Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s much anticipated 2023 tour has faced one major point of contention with his adoring public: Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing.” Fans with access codes were offered tickets priced between $1,000 and $5,000, which became the subject of backlash on social media. Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau has now released a statement defending the tour’s ticket pricing model.
“In pricing tickets for this tour, we looked carefully at what our peers have been doing,” Landau said in a statement to The New York Times. “We chose prices that are lower than some and on par with others. Regardless of the commentary about a modest number of tickets costing $1,000 or more, our true average ticket price has been in the mid-$200 range. I believe that in today’s environment, that is a fair price to see someone universally regarded as among the very greatest artists of his generation.”
Ticketmaster recently offered a similar line: “Prices and formats are consistent with industry standards for top performers.” The company argued that only 1.3 percent of tickets sold went for more than $1,000. “Promoters and artist representatives set pricing strategy and price range parameters on all tickets, including dynamic and fixed price points,” a Ticketmaster spokeswoman told the Times. “When there are far more people who want to attend an event than there are tickets available, prices go up.”
Springsteen’s last solo albums were 2019’s Western Stars and 2020’s Letter to You.
