Episode Summary: "Obey Your Master, Ticketmaster!"

The Commercial Break | April 10, 2025
Hosts: Bryan Green & Krissy Hoadley

Overview

This episode dives deep into the chaos, frustration, and economics behind the astronomical rise in ticket prices for concerts, live events, and sports — with the main culprit in their comedic crosshairs: the Ticketmaster/Live Nation empire and the armies of modern ticket scalpers. Bryan and Krissy blend their trademark irreverent, self-aware humor with sharp commentary, referencing both personal experiences and a CBS News investigative report, showing how the ticketing system became so hostile to ordinary fans. Along the way, they examine the role of supply and demand, the evolution of ticket brokering, and how even mid-tier acts are impacted, ultimately asking: Is there any hope for regular fans in the era of $25,000 Taylor Swift tickets?

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ticket Price Insanity — How Did We Get Here?

• Personal perspective: Bryan and Krissy recount sticker shock from trying to buy tickets to major concerts (e.g., Taylor Swift) and sporting events, noting that even nosebleed seats are now costly.
  • “Every ticket that we buy is exorbitantly expensive. Because you can't get them when they go on sale at the normal price. And even at the normal price, they're exorbitantly expensive.” (18:03, Bryan)
• Even their own podcast’s live event saw massive markups — a $38 face value turned into $800 broker resale.

2. Ticketmaster & Live Nation — Villains or Scapegoats?

• Monopoly mechanics: They outline the Ticketmaster/Live Nation “vertical integration” — owning ticket sales, venues, and sometimes managing artists/tours — allowing control over nearly every step of ticketing and making it hard for competitors or independents to break in.
  • Bryan: “Ticketmaster owns Live Nation. So when they put together a concert, they say, ‘Don’t worry about it, Mr. Musician … We’ll do the promoting, we’ll sell the tickets, will manage everything…’” (20:08)
• Venue kickbacks: Many of the hated service fees go not to Ticketmaster itself, but back to venues as an incentive for exclusive partnership.
  • “Ticketmaster gives most of those fees back to the venue. It’s how Ticketmaster gets the business of the venue: they bribe them, essentially.” (39:30, Bryan)

3. CBS Report Breakdown — Anatomy of a Ticket (26:23 and onward)

• Breaking down the $70 ticket: Of a $70 ticket, artists may see as little as $10; most is split between venues, management, and various fees (29:50).
• The “solution” to shrinking profits is always to “charge fans a bit more.” (31:14, CBS)

4. Scalpers: Old School to the New MLM

• Bryan shares a personal anecdote about meeting an OG Atlanta ticket broker in the 1990s, who pioneered buying in-person and reselling, even getting tickets directly from bands or sports teams.
• Modern scalping is an industry:
  • Now pro-scalpers use bots, browser plugins, and multiple presale codes (often via shady paid tools) to lock up huge numbers of tickets the instant they go on sale. These methods are sometimes sold via “MLM-style” broker coaching businesses.
  • “People are coaching other people how to be independent ticket brokers — to take those tickets... using bots and multiple computers and IP addresses and masking systems… so you can get the ticket for Taylor Swift my daughter so desperately wants and resell it to me for thousands more.” (22:56, Bryan)
• Some brokers claim it’s a “free market,” but— as the CBS piece and Krissy emphasize — the system is rife with artificial barriers and unfair advantages.

5. Surge Pricing – Supply and Demand on Steroids

• The duo discuss the “cultural moment” aspect — e.g., Taylor Swift in her prime — but fear that live events are moving toward a model where only the wealthy or corporate clients can attend major shows, mirroring the dynamic at Disney parks or big sports events.
  • “Concerts are now becoming that way… only rich people can kind of afford it.” (32:58, Bryan)

6. Fan Experience — The Bleak Future

• Once-ubiquitous options like cheap last-minute tickets or day-of standing room are vanishing.
• Events and even artists at the mid- and lower-levels (e.g., Linkin Park without Chester Bennington, Jennifer Lopez, Black Keys) are downsizing or canceling shows due to unsustainable economics.

7. Broader Market Effects

• Festival closures and tour cancellations are becoming more frequent — unaffordable tickets mean fewer fans, so promoters can’t fill venues, which ripples down the entire entertainment food chain (62:47).
• Loyalty only goes so far: fans “feed the beast” by paying exorbitant amounts, making the next round of tickets even pricier (31:14).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On why fans are left out:
  "Tickets are more expensive than ever and seemingly harder to get. I do know there's probably stuff out there that a retail fan has no shot at getting." (27:08, CBS/C)

• On the “fee explosion”:
  "They charge you $3. Fans, $3. Those were the days." (39:14, Bryan)

• On modern resale insanity:
  “Taylor Swift sixth row tickets for 15, 20, $25,000, and there's lots of people willing to pay it, why wouldn't you?” (31:31, Bryan)
  “It’s basic economics. Supply and demand.” (31:34, Krissy)

• On fake “democratization” of tickets:
  "If everybody had these tools available to them, then I would see how you could make that claim. But when you are essentially gating those tools ... then you're not democratizing it.” (57:05, Bryan)

• On Pearl Jam vs. Ticketmaster:
  “They would only sell tickets through their own … fan club or whatever… but they were losing money at a huge clip. When they were the biggest band in rock and roll, they were losing money.” (41:07, Bryan)

• On face value exchanges and morality:
  “I would turn down every check that got sent to me by a StubHub or Vivid Seats or any of these guys because I think what they're doing is — I mean, I think it’s disgusting.” (66:13, Andrew McMahon from Something Corporate)

Key Timestamps

• [02:22] — The "basic economics" of ticket resale begin; personal anecdotes on ticket costs
• [08:40] — Their own live event's ticket markup shock
• [10:07] — Linkin Park’s fraught attempt to return without Chester Bennington; bigger artists forced to downsize tours
• [17:06] — Why venues and airlines must now sell out for financial viability
• [26:23] — Start of CBS News investigative report summary
• [31:31] — Taylor Swift ticket prices and the "would you resell for a huge profit" dilemma
• [39:30] — Venue fee-sharing exposed; Ticketmaster’s “real” customer is the venue, not the fan
• [41:07] — Pearl Jam’s anti-Ticketmaster battle
• [53:54] — Brokers admit most fans have no shot at buying popular tickets during public on-sale
• [55:21] — Sneak peek at broker-exclusive tech (plugins, pre-sale access)
• [57:05] — Debate over whether “democratizing” ticketing is even possible
• [62:47] — Impact: Festivals close, mid-level artists can't tour, industry shrinkage
• [66:13] — Artist stands up to StubHub/secondary market
• [69:13] — Wrap-up: “No answers, just more questions”

Tone & Originality

Throughout, Bryan and Krissy maintain their signature banter: self-deprecating (“I did that all in my head. Except I didn’t add a zero.”), gleeful cynicism, personal asides, and running in-jokes (fake infomercial ads, MLM cracks, riffing on their “independence” as a podcast, and frequent digs at the Ticketmaster hierarchy). The CBS news segment is respected but constantly interrupted for humorous commentary and relatable anecdotes.

Takeaways for Listeners

• The pricing madness is the result of a “perfect storm” — monopoly power, convoluted deals, unregulated scalping, tech tools, and fans unwillingly “feeding the beast.”
• Even if you scramble for hours, the deck may be stacked — robot armies and broker MLMS are flooding the space.
• Until the business model changes, expect to keep paying more, seeing less, or joining the arms race yourself.
• No real answers here — just a mess of “supply and demand” and “everybody takes a piece.” But at least you’ll laugh while you cry about not seeing Taylor Swift.

Further Listening

If this hit a nerve, check out their upcoming "12 Hours of TCB" live marathon (May 31), and follow @thecommercialbreak for more improv, rants, and chaos — although, as Bryan warns, “don’t trust me on anything, okay? I’m not here for answers. I’m just here to ask more questions.” (69:33)