Ticket Prices for Entertainment, What's Your Tolerance/Threshold/Opinion?

[SinceThe70s]

 

Ticket prices for concerts, sporting events and other entertainment options have gotten to the point where more often than not they exceed my perceived value. At the same time I'm aware that when I was growing up there were folks older than me that complained about the same so maybe I just hit that age and need to reconsider or stfu.

 

 

 

 

[Augie]

You’re old. 

 

I kid, of course.

 

Mostly. 

 

We’ve noticed in recent years how differently people can perceive value. Even people we have been friends with for decades just see things differently. That’s fine.  We finally drew a line and said we may not see ALL the shows, but we will not be seeing them from cheap seats, watching a giant monitor in the back of the upper deck. Good seats for fewer shows is our preference. 

 

Oh, I prefer watching Bills games at home. There, I said it! 

[ExiledInIllinois]

22 minutes ago, Augie said:

You’re old. 

 

I kid, of course.

 

Mostly. 

 

We’ve noticed in recent years how differently people can perceive value. Even people we have been friends with for decades just see things differently. That’s fine.  We finally drew a line and said we may not see ALL the shows, but we will not be seeing them from cheap seats, watching a giant monitor in the back of the upper deck. Good seats for fewer shows is our preference. 

 

Oh, I prefer watching Bills games at home. There, I said it! 

You @ the ballpark?🤣

 

[SinceThe70s]

9 minutes ago, Augie said:

You’re old. 

 

I kid, of course.

 

Mostly. 

 

We’ve noticed in recent years how differently people can perceive value. Even people we have been friends with for decades just see things differently. That’s fine.  We finally drew a line and said we may not see ALL the shows, but we will not be seeing them from cheap seats, watching a giant monitor in the back of the upper deck. Good seats for fewer shows is our preference. 

 

Oh, I prefer watching Bills games at home. There, I said it! 

 

Yup, I'm old - and happy to take the good (or bad) natured slings and arrows that come with it. 

 

The bolded is exactly what I am poking at. I'm at a point in my life where I can comfortably afford many things but I often choose not to because the perceived value isn't there for me. But then I see my son want to take his GF to a baseball game and the cost is through the roof for them.  jmo, but it feels like entertainment options have become more cost prohibitive. And the poster child is spending hundreds of dollars to send your kid to see Taylor Swift for a few hours. 

 

[SinceThe70s]

23 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

You @ the ballpark?🤣

 

 

"I must be in the front row!"

 

Iconic, I've repeated that line more times than I can count.

[Mike in Horseheads]

4 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Ticket prices for concerts, sporting events and other entertainment options have gotten to the point where more often than not they exceed my perceived value. At the same time I'm aware that when I was growing up there were folks older than me that complained about the same so maybe I just hit that age and need to reconsider or stfu.

 

 

 

 

What really sucks is the fees on the tickets. That really makes my gray hair fall out.

[SinceThe70s]

1 hour ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

What really sucks is the fees on the tickets. That really makes my gray hair fall out.

 

LOL, I used to say that the hairs I had left were all turning gray in fear that they'd be the next to fall out completely. 

 

Also remember asking wifey, hey you wouldn't want me to color my hair, would you? She hesitated which told me all I needed to know - but didn't change anything and we're still together. Good times.

 

Back on topic - ticket fees suck, but parking fees have become more egregious. I get the fees for football games where folks are tailgating and leaving a mess behind, but 1 of 81 baseball games where I'm pulling in and walking in and have to pay $30+? Yuck.

 

 

 

 

[davefan66]

I’ll pay for the right act.

 

A few years ago my wife and I paid $300 each for tickets to see Billy Idol at the Fallsview Casino. Was one of the top 5 concerts I’ve ever seen.  Worth every penny and I’d pay more to see that concert again.  On the flip side, I paid about $125 for tickets to Chicago and feel I got ripped off.

 

I have no problem paying big bucks for a concert if it’s someone I love seeing or someone I’ve never seen and want to.  My problem is normal fans have very little chance to see a concert and pay face value. We end up having to pay secondary market prices to resellers who buy up all the tickets.

 

I take it this thread is based on ticket prices for Rush.  I certainly would pay the up to $400 to see them again. They are an important part of my younger years and the ticket price is worth it to see them. Especially because I believe they are making a comeback because they want to connect with fans, not just a money grab.

[May Day 10]

Its too much.  I won't go to a major concert anymore now that seats are hundreds of dollars.  So much good music out there in smaller venues for a fraction of the price.

 

Bills games are unique.  Its an all day event.  I enjoy the nfl product.

 

Sabres games are a joke for value on a box office priced ticket.  Plus parking, plus food.  For what the sabres are, and for how boring the nhl has become. No thanks. 

[SinceThe70s]

4 hours ago, davefan66 said:

I’ll pay for the right act.

 

A few years ago my wife and I paid $300 each for tickets to see Billy Idol at the Fallsview Casino. Was one of the top 5 concerts I’ve ever seen.  Worth every penny and I’d pay more to see that concert again.  On the flip side, I paid about $125 for tickets to Chicago and feel I got ripped off.

 

I have no problem paying big bucks for a concert if it’s someone I love seeing or someone I’ve never seen and want to.  My problem is normal fans have very little chance to see a concert and pay face value. We end up having to pay secondary market prices to resellers who buy up all the tickets.

 

I take it this thread is based on ticket prices for Rush.  I certainly would pay the up to $400 to see them again. They are an important part of my younger years and the ticket price is worth it to see them. Especially because I believe they are making a comeback because they want to connect with fans, not just a money grab.

 

Thread was prompted in part by ticket prices for Rush! Appreciate your point of view.

[BillsPride12]

With how expensive everything is getting I am being more strict on purchasing concert/entertainment tickets. If it's something I really want to see I don't mind splurging once in awhile. There's so much good content out there you can watch on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube etc right from your couch 

 

And I agree as for live music there's alot of much better smaller scale shows you can go to that are great without having to pay $300 to sit in the nosebleeds at a bad venue to begin with 

[Augie]

2 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

With how expensive everything is getting I am being more strict on purchasing concert/entertainment tickets. If it's something I really want to see I don't mind splurging once in awhile. There's so much good content out there you can watch on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube etc right from your couch 

 

And I agree as for live music there's alot of much better smaller scale shows you can go to that are great without having to pay $300 to sit in the nosebleeds at a bad venue to begin with 

 

We sat in the nosebleeds to see the Eagles and Chris Stapleton not too long ago. They will have to PAY ME more than $300 to get me to do it again in a giant arena. On the flip side, we saw Jonathan Taylor (James’ brother) in a tiny little venue a couple tables from the stage and it was awesome! And for a fraction of the price. Great time. 

 

Side note: We saw Van Morrison on his “everything but the hits tour”. He played for a couple hours without ever playing anything familiar. That was impressive, but not in a good way. I felt ripped off after that one. 

[May Day 10]

So in the event of Rush... if you are a huge fan and think this is the last ride, and also have faith it is going to be a great show, and Peart not being on the kit isnt a dealbreaker... then the price is probably worth it.

 

Like if Rogers and Gilmour got together for a few shows and I had a chance to go, I would pay good money.   I forked over some bux to see Rage Against the Machine.  Never got to see them back in the day.  It was absolutely amazing and they broke up/ended the tour shortly after and I have zero regrets, and am actually super thankful to have been able to spend money on that.

 

I'm a huge Pearl Jam fan.  I have seen them like 30 times.  Tickets are now in the hundreds.  I have little urge to see them again at those prices.

Edited 9 hours ago by May Day 10

[thenorthremembers]

Its funny how this works.   When I was younger my want to go exceeded my ability to pay, but I went anyways.  Nowadays my ability to pay exceeds my want to go, especially when principles get involved.   The secondary market for Bills tickets has priced me out of games this year.   I refuse to pay 400 dollars a ticket to sit in the 300s.   My wife and kids love the musical Hamilton, its playing in Rochester, not the original cast, and its close to $200 dollars a ticket, no way in hell.     I have a large family, for us to go to Hamilton it would cost $1200 dollars plus fees.  

 

I am not a huge fan of popular music, so that doesnt impact me much.   But even, going to see a moderately popular band at a place like Ironworks is going to cost you between $75 and $200 dollars a ticket.   For instance, Bumpin Uglies, a moderately popular reggae band I like is playing at Ironworks, $64 dollars a ticket plus fees.  No thank you. 

 

Concerts in particular have become less and less attractive to me.    Artists complain about the cost of touring, jack up ticket prices, and still have huge stage sets and 6 opening bands.   They want to justify price by having 2 hours of bands play before the headliner.   I dont want to watch 2 hours of bands play before the band I paid to see.   I also dont want to get home at 1 or 2am anymore.   

[BillsPride12]

38 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

We sat in the nosebleeds to see the Eagles and Chris Stapleton not too long ago. They will have to PAY ME more than $300 to get me to do it again in a giant arena. On the flip side, we saw Jonathan Taylor (James’ brother) in a tiny little venue a couple tables from the stage and it was awesome! And for a fraction of the price. Great time. 

 

Side note: We saw Van Morrison on his “everything but the hits tour”. He played for a couple hours without ever playing anything familiar. That was impressive, but not in a good way. I felt ripped off after that one. 

Yeah I usually have no interest in going to the mega concerts that come to Buffalo at Highmark or Keybank Center but Artpark in Lewiston gets alot of good shows and they are usually much more reasonably priced and you are much closer to the bands performing than at the overpriced stadium and arena shows.  Then there's outdoor concerts all over WNY throughout the Summer , sometimes just cover bands or local bands but ends up being a great value to check out some live music

[PastaJoe]

I would love to see Paul McCartney or Bruce Springsteen, but more than the price is the fact that I don’t want to have to stand for 3+ hours listening to the people around me sing along badly and blocking my view with their phones.

 

My concert attendance now consists of seeing Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits at the NYS Fair on Senior Day for free.

[RkFast]

I paid $700 FACE VALUE for Rush. Very good (not excellent) seat and at MSG. I absolutely cant miss that show so Im forking it over. But, in general the price of admission for events is way over the top, I agree.

[17islongenough]

A typical concert i go to has about doubled in 6 years.  Usually metal and hard rock. It feels like people talk more during the show,  record the whole thing.   It's almost worth not going to anymore

[BillsPride12]

6 minutes ago, 17islongenough said:

A typical concert i go to has about doubled in 6 years.  Usually metal and hard rock. It feels like people talk more during the show,  record the whole thing.   It's almost worth not going to anymore

In some ways that's kinda how I feel about going to Bills games now.  Very glad I am not getting season tickets in the new stadium

[Just Jack]

$100 is my price point. But a lot of factors depend on who the act is, the venue, if I think it will sell out, etc. 

 

Who the act is, that's easy to figure out. Is it someone that I definitely want to see? Or someone that I think I should go see, just because they're popular and I've never seen them before in concert? Is it a "final tour ever"? I've seen both Peter Frampton and the B-52's on their "final" tours, only to have them both tour again a few years later. Barenaked Ladies do their summer tour every year, and the only reason I go see them so often, is that it's the wife's favorite band. I would rather see them every 3-4 years, but going makes her happy, so we go. Side story about BNL, last summer they played here in Syracuse at the amphitheater, a facility that can hold 17,000 people between the pavilion and the lawn. They only sold about 3,000 tickets, so staff was letting anyone sit under the pavilion that wanted to. It was a mid-week concert, so I don't know if that affected attendance. 

 

Venue, if it's a huge venue and you need to pay more to get a good view of the stage, then I may pay more to get that view. If it's a smaller venue and easy to see no matter where you are, I'll tend to buy the cheapest/farthest away seat, which leads me into my next point. 

 

Sell outs. If I don't think an artist will sell out, I'll buy the cheapest seat, and then the day of the concert, look on TM and see what areas closer have the most open seats, and go sit there instead. It helps if you know the layout so you don't need an ushers help to find a seat, because they will want to see your ticket. Instead, just walk right past them and if they say anything, just say you know where your seat is. What I do not do is try to get into the first/closest sections to the stage. I feel those ushers are going to be more vigilant about looking at your ticket to make sure you belong. 

 

 

1 hour ago, PastaJoe said:

My concert attendance now consists of seeing Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits at the NYS Fair on Senior Day for free.

 

I went 10 out of the 13 days this summer and saw at least one concert each day. I have a lifetime pass so admittance was free, and I park at the mall to take the shuttle over, only $2 round trip. 

Edited 7 hours ago by Just Jack