George Strait at the Alerus Center

[Cratter]

Is anyone else going? I bought four tickets for Christmas to take the whole family as my mom is a huge fan. Should be fun.

[watchmaker49]

Is anyone else going? I bought four tickets for Christmas to take the whole family as my mom is a huge fan. Should be fun.

What songs does he sing?

[Cratter]

Gangheim style.

[dmksioux]

I'm going, section 106. I've seen him once before. He has some good songs but not much for showmanship.

[watchmaker49]

I'm going, section 106. I've seen him once before. He has some good songs but not much for showmanship.

He is not the Boss.

[dmksioux]

Not so much. Saw on the news this morning that they have sold over 19,000 tickets already. They said its the most tickets sold for any oof his shows on the first leg of his tour.

[Cratter]

I think its "scamish" with ticketmaster. 19,000 tickets sold. Yet some left on the floor?! I bought mine the day they went on sale. Asked for the closest seat guy at the Al told me upper sections.

[BigGreyAnt41]

I think its "scamish" with ticketmaster. 19,000 tickets sold. Yet some left on the floor?! I bought mine the day they went on sale. Asked for the closest seat guy at the Al told me upper sections.

Not all tickets get released right away. It's not uncommon for different sections, especially floor sections, to get rolled out randomly over time.

[Cratter]

I have sorta noticed that lil game they play. I will never buy tickets the same day they go on sale again. No wonder "people wait til the last minute" to buy tickets. You get the best seats!

Defies all logic.

[dmksioux]

I purchased mine this morning before leaving for Omaha and got 2 tix in section 106. I looked last week and the best available were still on the floor but in a section further away.

[watchmaker49]

If there ever has been a company I would love to see go away it is TicketScammers. Gripe their fees had 30% to the ticket or more.

[82SiouxGuy]

If there ever has been a company I would love to see go away it is TicketScammers. Gripe their fees had 30% to the ticket or more.

A lot of times you can avoid their fees if you buy at the box office of the venue. Not always as convenient, but often a lot cheaper.

[watchmaker49]

A lot of times you can avoid their fees if you buy at the box office of the venue. Not always as convenient, but often a lot cheaper.

Which can be anywhere from a 40 mile drive to a 300 mile drive.

[82SiouxGuy]

Which can be anywhere from a 40 mile drive to a 300 mile drive.

For people in Grand Forks, or who do business in Grand Forks on a regular basis, it might be a mile or 2 out of their way when they go shopping or to the doctor. The majority of the people that are going to the concert will have been within a mile of the Alerus Center at some time while the tickets have been on sale. But most people don't realize that they can avoid those fees by purchasing at the box office of the presenting organization.

[dakotadan]

George is the epitome of Pure Country!

[watchmaker49]

For people in Grand Forks, or who do business in Grand Forks on a regular basis, it might be a mile or 2 out of their way when they go shopping or to the doctor. The majority of the people that are going to the concert will have been within a mile of the Alerus Center at some time while the tickets have been on sale. But most people don't realize that they can avoid those fees by purchasing at the box office of the presenting organization.

This leads me to wonder then how can they charge so much more for only doing one extra step in the sale. The price of a postage stamp.

[82SiouxGuy]

This leads me to wonder then how can they charge so much more for only doing one extra step in the sale. The price of a postage stamp.

They provide a service. They allow you to purchase by telephone or by computer. They allow you to sit by your pool in Arizona and purchase a ticket for an event in Grand Forks. They have staff to pay for, computers to pay for, advertising, etc. They have a lot more costs than a postage stamp. And people are willing to spend good money to gain convenience.

There is no price control for this type service, just like there aren't price controls for most goods or services. It's called "Free Market". They charge as much as they do because they don't have major competition. And they help their venues make good money on the ticket sales, which is why the venues sign contracts with them. If you don't like their fees you have 2 choices. Buy direct and avoid the charges. Or create a competitor that will take away a bunch of their business.

[fightingsioux4life]

They provide a service. They allow you to purchase by telephone or by computer. They allow you to sit by your pool in Arizona and purchase a ticket for an event in Grand Forks. They have staff to pay for, computers to pay for, advertising, etc. They have a lot more costs than a postage stamp. And people are willing to spend good money to gain convenience.

There is no price control for this type service, just like there aren't price controls for most goods or services. It's called "Free Market". They charge as much as they do because they don't have major competition. And they help their venues make good money on the ticket sales, which is why the venues sign contracts with them. If you don't like their fees you have 2 choices. Buy direct and avoid the charges. Or create a competitor that will take away a bunch of their business.

You just contradicted yourself here. It's not a "free market" when there is only one choice for consumers, that's called a monopoly. And Ticketmaster has a reputation of running potential competitors out of the market; that is also not indicative of a "free market". The term "free market" is used to justify anything and everything a business chooses to do; when they instead should be called out on it. At some point, somebody with deep pockets is going to launch a competing service and the gravy train will be over. Their day of reckoning will come and no one will feel sorry for them. Of course, that won't stop them from whining and crying about how "unfair" it is they have to compete for customers. That is, after all, what bullies do when they are finally confronted.

[watchmaker49]

They provide a service. They allow you to purchase by telephone or by computer. They allow you to sit by your pool in Arizona and purchase a ticket for an event in Grand Forks. They have staff to pay for, computers to pay for, advertising, etc. They have a lot more costs than a postage stamp. And people are willing to spend good money to gain convenience.

There is no price control for this type service, just like there aren't price controls for most goods or services. It's called "Free Market". They charge as much as they do because they don't have major competition. And they help their venues make good money on the ticket sales, which is why the venues sign contracts with them. If you don't like their fees you have 2 choices. Buy direct and avoid the charges. Or create a competitor that will take away a bunch of their business.

They still have these same infrastructure costs even when selling at the ticket booth. I am curious as to how ticket brokers have tickets before they even go on sale all the time? What type of backdoor deal do they have worked out with Ticketscalpers? That is far from a free market. By the way if I want concert tickets I can already get them free for GF shows.

[jodcon]

They still have these same infrastructure costs even when selling at the ticket booth. I am curious as to how ticket brokers have tickets before they even go on sale all the time? What type of backdoor deal do they have worked out with Ticketscalpers? That is far from a free market. By the way if I want concert tickets I can already get them free for GF shows.

One thing is there are a lot of "presales" that tours run, for example on the Taylor Swift Red tour which starts next month almost every venue had a presale (all TicketBastard) before the general tickets went on sale, if you were a member of her fan club or had a certain AMEX card you could get tickets before the general public with a code. And of course many of those tickets end up on StubHub or other sites before the general offering to the public which is usually weeks later. And when the regular sale does start, most of the good seats are gone to the presale crowd, although they do hold some back and release them over time as the event gets closer to look like they care. Just another good TicketBastard deal.

[82SiouxGuy]

You just contradicted yourself here. It's not a "free market" when there is only one choice for consumers, that's called a monopoly. And Ticketmaster has a reputation of running potential competitors out of the market; that is also not indicative of a "free market". The term "free market" is used to justify anything and everything a business chooses to do; when they instead should be called out on it. At some point, somebody with deep pockets is going to launch a competing service and the gravy train will be over. Their day of reckoning will come and no one will feel sorry for them. Of course, that won't stop them from whining and crying about how "unfair" it is they have to compete for customers. That is, after all, what bullies do when they are finally confronted.

Definition of a free market:

Definition of 'Free Market'

A market economy based on supply and demand with little or no government control.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/freemarket.asp#ixzz2KekzcZHx

A monopoly is different. And although Ticketmaster is monopolistic, which is why I used the quotation marks around Free Market, it isn't a real monopoly. There are quite a few companies out there in the same business. There are even a couple that are preparing to take a run at them. Redbox is testing a rival ticket service in Philadelphia. Major League Baseball supposedly owns Tickets.com and plans to have baseball teams switch to use it rather than Ticketmaster as the contracts end. Ticketmaster doesn't control all venues and isn't the only way to buy tickets, so it isn't a real monopoly. You don't have to like how Ticketmaster does business, and most people don't, but it doesn't mean that they are doing anything illegal.

[82SiouxGuy]

They still have these same infrastructure costs even when selling at the ticket booth. I am curious as to how ticket brokers have tickets before they even go on sale all the time? What type of backdoor deal do they have worked out with Ticketscalpers? That is far from a free market. By the way if I want concert tickets I can already get them free for GF shows.

Ticketmaster staff are not normally working at a ticket booth anywhere. They do have a call center (or maybe more than 1). They also run the computer network that coordinates all of the ticket purchasing for their customer venues. That computer system and its back up systems are expensive and a big part of what Ticketmaster provides to its customers. That computer system is part of what you're paying for any time you go through them. The people working in ticket booths at the venues work for the venue. But I believe that part of those ticket fees go back to the selling venues (if it isn't the host venue). For instance, if you go to the Chester Fritz Auditorium to buy a ticket for an event at the Alerus Center I believe that a piece of the Ticketmaster fee goes back to the Chester Fritz.

As jodcon stated, there are different ways that ticket brokers get their hands on multiple tickets. In years past ticket brokers would hire people to buy as many tickets as they could. They might have 10 people each buy 50 tickets. And they made sure that those people were in line at the very beginning. That is part of the reason that so many events now limit the number of tickets that 1 person can purchase. That is also part of the reason that they now release blocks of seats later, after the initial sale. It helps the normal ticket buyer get a chance at good seats. There may be deals made with ticket brokers at times. But normally, they just know the system better than the average ticket buyer so they know how to work every angle. It's still a free market system.

And we're happy for you, for not having to pay for tickets.

[UND92,96]

20,000 for the George Strait concert, and it was announced today that a Jason Aldean concert is scheduled for the Alerus in late March. With a couple of big concerts (a rare thing in recent years for the Al), and seven UND home football games, 2013 is shaping up to be a potentially good year for the facility.

[Cratter]

I'll probably go to Jason too. Get more use out of this cowboy hat I just bought ha

[Cratter]

March? That seems like a late add and not much promotional time.