Two Live Nation ticketing directors bragged about “robbing” fans blind and “taking advantage of them” with high parking fees in newly unsealed internal messages tied to the company’s antitrust trial.
Released by the Justice Department yesterday, the comments—made by Live Nation regional ticketing directors Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold in a series of private Slack messages—discussed ticketing for shows at Live Nation amphitheaters in Florida and Virginia and boasted about the expensive “ancillary” fees that concert attendees paid for parking and VIP upgrades, according to a report from The New York Times.
“These people are so stupid,” Baker wrote after posting the price chart for “VIP Club Admission” at a Kid Rock show in Tampa in 2022, topping out at $199.
Weinhold wrote: “I have VIP parking up to $250 lol,” to which Baker replied, “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.”
In a different exchange from 2022, they discussed financial totals that showed the annual growth of “premier parking” at an unspecified venue, which pulled in $666,000 in 2021. “Robbing them blind baby,” Baker wrote. “That’s how we do.”
Later, in the same thread, the pair also admitted to hiking fees to increase profits on lower base ticket prices. Baker wrote: “I gouge them on ancil prices to make up for it,” to which Weinhold replied, “Preferred seating baby,” alluding to additional charges customers paid to secure the most desirable seats.
In the time since the messages were sent, Baker’s most recent title is head of ticketing for Venue Nation, Live Nation’s amphitheater division, and Weinhold’s is senior ticketing director, working in the Washington, D.C., area, according to a government filing.
In a statement released today, Live Nation said the messages were from “one junior staffer to a friend” and said the exchange “absolutely doesn’t reflect our values or how we operate.”
“Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly,” the company wrote.
The historic antitrust trial that threatened to separate Live Nation from its ticketing subsidiary, Ticketmaster, is currently paused after the company and the DOJ reached a settlement earlier this week.
Featured image courtesy: Unsplash.com.