After a quick sell-out for his planned September 11 benefit concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, acclaimed performer Jay-Z chastised ticket brokers and scalpers who sought to resell the prized ducats for a premium.
All proceeds from the initial sale of the moderately priced $54.50 tickets went towards the New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund. However, when the roughly 20,000 passes sold out within minutes of the box office’s September 8 opening, it didn’t take long for some tickets to crop up for resale on the secondary market at inflated prices to match demand — some in the high three- to four-digit range.
The hip-hop entrepreneur and superstar responded quickly, voicing his displeasure that others would gain financially from the benefit.
“We are truly disheartened that certain individuals would choose to benefit from what is meant to be a 100% charitable event,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “We do not support any profits made from reselling any ticket that was meant to be purchased by honest fans.”
An initial report from New York’s Daily News noted that one unnamed site listed the $50 ducats for as much as $45,000. StubHub, the largest secondary ticketing company, had a listing for that amount on September 9, but quickly pulled it from its inventory.
When asked for comment about how the company monitors its exchange, particularly in the case of charity tickets, a representative for StubHub said the company had a “strong stance” in regards to listing tickets for charitable events and that the matter was being investigated.
More than eight hours after TicketNews contacted the company, StubHub released an official statement that it would continue listing tickets for Jay-Z’s concert in cooperation with the concert’s chosen benefit fund.
“We strive to provide a first-in-class experience for our fans and have chosen to partner with the New York Police and Fire Widows’ and Children’s Benefit Fund for this event, rather than removing ticket listings and turning fans away,” said Chris Tsakalakis, President of StubHub. “In keeping with the original intent of the concert, we want to be sure that any StubHub profits from Jay-Z’s show go directly to these families.”
Through the early morning hours of September 9, some benefit tickets also cropped up on resale site TicketNetwork, the parent company of TicketNews. However, those listings were removed before 10 a.m. that same day, according to a standing policy.
“TicketNetwork is no longer listing Jay-Z tickets on our exchange, and has a long standing policy of letting charities list tickets for sales and returning the proceeds of those tickets,” TicketNetwork founder and CEO Don Vaccaro told TicketNews. “Unfortunately Jay-Z’s concert producers failed to take advantage of that policy and raise more money for the charity.”
Another secondary marketplace RazorGator also initially listed Jay-Z’s benefit tickets among its inventory on September 9. A company spokesperson did not return requests for comment at the time, but as of September 10, the site no longer lists any tickets for the event.
Later this fall, Jay-Z will perform a slate of regular concert shows as part of the promotion for his latest album “The Blueprint 3.” Public onsale dates for the upcoming fall tour begin on September 11. Additionally, the effort’s release date was moved from September 11 to September 8, possibly spurred by an early leak of the record that surfaced on the Internet.
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You are twisting this around and you know it…. a standard policy, no kidding, don’t beat around the bush. What policy are you referencing? I think I know. The reason EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE SITES YOU LISTED took tickets down is because they all have policies regarding ending listings at least 24 hours before the start of the show. They won’t sell tickets to a show the day before the show happens… DUH!!!
If the tickets were pulled because of a 24 hour rule, they would have been pulled the evening of September 10 (24 hours before the show) not early in the morning on September 9 (50+ hours before the show).
I sell a lot of tickets on Ticket Network within 24 hours of an event. Sometimes an hour before the event.
I’ve never heard of the 24 hour rule. Maybe you are thinking of Stubhub?
cmon 20,000 tickets ???!!! no way . we all know thousands of tickets were not placed on sale on september 8 . and there was no box office sales as msg has a contract with tm that does not allow same day of sales at the box office . also jay-z said that he put the tickets on sale close to the show to thwart scalping but with the new ticketfast system it is easy to sell + then e-mail the tickets . also who is going to check on ebay/stubhub to see if they really contribute any money to the charity ?
Disheartened? Please.
This is all ridiculous. Jay-Z started selling drugs and hustling. He’s now got the moral authority to shame folks for trying to make money off his shows. Ironic if you ask me.
First of all, the brokers HAD to buy the tickets before they could resell them.
Therefore, all the money the brokers paid for tickets went to charity just the
same as someone who was going to the show.
As a matter of fact, let’s say the show might not have sold out had it not been
for the brokers. In that case LESS money would’ve gone to the charities.
Not only that, but I asked any of my readers to donate ADDITIONAL monies
to charity if they sold their tickets for a profit.
Many of my readers emailed me to tell me that in addition to their $54 ticket
price that went to charity, they donated an ADDITIONAL monies from their
profits to charity. Most people claimed 10%.
whats ironic is Jay-Z is doing the same thing i.e. look at his other shows he is making money off of selling tickets at inflated prices…i.e. look at Powerhouse for Philadelphia he’s selling as bad as 10th row side floors for $250 each (higher than brokers would sell them for if say the face value was $54.50). Also he’s selling lower levels as bad as 113 row 22 (which is not even the first section off the stage for a face value of $150 which is less than brokers (who he calls scalpers) would charge if the face value was $54.50…now that’s ironic! Not to mention he talks about Big Pimpin and obviously what a pimp does is worse…AWWW YEAH