Lewis Bay

Fans will rant about the 3x face tickets on secondary market. Rarely mention the multitude of 50% less than face tickets on secondary market. The value to consumers of a #freemarket is paying what a ticket is worth to them.

And do you know who's involved in all of this? THE AZOFF FAMILY! Irving Azoff is the main architect of the merger between Live Nation (concert promoter) and Ticketmaster (ticketing) in 2010. At the time, Azoff was the CEO of Ticketmaster and owned Front Line Management, the largest artist management company in the world. Azoff ensured he had unprecedented control over every aspect of a concert journey: from the artist to the venue, from ticketing to promotion. Even after leaving Live Nation, Irving Azoff co-founded the Oak View Group (OVG) with Tim Leiweke, and OVG maintained this dominance along with Ticketmaster. OVG received tens of millions of dollars from Ticketmaster to ensure that the arenas they managed (most of which are in the US, which is why many of their artists do "world tours" almost exclusively in the US) chose Ticketmaster as their exclusive provider. The Azoffs manage or consult for over 200 arenas and stadiums globally. While Irving dominates the arenas and infrastructure, his son Jeffrey Azoff leads Full Stop Management and manages some of the artists (for example: Harry Styles). It's a network of consulting deals, venue management bonuses, and elite talent management that ensures Live Nation, Ticketmaster and Azoffs remain unreachable for smaller competitors. And this also contributes to the exorbitant ticket prices, because without competition, why bother? Their only concern, obviously, will be to make as much profit as possible.

@OnlyInBOS If you can afford those at the top of the list. $$$

Niche’s top 15 best places to raise a family in the Boston area for 2026: 1 Brookline 2 Lexington 3 Belmont 4 Wellesley 5 Wayland 6 Winchester 7 Newton 8 Sharon 9 Arlington 10 Sherborn 11 Cochituate 12 Hopkinton 13 Sudbury 14 Groton 15 Cambridge

Following the jury’s verdict in Live Nation’s antitrust trial, we release the following statement:

@ClayTravis For the most part, no, they are not.

Happy Tax Day. The top 1% pays 40% of all income taxes, the top 10% pays 72% and the top 25% pays 87% of all income taxes. Meanwhile the bottom 50% pays ZERO income taxes. For all of you actually paying taxes, do you think your tax dollars are being spent well?

@themidhambino I feel like it's providing a valuable service for those folks who want to buy it.

special place in hell

@bostonlexsox Why not steal from the best.

the dodgers really do take EVERYTHING from the red sox.

@ComeWithFacts LN does muscle just about everyone in the industry. Call it what you want but I've spoken to lots of industry folks who have been on the receiving end of it.

🚨NBC dropped an “exclusive” early this morning on Live Nation’s business practices, claiming internal documents show how they “muscled” artists, rivals, and venues into submission. But here’s the interesting part. The article is locked behind a paywall. So the public gets the headline, but not the full details. And let’s talk about that word for a second. “Muscled.” Because to me, that doesn’t sound like normal business. That sounds like pressure. Control. Something a lot closer to mob behavior than fair competition. If the claims are serious enough to publish, why hide the full story from the public? nbcnews.com/investigations…

@CapeHomepage 👎

After 45 years, it's closing month for #CapeCod Potato Chips in Hyannis. 🥔 The factory is closing the doors for good, and operations are moving off-Cape.

@JoePompliano The Masters tournament is among the best events in sports, but each year the monetization of it seems to grow. I'm fine it's about the money now but they could drop some of the 'holier than thou' attitude if they are going to have both hands out.

The Masters will do about $70 million in merchandise sales this week. $10 million per day $1 million per hour $16,000 per minute $277 per second That's $25 million more in merchandise sales than the Atlanta Braves did all of last year — in just one week, with no online sales.

@ScottFriedman3 @TheMasters @VividSeats Those prices will be coming to California too if they cap resale.

Imagine buying these two Friday @TheMasters 🎟️ via @VividSeats for $16k - ONLY to get stopped at turnstile and get interrogated by Augusta National box office tomorrow. 😆 PS: This practice will be coming soon to the State of California when they cap 🎟️ resale. Enjoy!!

@Top100Rick 1000% true. More & more this is the motivator for folks to attend big sporting events or concerts.

@LewisBay3 Social media also tripled demand. This has happened to all major events. People want to show everyone they were there.

@Riverboat_Ross Been that way since the NCAA switched to the football stadiums 2 decades ago. Lots of folks just want to say they were there.

I’ve dreamed my entire life about watching a Final 4 live! I just got here and got to my seat, and based on the view I’ll have to keep dreaming. I can’t see shit up here

@stoolpresidente Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark. I know there are plenty of potential suitors, but who buys the team that would be steward to history of team? While still paying what is takes to be competitive?

Quick update. There is only 1 team in the entire Major Leagues who doesn’t have at least 3 wins yet. The Red Sox aren’t one of the worst teams in the league. They are the worst. Thank you John Henry #dirtywater

@Top100Rick @scottytaco I'd argue that AGNC should not aggressive disrupt supply on secondary market. I understand that they want control of their event & money being made, but that has sent ticket prices way, way up.

@scottytaco There are 50 million golf fans. It’s just not possible. The lottery is the fairest thing we got.

What would you pay to attend the Masters? The Masters has officially surpassed The Super Bowl and World Cup as the most expensive sports ticket. $2,000 for practice round $16,000 for Thursday $8,000 for Sunday. Why? The Masters has started cracking down on resellers, so the supply is very limited. Resellers have been losing their ticket privileges if caught, so now it’s happening only on true black market channels. People have wanted Augusta to stop resellers for years. But there is a downside. Now if you don’t win the lottery, you are screwed. Almost no chance of ever attending. Before you could at least bucket list it and do it once. Not sure if this is good or bad for the fans, though I get why Augusta is doing it.

@Top100Rick AGNC is now in ticketing (Map & Flag) and partnered with secondary (OnLocation). AGNC taking aggressive steps to eliminate competition. Those actions are driving up ticket prices, which for 3 decades (minus a few outliers) were fairly stable. Disrupt supply & prices go up.

@forcemm @ScottFriedman3 @StubHub There have been some fairly high profile failures in primary (e.g.- Brown Paper Tickets & Lyte). Every day there are issues with tickets primary issued tickets at venues. I will not defend SH's current behavior but there is plenty to clean up throughout the industry.

@ScottFriedman3 @StubHub Scott, how many times have you ever heard any of these problems happening with a primary (real) ticket company Never, you’re part of an ecosystem building a business ontop of someone else’s industry. It will never work, politicians are learning & protecting from the predators

🚨I urge all ticketing secondary exchanges in particular @StubHub to get your houses in order. Also, I urge @StubHub’s board of directors to fire Mr. Eric Baker yesterday. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t get a horror story about tickets not being delivered either on time or wrong tickets sent by resellers. Yes, there are many bad actors in the secondary space that ruin the name of all the good people, that bust their ass providing terrific experiences for fans. Policing of sites needs to be more stringent by higher-ups at exchanges. The “care” factor somehow has been lost in favor of the money.

@YellowTuxJesse Worster

Where should we bring Banana Ball in 2027? What venue would be crazy?

@alx Putting former players out there with politicians was attempt by production team to curtail the boos. It did not work.

Fenway Booed Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu at the Red Sox home opener 🤣

@AP_Soccer_ Correct

A reminder that FIFA is still holding onto tickets and selling them on a rolling basis. This gives the appearance that games are close to sold out or are sold out which justifies them selling tickets at their prices.

@forcemm @ScottFriedman3 @tommydprimetim1 @forcemm Which of @tommydprimetim1 10 points are not correct? He may be aligned with resellers (fans & many more) against LN/TM but I see him posting from a promoters perspective.

@ScottFriedman3 @tommydprimetim1 I keep telling him he’s just repeating the scalper propaganda but when you’re saying it. That really carries some weight!

.@tommydprimetim1 is a man of the ticket scalpers!