation has finally solved that problem; they’ll make a direct deal with the scalpers themselves, or at very least, an eBay subsidiary that replaces the traditional role of the scalper with a web-based solution.

Madonna’s coming concert tour is to feature what appears to be a first in the concert business: An official ticket reseller that will peddle seats at marked-up prices to fans who couldn’t get them through normal channels.

In the U.S. and Canada, eBay Inc.’s StubHub will serve as the “official fan-to-fan ticket marketplace.” In Europe, the role will be filled by Viagogo Ltd., a ticket reseller that also will sell “VIP packages” — higher-priced tickets that include amenities like backstage passes and meetings with performers.

The endorsements highlight the growing popularity and influence of so-called secondary ticketing companies, which let both fans and brokers sell tickets to others at prices that often far exceed their face values. Concert promoters and artists have long complained that they are locked out of the secondary marketplace, putting money in the pockets of speculators and middlemen who aren’t involved in staging or promoting concerts….

“It’s the future of the ticketing business,” said Chuck La Vallee, StubHub’s head of business development for music. “Promoters have always complained that we don’t have skin in the game.”

Sadly, this practice isn’t all that new; Ticketmaster has pulled a similar stunt with their TicketExchange program over the last few years. So, Madonna fan, when you can’t seem to get tickets for her upcoming shows despite hitting refresh on your browser repeatedly in the minutes before the on-sale time, at least you’ll know where to look for the tickets you weren’t able to buy on your own!

StubHub Enlisted in Resale Of Madonna Concert Tickets [Wall Street Journal]