Really, the managers for a lot of performers must be aware of the suspicion of such shenanigans. There are three things that could be done to stop this:
1. Bands could voluntarily stop doing business with Ticketmaster. They really should, as they're the ones who are really getting cheated by the backdoor dealings of ticket brokers and Ticketmaster. However, I'm not sure if this is an option, as many arenas have exclusive arrangements with Ticketmaster.
2. Have the FBI investigate.
3. If neither (1) or (2) happen, fans need to stop patronizing these scalpers and ticket agencies. While I despise the tactics these people use to obtain their tickets, let's face it--the only thing that's happening here is that they're causing the price of tickets to swell up to their market price. (It's true--$45 is much less than market price for a GA, and $130 might be less than market price for a GC.) The supply isn't being artificially eaten up at all--the tickets are still floating around there, and everyone knows where they are.
Now a ticket is a volatile commodity. The market price for a ticket is high when tickets are first available, rises as tickets get purchased, but has the potential to crash as showtime approaches if there are too many unsold tickets. So if you want a ticket at a lower price and you don't get one at the original sale, your best recourse (other than getting a ticket from a friend) is to wait until 0.5-48 hours before showtime.
So in sum, while I'm outraged at the under-the-table dealings that are undoubtedly going on, one can't be too upset about having to pay, say, $100 for a GA if that's what it's worth. The big losers, even bigger than the fans, are the performers, because the extra $ from ticket sales is going to the ticket brokers instead of to them.
And if people don't buy these expensive tickets from ticket brokers, some famous band will eventually end up playing to a half-empty arena (or U2 might see 4,000 fans who just got tix from scalpers walking in during the middle of "Beautiful Day") (or they might be performing to an arena full of lawyers and day traders tapping away on their PDAs) and you can bet they'd investigate.
[This message has been edited by speedracer (edited 09-29-2001).]
