Paul McCartney Pittsburgh tickets are going for upwards of $6K. Why are they so expensive?

CBS News

4 days ago

Tickets are now on sale for when Sir Paul McCartney makes his return to Pittsburgh later this year. But you may want to double check your bank account before you buy. The prices are giving some fans sticker shock.
If you are old enough, you probably remember paying $50 for a concert ticket and getting a very good seat. Nowadays, if you go to see a show, you are going to pay a lot more, including when you go to see McCartney at PPG Paints Arena on Nov. 11. Some of the tickets on the aftermarket cost more than $6,000. But why?
Ethan Rene and a few others camped out in front of PPG Paints Arena on Friday to see the group GHOST. When it comes to musical style, GHOST is about as far away from Sir Paul as Pittsburgh is from Piccadilly Circus. And so are prices. The most expensive ticket KDKA-TV found to see GHOST was $526. The most expensive for Sir Paul was $6,308.
"What is the absolute most you would pay for your absolute favorite artist?" KDKA-TV's Ross Guidotti asked Rene.
"I think 300 would be my limit," Rene responded.
KDKA-TV's Ross Guidotti got in the queue when Paul McCartney tickets went on sale at 10 a.m., and when he tried to nab a few 25 minutes later, they cost well over $1,000.
Industry insiders blame the increased costs of extravagant productions. Long gone are the days of a stack of amps and a microphone. Transportation costs of all that stuff are going up, and there's dynamic pricing, which literally adjusts ticket prices in real-time based on demand.
But what about all those fees? Insiders say fees are just a way to make more money.
"I paid, I think, 190 for this ticket, without fees, and with fees, it was 230 something," said Rene.
And then you have Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which hold the reins on a lot of artists and where they can play and how much tickets cost. Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been the targets of federal antitrust and monopoly lawsuits and investigations. The companies say it's just the cost of doing business. Add to that resale agencies like StubHub and others, and the prices go up even more.
"Is there any artist worth paying as much as you'd pay for a decent used car?" Guidotti asked.
"For me, no. No, I would not," said Rene.
But industry insiders say as long as people are willing to pay, the show will go on and the cost will continue to rise.