Born in the U.S.A... and Priced by Ticketmaster: Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band 2023 Tour

Name: Born in the U.S.A... and Priced by Ticketmaster: Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band 2023 Tour (English version)
SKU: OIT-6-E

Markakis, Mihalis G.; Sabrià, Fede

Product #:OIT-6-E

Supplier:IESE Publishing

Discipline:General Management

Setting:Estados Unidos, 2022

Details:Case (PDF) • 8 pages • 2023-01-16

Subjects:

Pricing strategy Revenue management Sales and marketing Corporate finance Leadership and managing people Management

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Bruce Springsteen and his E-Street Band were preparing for their long-awaited 2023 Tour in the US and Europe, when tickets for the concerts went on sale in the summer of 2022 through Ticketmaster. As demand for tickets was expected to exceed supply, the artist and his manager decided to allocate part of these tickets to Ticketmaster's Official Platinum Seats program, which meant that they would be priced dynamically, similarly to the standard practice in airlines and hotels, with the intention of reaching a "fair" market value. The result was that those seats ended up being priced very highly - some, at several thousand dollars - which caused a public backlash against Springsteen, once viewed by many of his fans as a working-class hero. Could the artist and his manager have handled the situation in a better way? Did the exclusive distribution of tickets via Ticketmaster, a near-monopoly in the US market, exacerbate the situation?

Learning Objectives

The case provides an opportunity to discuss in depth the benefits and drawbacks of dynamic pricing, both from the company's and from the customer's viewpoint, in a setting where its application and acceptance are perhaps not standard practice (compared to, e.g., airlines, hotels, and car rentals). The case can also be used to discuss the relationship between the effectiveness of dynamic pricing and the market power of the company, as well as broader competition issues.