By Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner
For the upcoming 2008 amphitheatre concert season, Live Nation is selling general admission lawn tickets at 263 Costco price club stores nationwide, as the company continues its push to grow its own ticketing identity before it splits with Ticketmaster.
The deal with Costco marks the first time Live Nation has extended its ticket distribution channel into the national retail arena.
Called the Amphitheatre Concert Pack card, the pass retails for $39.99 and includes two general admission lawn tickets to any 2008 concert in amphitheatres owned and operated by Live Nation, subject to availability. In addition, music fans will get six MP3 downloads from the Live Nation music download page supplied by Puretracks, Inc.
The card is also designed to help keep up the interest in outdoor shows. For the past few years, Live Nation has sold some general admission tickets for $20 or less on some occasions. When the amphitheaters were built and in vogue in the 1980’s, festival seating was also popular, but as the audience has gotten older for the more adult- oriented acts, that demographic prefers to not sit on a blanket and on the grass.
“This is an exciting new way for music fans to come see their favorite artists play live, and a great opportunity for Live Nation to extend the live concert experience to a brand new audience,” said Nathan Hubbard, president of Live Nation Ticketing, in a statement.
