Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • FTSE 250

    19,884.73
    +74.07 (+0.37%)
     
  • AIM

    743.26
    +1.15 (+0.15%)
     
  • GBP/EUR

    1.1699
    +0.0005 (+0.04%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2639
    +0.0017 (+0.14%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    55,584.68
    -332.39 (-0.59%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • CAC 40

    8,205.81
    +1.00 (+0.01%)
     

Event ticketing reform needs to ensure everything is ‘about the consumers’: Expert

StubHub Ticket Expert Adam Budelli sits down with Yahoo Finance Live to break down how the Senate's hearings on Live Nation may lead to reform in the event ticketing industry, while also examining Beyoncé's upcoming tour, Super Bowl LVII ticket prices, and LeBron James' path to the NBA scoring record.

Video transcript

DAVE BRIGGS: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. Super Bowl 57 generating plenty of buzz and rightly so, but the spotlight today belongs to Beyoncé. Presale tickets for Beyoncé's upcoming Renaissance tour are live with tickets for the general public becoming available in the US this Saturday.

Let's talk about the big game and that big concert. StubHub ticket expert Adam Budelli is here to help us break it down. Good to see you, sir. Let's start with a little Beyoncé news. It appears, at least on the surface, that Ticketmaster, not you guys, got this thing right. Did they learn from the last debacle?

ADVERTISEMENT

ADAM BUDELLI: We sure hope so, but obviously, it's a little too early to draw the comparisons that everyone wants to make Beyoncé versus Taylor Swift. But in general, so far, what we're seeing, the starting price for Beyoncé across the country is right around $250. Obviously, as more tickets get into the market as the week goes on and to public on sale this Saturday, we'll see where that nets out. But overall, it seems to be a little bit quieter than it was during the T Swift deal.

SEANA SMITH: It certainly does seem like that. Adam, T Swift and Beyoncé potentially here, I guess, what has this told you just about do you think there does need to be some changes within the industry, just in terms of the fallout and what we've seen over the last several weeks?

ADAM BUDELLI: Absolutely. I think what we've seen with some of the Senate hearings and things of that nature are great for the industry as a whole. We need to continue to move forward and ensure that everything that we're doing is about, at the end of the day, the consumers and ensure that they have the best experience, whether they're buying it or entering the event, whether that's a sporting event, concert, or what have you.

But I think overall with Beyoncé, Taylor Swift on tour, what we're seeing in LA with LeBron going for a record Super Bowl, this is an exciting week overall for the live event landscape and what really we're seeing as it picks up in 2023 here and expect to say, hey, it's back and it's back in a major way.

DAVE BRIGGS: All right, we'll get to LeBron. And I love the ladies, but I am all in on the Super Bowl. What is the buy-in right now on StubHub? Where is the momentum moving? Do you see that price going up or down between now and Sunday?

ADAM BUDELLI: Yeah, as expected, we're just seeing tremendous demand for the Super Bowl. Two huge fan bases that travel super well. Currently, the gen price right around 4,100 to 4,200, depending on where you're looking, with that average ticket price right around 7,200. So as you compare that to 2020, again, we think that's a great comparison, given Miami, the last large Super Bowl right before the pandemic hit, were pacing about 10% higher when you look at the same time frame leading into the game.

The good news is, if we talk about live events, we're seeing a lot of demand across the country. Obviously, there's 20% coming from the state of Pennsylvania. If you take into account the neighboring, we're expecting about 30% to 35% of the fans so far, with the highest amount drawing a parallel to the Eagles. But overall, we have had sales in 48 states, which is showing, again, a lot of people are interested, and we're expecting the Phoenix airport to be quite busy heading into the weekend.

SEANA SMITH: It certainly will be. Adam, I'm from outside of Philly, and I know a lot of people are very, very excited about this game. So it's no surprise there that so many-- that such a high percentage of those tickets, obviously, coming from those Eagles fans. How does that, though, stack up to what we've seen in past Super Bowls? You mentioned the fact sales are coming from 48 states. Is that consistent with what you've seen before?

ADAM BUDELLI: That's the highest back since 2019. So but typically, for a Super Bowl, you do see a wide margin. Again, we're talking about a bucket list sporting event where regardless if you have a team in the game itself, there's a lot of people that want to go to the Super Bowl and experience what it's like. So, as these games continue year over year, we anticipate that that will be a trend. And now with the expansion international through our parent company, Viagogo, we do see a lot of international sales starting to pick up. And that's a trend that we think will really grow over the next three to five years.

DAVE BRIGGS: And finally, LeBron 37 points away from the NBA's all-time scoring mark. It appears to me, Adam, that the market thinks he'll get it Thursday, as opposed to tonight. He scored 37 or more four times in the last 10 games. What are you seeing in terms of demand?

ADAM BUDELLI: Yeah, as you said, I would never bet against LeBron scoring 36 in a game to break it tonight or tie it tonight, but certainly, we're seeing it-- the market really move to Thursday. The get in price for Thursday night's game is $630 with about 2,100 tickets left, so not that many, with the average ticket price sold closer at about $500.

To put it in perspective, what this run has done for LeBron, over the past two weeks, the Lakers sales have been greater than the Knicks, Warriors, and Celtics combined. Obviously, when you look at the records, that's something you wouldn't necessarily expect. But it goes to a lot of interest for tying and breaking the record against Kareem. So certainly all eyes will also be on LA come tonight and Thursday.

DAVE BRIGGS: That is remarkable demand for the king, and just a matter of when, not if, he breaks that record. Adam Budelli, good to see you, my friend. Thanks so much.