The Stones
They scalped their own tickets.
Where do you think the touts got those seats?
THE STONES THEMSELVES!
This is how it works. The band gets $26 million for four gigs and a private. But that’s not enough. They’ve got to make more. So they take a bunch of their seats, mark them up and sell them to the scalpers.
The scalpers just need to make their investment back. They don’t care if the band plays to an empty arena.
So the Stones play Barclays and the Prudential Center and how many seats do you think are available to the general public, at the public on sale? A few thousand. Most of the ducats flew out during the massive pre-sales. Friends and family, AmEx… And to the scalpers.
How many did the scalpers get?
Probably 2,000 a show.
How much did the scalpers pay?
Probably double face value. Or a $500 markup. That’s a million bucks extra per show. Assuming the scalpers bought the tickets that cheaply.
The Stones could have gone paperless. Could have charged their high prices and played to full places. But they got greedy.
So what happens now?
More shows. Assuming everybody’s health is in order.
But at what price?
Business sucked at the tail end of the last tour. Are enough people really interested in overpaying them to see them now?
This truly could be the last time.
And it’s all about the money.
