Fair ticket prices? Let's compare...

[Roach Daddy]

Paid over GBP200 for four 'price level 3' tickets at Cardiff Millennium Stadium.

Today I paid just over GBP200 for four 'price level 1' tickets for England v Northern Ireland at Old Trafford in March.

The cost of stewarding and policing a U2 concert compared to a football match? Come on.

It's simpy U2 inc. A company interested in profit. Don't waste your time moaning - they have done their research - the rest of the tickets will be sold on public sale tomorrow. Within an hour a new Twickenham date will be announced - and probably others.

If you aren't happy with the price - don't go. Someone else will - U2 couldn't care whose money goes into their pockets.

 

[stevec]

4 tickets for June 21st @ Hampden - Total Price: £223.95

Seating Information: PRICE LEVEL 1 - Unreserved General Admission

At the end of the day, I'm just glad I was lucky enough to get 'em!

 

[Roach Daddy]

4 tickets for June 21st @ Hampden - Total Price: £223.95

Seating Information: PRICE LEVEL 1 - Unreserved General Admission

At the end of the day, I'm just glad I was lucky enough to get 'em!

Still more than top price for the England football - someone made a comment about the cost of policing etc leading to stadiums in the UK being more expensive than arenas in the US. That doesn't hold water.

Anyway if I had General Admission for the football I could go running up the wing couldn't I?

 

[beau2ifulday]

£246 for 4 GA tickets at Twickenham.

 

[stevec]

Still more than top price for the England football - someone made a comment about the cost of policing etc leading to stadiums in the UK being more expensive than arenas in the US. That doesn't hold water.

Anyway if I had General Admission for the football I could go running up the wing couldn't I?

There could actually be some truth in that. I was at uni night classes with a police sergeant, who was also a 'Match Commander' at SPL games. He never mentioned actual costs, but he did say that the Police don't like or want that responsibility, so they make the clubs pay dearly for the time.

The general rule of thumb is that the Police want trained stewards only to work security, which would probably work out cheaper than a copper's overtime anyway.

That asides, if I see someone on Match of the Day doing a runner up the wing, I'll know who it was

 

[KUEFC09U2]

plus then you have hire costs of the club/owners of the stadium, all adds up

 

[Laura M]

Paid over GBP200 for four 'price level 3' tickets at Cardiff Millennium Stadium.

Today I paid just over GBP200 for four 'price level 1' tickets for England v Northern Ireland at Old Trafford in March.

The cost of stewarding and policing a U2 concert compared to a football match? Come on.

It's simpy U2 inc. A company interested in profit. Don't waste your time moaning - they have done their research - the rest of the tickets will be sold on public sale tomorrow. Within an hour a new Twickenham date will be announced - and probably others.

If you aren't happy with the price - don't go. Someone else will - U2 couldn't care whose money goes into their pockets.

You are saying that U2 don't care whose money goes into their pocets i.e. they are greedy swindlers, why on earth do you want to put money towards going to see them?

 

[cdparky]

REM ticket prices for their stadium gigs are £35 or £45 "Gold Circle" at Hyde Park. Oasis tickets are about £30 for their sold out stadium shows. I fail to see why U2 should charge £55 for GA tickets and up to £85 for seats. I'm still going to go but compare the UK prices with the rest of the tour and we are being fleeced of as much as possible.

 

[djparky]

agreed

what springs to mind is the live version of Bullet the blue sky from Rattle and Hum ".........peeling off those dollar bills......100...........200..........300................400.." that's what they're asking us to do and hell they'll sell out every single show- nonetheless there is no justification for ripping off their fans in the UK.

It's the same as the British Grand Prix- why are we fleeced to the tune of £100 to stand on a pile of rocks to watch a procession when across Europe it costs a third of the money? or why did my four day pass to the Adelaide GP of 1994 cost the same as my race day entry ticket for the Silverstone GP of the same year? Answer we live in rip off Britain and we're frankly stupid enough to carry on paying these inflated prices (and I include myself in this)

I have no problem with them making a profit on this tour but it's not likely they'd be losing money on it anyway- what with merchandise sales as well

It's no wonder they chose not to advertise the ticket prices before the presale occurred

 

[bigroguk]

As someone who is a new zealander living in england for 20 years now the answer is easy the organiser's of these events concerts,F1,moto gp etc know the british will pay whatever they decide to charge in New Zealand its a differant story try getting a kiwi to pay 100GBP to watch f1 and he wont full stop. Ask a brit and he'll winge about it but still go. A few examples of what the brits pay, like the above post says f1 british g.p=£100 minimum, barcelona gp=50 euros ...........r.e.m hyde park£45 r.e.m stadio olympico rome 32 euros ....A copule of years ago i was lucky enough to be working in malaysia(brand new circuit immaculate toilets etc) when the moto gp race was there(motorbikes) cost me the equivelant of £18 for a granstand seat same seat at donnington (world war two shithole) £65 i also bought a moto gp polo shirt in malaysia for £10 the exact same one at donnington was £35 like i say the promoters know who will pay what and the brits will pay whatever they charge and U2 know it

 

[KevLW]

The answer is quite simple, "supply and demand" - I learnt it in an Economics class 15 years ago. Unfortunately, Bono and the boys have now learnt it. At least it took them 20+ years of looking after the fans before they realised the ££££ they could make.

Does this make sense? - i've had a few beers! Needless to say, I'm a bit p*ssed with "my band" at the moment. Not bad to have a first fall out after 19 years though I suppose.

 

[biff]

Well, Neil Diamond's charging 85 pounds. Now there's value for money!

 

[KevLW]

Reading other posts has made me think a little. U2 are our band. A lot of us on here have followed them, nay, worshipped them for a very long time. And yet I think we all still see them as a little "underground". Not alternative, but not mainstream.

Have we all become a little obsessed with "our U2"? This is the very same U2 who just happen to be the biggest (best?) band this earth will ever see. Maybe, just maybe, the prices are the going rate for an act of such esteem.

 

[stevec]

Well, Neil Diamond's charging 85 pounds. Now there's value for money!

Now now, those shiny shirts aren't cheap y'know!

 

[Roach Daddy]

Re: Re: Fair ticket prices? Let's compare...

You are saying that U2 don't care whose money goes into their pocets i.e. they are greedy swindlers, why on earth do you want to put money towards going to see them?

The impression some on this board have is that U2 'love' their fans - I think most can now see that they are no different to any other stadium touring band. They don't care if fans from twenty years back buy the tickets or companies buy them for employees who have only heard the last single. A ticket sale is a ticket sale.

I'm going to see them (again) because I want to see the show - but I'm not naive enough to think they 'love' me.

 

[Roach Daddy]

OK - a couple of positive comparisons:

Madonna - top price Wembley Arena GBP150.

Rolling Stones - top price Twickenham GBP150 - and U2 are almost as good.

 

[djparky]

bit confused

how does the fact that Madonna and Rolling Bones charge outrageous ticket prices make it ok for U2 to do the same?

all it proves is that they are as greedy as most other stadium acts

 

[Yahweh]

I wouldnt pay 2 cents to see a soccer game but thats just me.

 

[indra]

I know this is on a much smaller scale than the whole U2 thing, but early last year a band I love was planning a tour in support of their most recent album. They'd already done Australia (that's where they are based) and were setting up US and European shows. Now this band doesn't have the huge fanbase U2 does, so they were playing clubs (hell, some places were bars ), none of which had a capacity over 1200 (most were more in the under 500 capacity range). And, quite frankly, money is always a concern for this band (they hope to break even on ticket sales and make a little on merch sales), so they can't afford to do shows that lose money.

What they ended up with was 20 shows in the US, but only four in Europe, despite wanting and even planning to do several more (some dates were even tentatively confirmed before being eventually scrapped). Because it's a much smaller band with in many ways a very close relationship with their fans, they can be much more open about their problems and concerns. And what happened with Europe with them is that they simply could not afford to do more shows there. The quote I remember (well, I remember the gist of it) was The worst paying gig in the US pays better than the best paying gig in Europe and they simply could not afford to lose money. They didn't go into the gory details, but the costs are just much, much higher in Europe apparently than they are here in the US (plus their biggest fanbase is in the US).

Now, obviously, U2 isn't going to lose money touring Europe, but I imagine that the costs are proportionally higher in Eurpoe than in the US. The band I mentioned knew they couldn't charge enough per ticket to to be able to swing a more extensive European tour (especially because they were only playing to crowds of a few hundred people -- the fanbase thing again), but U2 can charge more per ticket and know that they have a large enough fan base that the tickets will sell.

 

[tarquinsuperb]

I don't see how that's still true about costs and profits in the US at the moment the dollar is practically worthless.

 

[kphayden]

£190 (£85 each plus booking fee) for 2 top seats at Twickenham in presale. I hear the profit will be going to fight aids in Africa, so I'm happy !

 

[Neale1984]

Same as most people - £223.95 for 4 tickets. Managed to get them for the Manchester gig - does anyone know what "Price Level 1" means? Forgive my incompetence.

 

[Laura M]

Re: Re: Re: Fair ticket prices? Let's compare...

They don't care if fans from twenty years back buy the tickets or companies buy them for employees who have only heard the last single. A ticket sale is a ticket sale.

.

Exactly but they don't mind making an extra buck by selling their subscriptions to their biggest and most loyal fans.

I prefer to stick by my principles, I know U2 will have a sold out Croke Park show but at least I know I haven't complained about how I think U2 just want to make a huge profit from this and then sit and watch them anyway.

 

[U2girl]

66 GBP, ticket plus bus ride to Vienna. (at this time unclear whether I'm going, awaiting further email from concert agency)

 

[phommel]

Hey, don't believe the talks about high costs....its just a question of supply and demand. They (U2) know what they're doing and how much money they wanna make

It bothers me that (in Europe) the best places in the house (GA) are the most expensive!! That's not what Mr. McGuinness promised us...the result is that the biggest fans pay the most!
It bothers me also that the prices for GA (in the Netherlands) are increased by 40% compared to the previous tour.

It looks like they just wanna make money in a quick way...Let's do the stadiums in Europe, they can hold more people...

I know it has nothing to do with Bono's other 'job' that is saving the world, but i can't match these things with eachother. They're becoming more commercial every time. A second Rolling Stones.....

 

[phommel]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Fair ticket prices? Let's compare...

I prefer to stick by my principles, I know U2 will have a sold out Croke Park show but at least I know I haven't complained about how I think U2 just want to make a huge profit from this and then sit and watch them anyway.

But I think one may complain. I'm complaining too, and yes I am going to see them anyway. And that's the problem. They are aware that they have a huge amount of dedicated fans. People like me want to see them anyway. If I had to pay 100 euro I will still go, because I know I have the night of my life. But still, I would have mixed feelings and I would feel ripped off!

 

[Chags]

4 Twick tix cost £246 - it's a bit steep isn't it gentlemen?
I've seen them on every tour since the The Joshua Tree in 1987 and always managed to go to a handful of gigs per tour. My record was 8 gigs in August 1993 during the Zooropa Tour. However, this time around I'm thinking the cost is way over the top - don't get me wrong, U2 always provide value for money at gigs - I've seen them 23 times now - but asking fans to pay between £55-85 per head is not acceptable.
I'm going to have to settle with only 3 shows this time - Manchester, Twickenham and Rome.
I remember the Zoo TV tour costing £19 per ticket!
All in all, the shows are going to be great (as long as his voice holds), but anything over £50 per ticket is unfeasibly out of order!

 

[The P-Man]

4 Twick tix cost £246 - it's a bit steep isn't it gentlemen?
I've seen them on every tour since the The Joshua Tree in 1987 and always managed to go to a handful of gigs per tour. My record was 8 gigs in August 1993 during the Zooropa Tour. However, this time around I'm thinking the cost is way over the top - don't get me wrong, U2 always provide value for money at gigs - I've seen them 23 times now - but asking fans to pay between £55-85 per head is not acceptable.
I'm going to have to settle with only 3 shows this time - Manchester, Twickenham and Rome.
I remember the Zoo TV tour costing £19 per ticket!
All in all, the shows are going to be great (as long as his voice holds), but anything over £50 per ticket is unfeasibly out of order!

I dunno, £55 seems quite fair to me when you consider that the Chili Peppers charged £35. That gig was just 4 guys on stage with a minimum of visual stuff going on. The extra £20 for the U2 gig seems in keeping with the show they put on and the crew required to do so etc...

 

[jedi Larry]

djparky, what does it matter how much they cost? They charge that because people WILL CHOOSE to pay it.

 

[indra]

Hey, don't believe the talks about high costs....its just a question of supply and demand. They (U2) know what they're doing and how much money they wanna make

I don't know if this is in response to my earlier post, but if so I'd just like to clarify that the information I had was for another band playing small venues. It was accurate for them...it may or may not be accurate for U2. Besides U2 has a big enough fan base that they will make money.

But for a variety of reasons I'm not going to see U2 anyway, so for me it's interesting, but not terribly important (although I can see where people who plan to go are irritated by the ticket hassles).