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Meet the man who spent $15K on Beyoncé tickets

What it costs to be a superfan in the era of super-pricey shows.

From a fan perspective, seeing the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, attending the US Open and sipping on Honey Deuces, and getting a seat to Olivia Rodrigo’s Unraveled Tour and sing-screaming to “Stupid Song” couldn’t be more different. But they do have one thing in common: They’re all expensive.

Attending a live event has become a luxury purchase. Not that long ago in 2019, the average price of a concert ticket was $92. Maybe your seats weren’t great, but you could afford to be in the room. Now the average price has risen to around $133 for face value, and you’re likely spending way more to see the biggest names in music and sports. And thanks to Live Nation’s grip on the music and sports ticketing industry, ever-increasing service fees, and features like dynamic pricing and a ruthless secondary resale market, it certainly feels like we’re not seeing any relief from these sky-high costs anytime soon.

For those who, say, can’t afford a $1,845 nosebleed ticket to see the Nova Knicks or a $2,000 Olivia Rodrigo resale seat, that means watching at home, or, if something isn’t eventually streamed, just missing out entirely.

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Looking at a seating map and seeing exactly how much ticket prices are changes your perception of the people lucky enough to attend. Like, what kind of person is spending that much money to sit in the very last row? How do they move through this universe with that much money to spend on bad seats? Is everyone secretly rich? Is this just a matter of fiscal irresponsibility? What is going on????

While Vox cannot speak to how everyone in attendance is paying for their tickets, we did talk to one person who was willing to share.

Enter: Craig, a 44-year-old living in the Bay Area, who makes roughly $180,000 per year. Craig spent more than $15,000 seeing Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour six times. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Why tickets for live events cost so much

The price of going to see concerts and sporting events in the US is expensive, and it always feels like the next thing you’re going to is going to be even pricier. There are a few reasons for this:

Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment’s tight grip on the industry: Live Nation controls so much when it comes to artists, ticketing, and venues that it’s virtually impossible to field any kind of competition. In April, a federal jury in New York ruled that Live Nation was an illegal monopoly, but the ramifications of this verdict still remain to be seen.

The resale market: An ongoing problem for fans is the resellers and bots that gobble up tickets. This shuts fans out and leaves them with few options other than hopping onto the resale market where prices can skyrocket.

“Service” fees: If you want to buy a ticket to the LA Olympics in 2028, you’ll also have to pay a 24 percent service fee per ticket. These fees are now standard with live events — despite crackdowns — and are an enduring source of frustration for fans.

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