PLEA TO THE BAND: Change the ticketing process next tour

pjl44 · May 10

PB11041 said:

No one has generated a solution, no matter what, there will be a loophole. Whether it is fans signing up for multiple fanclub accounts, scalpers signing up multiple fanclub accounts, live nation screwing with the F2F ticket drops.

The only reasonable solution and it most certainly could be done, is that if a ticket goes back into the F2F drop, not talking pj premium nonsense, but regular priced fanclub and general face tickets, those tickets should be "locked" into access by fanclub members only. You get verified as an active fanclub member prior to the on-sale, it would be easy to do this. You set up a portal where F2F requires your fanclub login. If the tickets do not sell after 30 or 60 days, they go back into the general pool. It is not perfect but it would alleviate some of the live nation buyback and resell garbage.

Why would Ticketmaster bother to deal with any of this? Much larger administrative lift with zero payoff.

Mike D88 · May 10

My problem is, while the idea of F2F sounds like a good compromise to get back with Ticketmaster, the reality appears to be, you put tickets up and they are instantly snatched by bots.

I put in for both Hollywood shows, but could only do one. I didn't expect to get them both, but did. Once that happened, I confirmed the better date with my party and sold back the other pair (I have good reason, being wheelchair bound and doing physical therapy daily - I have to be sparing with my time off). They were gone before I could even tab over to my email.

Get_Right · May 10

You are basically asking the band to remove most of the restrictions that TM has put in place. PJ has agreed to those terms in exchange for the 10C allotment at each show, which is already being diminished by providing members with seats that are farther back than in the past. I think people underestimate TM's influence and the terms that the band has agreed to. Yes, they have the power to change the terms, but they would probably be leaving money on the table. And that is not how this band operates in 2025. They play and collect checks. I doubt they have much involvement in the process these days. They have a management team that seeks to obtain the highest possible revenue without alienating fans. It's been that way for sometime.

The solution is one show per 10C member. Or maybe a limit of two. No transfers, period. You cannot go, you eat the tickets. Period. Or you give them to someone you trust with your login information. Like the old days. This would put more tickets in the hands of local members and eliminate all of this F2F and transfer nonsense. 10C tickets should not be transferred or resold IMHO. TM is not your friend. They want your money and will screw you every chance they get.

PeterED · May 10

D-Day said:

+
TM ticket resale price lower than *face value* should be possible/allowed.

This, 100%.

D-Day · May 10

Anyone with a idea how bots/ticket scalpers/re$ellers could bypass the ticketing process (fantasy status;) mentioned above?

> Selling TM order numbers / TM’s original email
after ticket purchase:
Invalid because there is no entry with the email.

lead to:
There’s no way to upload such a posted/given order number into the TM app to „create the ticket“ there.

Left over tickets available in person at the box office on show day:
> only available on paper and the tickets are printed with the ticket holder’s name on it.

> you need the ID-Card again at the venue entry because paper tickets are checked by staff and the name must match.

Get_Right · May 10

pjl44 said:

PB11041 said:

No one has generated a solution, no matter what, there will be a loophole. Whether it is fans signing up for multiple fanclub accounts, scalpers signing up multiple fanclub accounts, live nation screwing with the F2F ticket drops.

The only reasonable solution and it most certainly could be done, is that if a ticket goes back into the F2F drop, not talking pj premium nonsense, but regular priced fanclub and general face tickets, those tickets should be "locked" into access by fanclub members only. You get verified as an active fanclub member prior to the on-sale, it would be easy to do this. You set up a portal where F2F requires your fanclub login. If the tickets do not sell after 30 or 60 days, they go back into the general pool. It is not perfect but it would alleviate some of the live nation buyback and resell garbage.

Why would Ticketmaster bother to deal with any of this? Much larger administrative lift with zero payoff.

Exactly. Anything that increases the amount of work TM will have to do without a positive return is not viable.

pjl44 · May 10

Get_Right said:

pjl44 said:

PB11041 said:

No one has generated a solution, no matter what, there will be a loophole. Whether it is fans signing up for multiple fanclub accounts, scalpers signing up multiple fanclub accounts, live nation screwing with the F2F ticket drops.

The only reasonable solution and it most certainly could be done, is that if a ticket goes back into the F2F drop, not talking pj premium nonsense, but regular priced fanclub and general face tickets, those tickets should be "locked" into access by fanclub members only. You get verified as an active fanclub member prior to the on-sale, it would be easy to do this. You set up a portal where F2F requires your fanclub login. If the tickets do not sell after 30 or 60 days, they go back into the general pool. It is not perfect but it would alleviate some of the live nation buyback and resell garbage.

Why would Ticketmaster bother to deal with any of this? Much larger administrative lift with zero payoff.

Exactly. Anything that increases the amount of work TM will have to do without a positive return is not viable.

They're listing 15-20 shows a year max with them. How much leverage could they possibly have?

on2legs · May 10

Just make tickets non transferable. Put in for as many shows as you want but you’re stuck with them. Including closing all the scalper barcode loopholes.

pjl44 · May 10

on2legs said:

Just make tickets non transferable. Put in for as many shows as you want but you’re stuck with them. Including closing all the scalper barcode loopholes.

Have they been turning transfers on within a day or two of the show this tour?

Mike D88 · May 10

A simple fix for direct 10C F2F transfers not getting gamed en masse would be to require the seller be a member for at least a year. 10C's existing policy that you can only enter ticket drawings if your account was created by $date already creates a barrier for mass flippers, I'd say.

Will people still scalp? Of course. Will it be done by bots in industrialized fashion? Not so much.

Get_Right · May 10

pjl44 said:

Get_Right said:

pjl44 said:

PB11041 said:

No one has generated a solution, no matter what, there will be a loophole. Whether it is fans signing up for multiple fanclub accounts, scalpers signing up multiple fanclub accounts, live nation screwing with the F2F ticket drops.

The only reasonable solution and it most certainly could be done, is that if a ticket goes back into the F2F drop, not talking pj premium nonsense, but regular priced fanclub and general face tickets, those tickets should be "locked" into access by fanclub members only. You get verified as an active fanclub member prior to the on-sale, it would be easy to do this. You set up a portal where F2F requires your fanclub login. If the tickets do not sell after 30 or 60 days, they go back into the general pool. It is not perfect but it would alleviate some of the live nation buyback and resell garbage.

Why would Ticketmaster bother to deal with any of this? Much larger administrative lift with zero payoff.

Exactly. Anything that increases the amount of work TM will have to do without a positive return is not viable.

They're listing 15-20 shows a year max with them. How much leverage could they possibly have?

Exactly. That is why the 10C tix have not been as good. Anyone that does not think the band is fully on board with TM's business plan is kidding themselves.

Get_Right · May 10

on2legs said:

Just make tickets non transferable. Put in for as many shows as you want but you’re stuck with them. Including closing all the scalper barcode loopholes.

Yup. That would end all this transfer and F2F nonsense, as well as limiting people buying 10C tix on spec without knowing if they can actually go.

RE4790 · May 10

Mike D88 said:

A simple fix for direct 10C F2F transfers not getting gamed en masse would be to require the seller be a member for at least a year. 10C's existing policy that you can only enter ticket drawings if your account was created by $date already creates a barrier for mass flippers, I'd say.

Will people still scalp? Of course. Will it be done by bots in industrialized fashion? Not so much.

If 10c tickets could only be transferred/resold to 10c members who lost in the lotto then it solves a bunch of problems at once (bots, upgraders, etc.). TM conducts the lotto so it already has all the data needed to enforce this. In fact, it could just be a "rolling lotto" where losers in the initial draw are put into a pool and each time 10c tickets are put up for resale a name is drawn from the loser pool and offered to them first. If they decline, they are then removed from the pool and this goes on until the tickets are sold.

Mike D88 · May 10

RE4790 said:
If 10c tickets could only be transferred/resold to 10c members who lost in the lotto then it solves a bunch of problems at once (bots, upgraders, etc.). TM conducts the lotto so it already has all the data needed to enforce this. In fact, it could just be a "rolling lotto" where losers in the initial draw are put into a pool and each time 10c tickets are put up for resale a name is drawn from the loser pool and offered to them first. If they decline, they are then removed from the pool and this goes on until the tickets are sold.

Yes, I like this idea. It can be done without creating a secondhand marketplace.

danofun · May 10

Get_Right said:

pjl44 said:

PB11041 said:

No one has generated a solution, no matter what, there will be a loophole. Whether it is fans signing up for multiple fanclub accounts, scalpers signing up multiple fanclub accounts, live nation screwing with the F2F ticket drops.

The only reasonable solution and it most certainly could be done, is that if a ticket goes back into the F2F drop, not talking pj premium nonsense, but regular priced fanclub and general face tickets, those tickets should be "locked" into access by fanclub members only. You get verified as an active fanclub member prior to the on-sale, it would be easy to do this. You set up a portal where F2F requires your fanclub login. If the tickets do not sell after 30 or 60 days, they go back into the general pool. It is not perfect but it would alleviate some of the live nation buyback and resell garbage.

Why would Ticketmaster bother to deal with any of this? Much larger administrative lift with zero payoff.

Exactly. Anything that increases the amount of work TM will have to do without a positive return is not viable.

This is correct. Spending resources on developing and implementing a solution that hurts the bottom line of all parties (TM, PJ, management, etc.) is simply a horrific business decision. And it's 2025 so we're never going back to will call and/or paper tickets. F2F certainly has its issues but it's better than a free for all and the only other in-place system. The real solution is to disassociate ticketing from venues.

pjl44 · May 10

Mike D88 said:

A simple fix for direct 10C F2F transfers not getting gamed en masse would be to require the seller be a member for at least a year. 10C's existing policy that you can only enter ticket drawings if your account was created by $date already creates a barrier for mass flippers, I'd say.

Will people still scalp? Of course. Will it be done by bots in industrialized fashion? Not so much.

You could be on to something here but it would be more for the initial 10C lottery vs. F2F. Have the first lotto run for anyone who has been an active member at least a year. Then there's a second draw of leftovers for anyone who joined within a year. Or set that slider back a little further if they're feeling spicy. It's just running two separate presales.

Shaggy · May 10

pjl44 said:

Shaggy said:

Here's the problem I see with the current ticketing process - it encourages people to apply for many/all shows, even if they don't have plans to go. I have put in requests for pit tickets for many shows, just to see if I get them. If so, I'll try to make travel plans. If not, well, that what FTF is for. The problem is that this keeps other people from getting tix in the lottery and forces them to compete on TicketBastard. There should be a change to dis-incentivise poeple from requesting too many shows.

This is about as restrictive an electronic ticketing system as you can pull off. The only way to tighten things up more is to go back to in-person pickup of physical tickets with an ID.

Otherwise, at this point, I say tear down all these guardrails that create a bunch of unintended consequences. It will probably increase demand for 10C tickets even more (especially in their hotter markets) but on balance I think it will ultimately make it easier to get a ticket at a reasonable price.

So here is a thought - link thru your 10C account into TicketBastard in order to buy FTF. Wait what? They already have something in place to REQUEST tickets this way. Why not just do the FTF sales similarly? All public and Premium tickets would still be on the public site, but FTF would require a 10C account to access.

on2legs · May 10

Shaggy said:

pjl44 said:

Shaggy said:

Here's the problem I see with the current ticketing process - it encourages people to apply for many/all shows, even if they don't have plans to go. I have put in requests for pit tickets for many shows, just to see if I get them. If so, I'll try to make travel plans. If not, well, that what FTF is for. The problem is that this keeps other people from getting tix in the lottery and forces them to compete on TicketBastard. There should be a change to dis-incentivise poeple from requesting too many shows.

This is about as restrictive an electronic ticketing system as you can pull off. The only way to tighten things up more is to go back to in-person pickup of physical tickets with an ID.

Otherwise, at this point, I say tear down all these guardrails that create a bunch of unintended consequences. It will probably increase demand for 10C tickets even more (especially in their hotter markets) but on balance I think it will ultimately make it easier to get a ticket at a reasonable price.

So here is a thought - link thru your 10C account into TicketBastard in order to buy FTF. Wait what? They already have something in place to REQUEST tickets this way. Why not just do the FTF sales similarly? All public and Premium tickets would still be on the public site, but FTF would require a 10C account to access.

This doesn’t account for people putting in for a dozen shows and then throwing back any seats that aren’t GA. Also… scalpers have ten club memberships. They would have access to the tickets as well.

I’m all in for zero tolerance transfer policy. You break it, you bought it.

pjl44 · May 10

Shaggy said:

pjl44 said:

Shaggy said:

Here's the problem I see with the current ticketing process - it encourages people to apply for many/all shows, even if they don't have plans to go. I have put in requests for pit tickets for many shows, just to see if I get them. If so, I'll try to make travel plans. If not, well, that what FTF is for. The problem is that this keeps other people from getting tix in the lottery and forces them to compete on TicketBastard. There should be a change to dis-incentivise poeple from requesting too many shows.

This is about as restrictive an electronic ticketing system as you can pull off. The only way to tighten things up more is to go back to in-person pickup of physical tickets with an ID.

Otherwise, at this point, I say tear down all these guardrails that create a bunch of unintended consequences. It will probably increase demand for 10C tickets even more (especially in their hotter markets) but on balance I think it will ultimately make it easier to get a ticket at a reasonable price.

So here is a thought - link thru your 10C account into TicketBastard in order to buy FTF. Wait what? They already have something in place to REQUEST tickets this way. Why not just do the FTF sales similarly? All public and Premium tickets would still be on the public site, but FTF would require a 10C account to access.

But why would they do that? It's against their interest to have a smaller pool of buyers.

Hankj25 · May 11

I’ve thought that having a 10C second chance lottery might help. No F2F until after. About 30 days before a show, all the 10C ticket holders who can’t go can list their tickets and only 10C fans could buy. Do that for 24 hours, then open it up.

I also think they need to limit entries into the lottery to 4 shows per tour.

Now, all that being said, the band appears to be losing a bit of momentum as both ATL and Nash had plenty of empty seats in the top levels. Getting into a show isn’t going to be a problem if they continue the 2 shows per city thing in NBA or NHL arenas.

PLEA TO THE BAND: Change the ticketing process next tour

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