"These people are so stupid. I almost feel bad taking advantage of them. Robbing them blind baby. That's how we do. I gouge them on ancil prices. For a show at a Virginia venue, Weinhold preened himself for raising VIP parking up to $250 lol."
"The pair bragged about shamelessly jacking up the cost of ancillary fees that include parking, lawn chair rentals, and VIP passes, and getting concertgoers to pay them anyway. Baker said he was charging $50 to park in the grass and $60 for closer grass."
"Critics and lawmakers have long accused Live Nation and Ticketmaster of monopolistic behavior. After they merged in 2010, Ticketmaster became a subsidiary; many lawmakers feel this merger should never have been allowed to happen. That argument is the thrust of a federal antitrust suit brought against Live Nation."
Internal Slack messages from 2022 reveal that Live Nation regional ticketing directors Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold openly mocked customers and boasted about exploiting them through inflated ancillary fees including parking, VIP passes, and lawn chair rentals. The directors bragged about raising VIP parking to $250 and charging $50-$60 for grass parking, generating $666,000 from premier parking fees alone at one venue in 2021. Baker explicitly stated customers were 'stupid' and admitted to 'robbing them blind' through price gouging on ancillary charges. These messages emerged during a federal antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, supporting long-standing criticism that the company engages in monopolistic behavior following its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster.
Read at Futurism
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