Less than five hours into public onsales on October 24, the first 20 concerts of Garth Brooks‘ residency at Encore Theater at the Wynn in Las Vegas, NV, sold out.
The Wynn’s phone lines and Web site faced an overload as requests came pouring in during the early Saturday onsales. According to the resort, nearly 142,000 calls came in to the Wynn before the system reached maximum capacity, and the Web site received more than 5.4 million views with about 40,000 people waiting in an Internet queue for tickets at any given time.
The tickets may be gone, but plenty of questions remain regarding the Wynn’s ticketing procedures for the first shows of Brooks’ five year residency in Las Vegas. The country legend’s initial concerts are scheduled for December 11-13, January 1-3, January 22-24, and February 12-14 and 26-28.
The Vegas resort, under the command of CEO Steve Wynn, has put a multi-tiered and complex anti-scalping program in effect to combat the resale of tickets for the performances. The move did not come as a surprise since Wynn hinted at his plans to combat ticket resale in an October 15 press conference with Brooks. However, the extent of the program did catch some off guard.
Anyone who purchased tickets during the October 24 onsale was given a deadline of October 27 at 12 p.m. (PT) to supply the name of every guest in their party or risk immediate cancellation of their orders. Prior to the deadline, the resort had been reaching out to buyers via phone calls and e-mail notices, which asked for the completion of an online ticket reservation verification form.
According to the form Web site, even after supplying the names of all guests in a group, ticket holders will face additional obstacles on the day of the show. Every member of the party must have a valid photo ID that matches their reservation in order for tickets to be tendered. Photo IDs will be checked a second time as the ticket holders enter Encore Theater for the performance.
“While we understand that this is an inconvenience, it is especially so for the unauthorized sellers,” the Wynn’s verification statement read. “Our efforts, initiatives and communication with you may continue until such a point we are satisfied that all scalping activity has ceased.”
The hard stance against ticket resale is not necessarily a surprise for those familiar with Brooks’ ticketing practices from the heyday of his career. The country musician often priced his tickets well below market value — with flat rates of $25 in some cases — to make his concerts more accessible to fans.
While tickets for his Vegas show weren’t set at $25, they were priced low for an A-list act on the Strip, reportedly at Brooks’ request. Face values were set at $125, plus a $5 service charge and $13 tax.
In addition to its overall customer outreach, the Wynn also sent correspondence directly to suspected scalpers, alerting them that resales by unauthorized parties are not allowed. The notice explained that any ticket resold for more than its $143 total value would be subject to cancellation.
The Wynn’s limitations on its tickets’ resale price is in accordance with Las Vegas municipal code, which states that it is unlawful to sell tickets for more than face value.
The notice read, in part: “Management reserves the right to cancel any ticket and refund the face value of the ticket to the ticket holder, if management determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that such ticket was purchased from a ticket reseller at an amount in excess of face value.”
While Wynn has been open about his crusade against ticket resale, he was also not shy about detailing the number of tickets being held by the casino for its patrons. During his mid-October press conference with the country performer, Wynn said holdbacks would range anywhere from 10 to 200 tickets per night.
Wynn noted that the exact number of holdbacks would be “conservative” until there was a better understanding of demand for Brooks’ weekend performances. Despite his initial openness about the holds, more details have been difficult to come by.
According to a spokesperson for Wynn Resorts and Encore Theater, details about the exact amount of ticket holds for the first 20 shows are unavailable. Similarly, the resort would not release the exact number of tickets sold for the first round of Brooks’ five-year residency.
The theater has a total capacity of slightly less than 1,500 seats. If approximately 1,500 tickets were sold to each performance, that would set October 24 sales for the residency at about 30,000 tickets. However, the exact seating capacity for Brooks’ residency was also not answered by representatives at the Wynn.
Last Updated on October 28, 2009
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the more they force the brokers out of the market the more money they can force people to gamble – I’ve lost total respect for garth – he’s letting steve wynn in effect scalp his tickets and he’s helping him keep the price up
The Wynn and Garth don’t seem to realize that people’s plans change and the party attending the concert at the time of purchase may change come show time. What a joke.
WAY TO GO STEVE!! WAY TO GO GARTH! Read the first two comments – whadda wanna bet these snide comments are from ticket scalpers! What a bunch of losers – waaah…one of hundreds of shows they can’t make money on. Deal with it – go to a show like the rest of us! PAY THE VENUE! Go in person, talk with ticket agents to work to find you the seat you want! I have NEVER been let down for residency shows here in 4 years and have seen just about all of the current and many of the now closed resident shows.
The morning of October, 24th, I got up early (even though it was my birthday) and sat at my computer waiting for 9am MST to come around so I could buy Garth Brooks tickets. Even though I live in Denver, and the concert is in Las Vegas, this is a show that I could never pass up! Seeing Garth was supposed to be my one birthday gift to myself!
Finally… 9am MST came around and I eagerly clicked on the button to buy tickets on the Wynn’s website not more than a second after 9am. Just my luck, the site kept counting down from some random number and “refreshing” over, and over, and over again.
About two minutes after 9am I decided to go with plan “B” and try to purchase the tickets over the phone. Plan “B” was only to be used if the Wynn’s website failed me (which it had obviously done) so I called again and again for over two hours and twenty minutes. Meanwhile, the Wynn’s ticket purchasing website kept refreshing, over and over and over again on my laptop. I kept getting “all circuits are busy” messages and fast busy tones over the phone. At this point I’m growing more and more frustrated and thinking that I would never get to see Garth again.
I had called the numbers over seventy times before finally getting someone on the phone at 11:20am. Of course the lady that answered the phone managed to hang up on me so I kept calling yet again and finally got through about 5 minutes later.
After trying to get through for so long, I was excited to finally talk to somebody and quickly booked my tickets for Sunday, February 28th. So… at this point I had decided that me, my husband, and my parents would be going to the concert, that’s only 4 people. I’m not sure yet if I will be taking my brother and sister or my friends from South Dakota so I bought a total of 6 tickets. I was told by the lady representing the Wynn that I must be present with the five other people attending the show to be let into the venue. I figured, fine by me, obviously I will be there with all of them. At this point, I just don’t know if my siblings (one who is 15, the other 9) or my friends will be taking two of the six tickets that I had purchased.
The next day, at 2:49pm, I received a voice mail on my cell phone. I work in a jail and can’t even have my phone anywhere on me until the end of my shift. My shift ended after 11pm and I checked my voice mail on my way home around midnight. A lady named “Sissy” had left me a voicemail saying, and I quote, the following…
“Hello, this is Sissy(or Cecilia, the name is hard to hear on my voice mail), calling from the Wynn Las Vegas. We are in the process of calling everyone who has purchased tickets for the Garth Brooks yesterday, as we need to have the names of each person in your party who will be attending the concert. Know that each person will have to show a photo i.d. in order to enter the theatre. Please call us back before 10pm Pacific time today with the individuals names of those coming to the concert with you. Our phone number is 702-770-1000. If we do not hear back from you by 10pm Pacific Time tonight, your reservation will be cancelled. Again our phone number is 702-770-1000. Thank you for your immediate attention of this.”
WHAT??? You’ve got to be kidding me!!! It’s after their supposed deadline already and my reservations have now been cancelled because I was working and didn’t call back with the names of everybody that is attending?! Why wasn’t this disclosed to me prior to purchasing the $858 worth of tickets? The lady only told me that I need to be present, and the Wynn’s website never mentioned this stipulation anywhere!! This is the craziest thing I have ever heard! Come on now… I know scalping is bad and against the law, but I purchased the extra two tickets for two friends of mine, or my brother and sister if they can’t make it. This concert is over 4 months out, how am I supposed to be sure that all of us will be in good health and able to make it at that point? What if my husband has to work and I invite my friend? What if my brother and sister can’t come because of school? Just because life happens my ticket is now supposedly null and void because Garth and Mr. Wynn are scared that I may sell it to someone over the face value?
This is the most obscured thing I have ever encountered. After getting that message I was too furious to call the Wynn, I called my husband, then my mother, and asked them both if I should just cancel everything out of the pure principle of the matter or if they still wanted to go.
I finally got the nerve to call the Wynn back and explain my situation to them and I received an automated message that the Wynn’s phone lines were closed. I called at 1:15am MST. I will call them back tomorrow however, I’m curious to see what they will tell me. How can they dictate who I am supposed to bring with me to the concert a mere day after buying the tickets and the concert date being over 4 months out? I purchased the tickets October the 24th, and the concert is on February 28th. If a person plans change why can’t I bring a different friend or relative? Why couldn’t they have disclosed this prior to the tickets going on sale? This feels like an old bait-and-switch scheme to me.
I’m hoping that Mr. Wynn and Garth will understand my situation and what they are putting the fans through with this strange rule that they initiated a day too late. This is the craziest thing that I have ever heard of. I hope they realize how unreasonable they are being to the fans to prevent scalpers. My advice to Garth: Go after the scalpers, not the fans who have stuck by you for so many years.
Jaimie J.
Denver, CO
On October 28th I called the Wynn and explained to them that I can’t be sure that my guest list won’t change between now and February. The first lady I spoke with told me that I would lose my tickets if that were to happen. I asked to speak to a supervisor which she replied that her supervisor refused to talk to me. So, she transferred me to another person on her team who informed me that if I put “not sure” in parenthesis behind the name of the person attending on their form that it would be ok if it changed. I told her that was not what the previous person had told me and she over and over again said that if I did that it would be no problem. She even got angry with me and said she had better things to do than assure me this would be true. So of course I decided to call back and talk to someone else because I beleived that she was wrong. I called back and talked to yet another person who told me that her statement was untrue and if I didn’t give them all six names within 1 hour my tickets would be cancelled.
I again asked to speak to a supervisor and he told me the same, call back within the hour or they would be cancelled. He refused to put his manager on the phone so I decided to hang up. I refuse to deal with unreasonable requests for a concert scheduled 4 months out that Steve and Garth placed in effect after they sold me the tickets. Go ahead, cancel my tickets because they will never see another dime out of me or any of my close friends again. I’ll go to a concert where the artist is out to protect the fans, not only themselves by using unfair business practices.
dat wynn done won it all
Steve Wynn is the biggest hypocrite there is. He is completely against anyone reselling the tickets that they purchased, but its ok for Wynn to require that only “high level” casino players will get tickets from the casino VIP block. If a customer wants 2 tickets, the cost would be $286. I guarantee you that the player would have to lose 50x+ that to quealify. Oh and what happens if the player has won money, well all I have to say is that is, Wynn/Encore wasn’t built on winners.
Same thing happened to me. I only bought two tickets and I didn’t get the confirmation email in time so I called the Wynn. They won’t confirm my tickets. All I can say is there is going to be a problem if I can’t get refunds on my airfare and hotel reservations. My husband thinks they are cancelling all tickets of people who are not staying at the Wynn and they are going to resell them in a package deal with Wynn hotel rooms.