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Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 | 2:10 a.m.
Related stories
- Tickets sell out for Garth Brooks shows in Las Vegas (10-24-2009)
- One who knew Garth Brooks before fame says he’s still the same (10-19-2009)
- Garth Brooks coming to Encore Theater for extended stay (10-15-2009)
- Garth Brooks’ deal at Encore: One-man show, five years, all tickets $125 (10-15-2009)
- Wynn, Brooks seeking encore of ‘98 shows at T&M (10-14-2009)
Garth Brooks tickets are sold out for his first five weekend shows, and Wynn Las Vegas is doing everything it can to make sure fans don’t get their hands on unauthorized tickets.
With some tickets on sale for more than $1,000 over their face value on several ticket broker Web sites, Wynn has come up with its own approach for dealing with would-be scalpers.
The resort said in a statement that its legal counsel is sending a message to suspected scalpers and unauthorized dealers: “It has come to our attention that you are representing yourself as a licensed ticket broker for the purpose of reselling tickets for the Garth Brooks concerts at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. Please be advised that you have not been authorized as a licensed ticket broker by Wynn Las Vegas, and you are not authorized to resell any Garth Brooks tickets for his concerts at our venue.”
Tickets, which Wynn is selling at $143 apiece (a $125 base price, plus a $5 service charge and $13 in taxes), are being resold for as much as $7,500 for five tickets on sites like eBay, where nearly 100 results can be found for Brooks tickets. Other prices include $1,218 on Vivid Seats, $1,455 on Online Seats and $1,600 on Ticket Liquidator.
Wynn also added to its ticket disclosure that management reserves the right to cancel and refund the face value of any ticket.
When the sale date was announced, Wynn’s original ticket disclosure indicated ticket holders must enter the concert with their entire party and the person who purchased the tickets must provide valid photo identification.
But Sun readers who purchased tickets also said they were contacted by a Wynn representative and told to provide the name of each individual ticket holder -- otherwise their entire ticket order would be canceled and refunded. Visitors to Wynn’s Facebook page wrote about the same procedure.
A spokesperson for Wynn wouldn’t confirm the practice on Monday.
Tickets for Brooks' first five weekend shows at Wynn sold out just hours after they went on sale at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Wynn Las Vegas said tickets were gone by 1 p.m. Saturday and the resort’s Web site and phones were inundated. During the course of the day, Wynn Las Vegas’ box office Web site received more than 5.4 million page views, a Wynn spokesperson said.
The resort took more that 140,000 calls for tickets and had up to 40,000 people waiting for tickets in the online queue.
Brooks will begin his first performances Dec. 11 at the Encore Theater. Confirmed dates include Dec. 11-13, Jan. 1-3 and 22-24, Feb. 12-14 and 26-28.
Wynn has said the resort will be announcing additional shows soon.
Wynn can be such a jackass sometimes. It must be stressful living in Wynnland with as many rules as he comes up with. What an Oligarch. Good luck policing that. Maybe he can impliment a retinal scan to buy tickets and plop the heads of wouldbe scalpers on pikes in front the hotel as a warning to other silly Capitalists.
Oh please.
Some sell out when you can go onto Ticket Masters and buy tickets. D'oh!
Also what Wynn won't tell you is how many tickets Wynn pulled and saved to give out as casino comps. Enough so that he can call it a sell out. Totally bogus.
And with such a small show room and only 20 performances if a real sell out had actually happened this is not that big of deal. Probably equals the amount of people at a single U2 concert.
Great to see someone looking out for the fans of Garth Brooks. While the $143 price tag is high, the tickets are available. Ticket scalping needs to be policed. Thanks Mr. Wynn.
Thank you Wynn! With all the scalper sites out there makes me wonder if shows/sports events could move to more of an airline ticket model. There needs to be some moderation of the scalper ticket sales because it has kinda gotten out of hand.
Haha. But I thought Steve Wynn doesn't like "socialism"? Well, isn't this socialism? Socialized ticket prices instead of letting the free market determine the prices?
OK, OK, I actually think it's good for Garth and Steve-o to look out for the consumers. I just find it funny how Steve Wynn can be a hypocrite when he takes advantage of whatever "socialism" works for him.
Good move by Wynn. Can't believe anyone would defend the "brokers"
Hope they catch the moron scalpers.
Wynn = control freak.
Sold out for first five weekends...LOL
Hold on Steve, your tickets will bring face value as soon as the December Rodeo crowd leaves town and come spring when cowboys and farmers have to earn a living you will be using the tickets as comps for slot play.
This is the only way to control the ticket brokers. What is the need for ticket brokers on a popular show like this? The only need for ticket brokers is to resell the 10% of tickets that people buy and then cannot attend because of schedule conflicts. Otherwise, they are providing a service the public really does not need or want.
The ticket brokers are out of control and if I was Steve Wynn I would implement this exact policy. The person who bought the ticket is the person who attends, otherwise there is a refund. Anyone who cannot attend can sell back tickets to the box office within 48 hours of the show which the box office will then resell. It would cut the ticket broker scum out and lower the price to attend concerts for the people who really want to see them.
Mr. Wynn has certainly monopolized the Strip with his show biz investments. No it is not the ticket scalpers that need to be policed; its the police that need to be policed. Sorry you missed the point again.
"Please be advised that you have not been authorized as a licensed ticket broker by Wynn Las Vegas, and you are not authorized to resell any Garth Brooks tickets for his concerts at our venue."
So in other words, unless you give us a cut of what you end up selling the tickets for, you cant resell them. Good to know Wynn isn't against ticket scalping, just ticket scalping they aren't getting a kickback from.
Two-faced jerks.
That said, I would like to see a crack down on all ticket scalping. I've gone to concerts in San Diego because they're cheaper than they are here in Vegas because of scalpers.
Wynn likes to get on Fox news talking capitalism and free market ecconomies (unless it's his own market). No wonder he likes investing in communist China so well.
I appreciate Steve Wynn's efforts to help rein in the scalpers so us working folks can enjoy a headline concert once in a while.
Wow I can't believe those of you who are trying to defend the ticket scalpers.
I wish EVERY venue would put in place what Wynn has to stop the tickets from going on Ebay ect... by people who are just trying to make a quick buck.
When tickets get scalped true fans are the people that get hurt. In the case of these Garth Brooks shows this is very very true. The reason that Garth always wants a lower ticket price for his shows is because he wants true fans there, not just who can pay the most for the tickets.
Now all the comments about Wynn just being mad about not getting a kickback, or Wynn mad that he could not charge more per ticket......who know's maybe that's true.
However I know that the ticket policy to try and stop scalping was driven by Garth Brooks not Wynn.
Amusing. If an individual wishes to sell his tickets to the highest bidder, that's his choice. But I do object to businesses who horde tickets specifically for the purpose of scalping the tickets. This can be avoided if purchasers at Wynn were limited to 4 tickets, or even 2.
What kind of business owner would threaten the consumers that bought his product/service at the price he asked?
Only in America.
: (
Harley,
You do a pretty good job of twisting the facts to suit your own agenda. Well done.
Harley, is asking the customer to provide ID a threat? I don't think so.
Wynn should just make ticket buyers pay and pick up their tickets no earlier then 24 hours before the show and show photo id. this would eliminate all scalping. but....Wynn probably wants the money now versus later.
I wouldn't even pay more than twenty bucks to see Garth Brooks. It's an outdated act for a bunch of cow pokes who incidently are going to be there for the National Rodeo Finals in Dec. lets see what happens after the first of the year yuk yuk yuk.
Q: "What kind of business owner would threaten the consumers that bought his product/service at the price he asked?"
A: The same kind of person that would help himself to the gratuitude others have earned.
The irony is that Steve Wynn is no different than those he dispises -- and can't see it.
: )
I don't think there is a more pompous and arrogant jerk than Steve Wynn anywhere on earth. This is a new low even for Wynn, who runs the the worst casino when it comes to routine invasion of patron privacy and lack of respect for patrons' privacy rights. Mind boggling. I wish there would be a mass boycott of this performer's shows in protest of this ridiculous invasion of privacy.
Steve is going to be doing just what Garth sings about " Ropin The Wind"
This is a joke,,over the last 2 weeks his shows have went from 3-4 a week to now he is only here 15 weeks out of the year
Wow! this is better than watchin' Jerry Springer
I'm not a big Wynn fan but he is right on in what he is doing. This is an area ripe for legislation but until then....
I wonder if Garth got 2 for 1 comps for the buffet included on the deal.
"Bldblu" / "environprotector
You two make me laugh. You're comments just show how little you know about about this.
As you obviously did not watch the press conference, the shows and number of weeks are just as they were said during the conference...antything else before was rummors.
As for the NFR being the only reason the Garth Brooks shows sold out, are you kidding.
You're not very smart if you really think that:
a) only people who goto NFR are the only Garth Brooks fans.
b)Country music fans are all country hicks with no money
I agree with vegasbike... Right on Steve Wynn
I am a ticket broker (scalper) and not ashamed of it. I pay my taxes like everyone else, I donate to charity like some people, I earn an honest living and am sicked and tired of being belittled for doing a job I've done for years now. A job that has kept me off welfare and has fed my family. My buyers use me because they basically can't get out of work in the middle of the morning to buy tickets, they don't want to deal with the websites that make it increasingly difficult for the average person to buy their own tickets, and in short they trust me to find the best seats I can for them. They do not mind paying for my services, just like you expect to get paid for yours so do I. The whole Garth Brooks case is a fiasco plain and simple, if brokers had not bought his tickets he would not have sold out his show, just as Madonna could add show after show because brokers put up their cash. Without brokers artists would fail miserably to sell out huge venues. Brokers take the risk with their own cash on shows that are sometimes a hit and sometimes a miss. It's a legal living in my state and to be put down for earning a legal living is just downright disgusting.
One can only hope the scalpers get stuck big time with unsold tickets. I always buy my tickets from the venue or whatever service the venue markets through. It's nice to see that Steve Wynn is willing to speak up against scalping. I think a 2 ticket limit would help, as long as they continue to sell out fast (and they will). The "broker" who posted says she is offering a service to the people who cannot otherwise get to the ticket line. If that is so, then charge them 20 bucks for your "service" not hundreds. Also, your hoarding, and buying up tickets leaves many others in line trying to buy tickets for their own use totally out of luck. To say the acts or venues need you to sell out shows is totally bogus. There's enough interest in Garth Brooks (and many others) to sell out quickly without any scalpers buying. Way to go Steve Wynn!
I'm not sure why anyone thinks it's ok to tell me what I should charge for my fees, the last time I checked we had free enterprise in our country. I appreciate your comments Bakersfield but you really don't understand how the ticket business works, it's not bogus at all that we brokers put out a lot of cash an investment risk which in turn helps to sell out shows of most artists. Some shows we win, some shows we lose, people are under the impression that's it's plain sailing and we are all raking in the big bucks, I wish that were true lol. Also you are under the misconception that we have secret weapons of some sort, that we horde thousands of tickets, that's not true either, as a broker for ten years now I get my tickets the same way everyone else does, only I do more research, work harder and take the risk with my money. If you think the sneakers you paid a hundred bucks for cost any more than 3 bucks to make in an Indian sweat shop then you are mistaken about that too. Everything has a price in our society and people that buy from me and many other brokers are more than willing to pay our price, just because you are not does not make it wrong. I was just trying to shed some light that's all.
Bakersfield said "charge them 20 bucks for your "service" not hundreds" TRUE THAT! I worked on the strip and would constantly get guests who wanted to see ABC show the day of (not knowing they should have booked ahead of time)... I would call ABC hotel to check availability and be either refereed to a broker or have to check in order to get the guest into the show only to find out the broker is charging 3X sometimes as high as 10X the face value of the tickets... Interesting to say the least - how to explain to the guests why the tickets to Celine Dion are $500 a piece! I am not knocking the broker profession - just have some dignity and dont ONLY think of the bottom line - ethically maybe? I understand selling a $100 ticket for maybe $150 day of but $500?! Cmon...
Miley Cyrus tried to do the same thing for her tour this last go around. There was so much controversy during her last tour she made it to where a person had to pick up the tickets the night of the show.
The only thing she forgot to take account of is the economy is a lot different than her last tour. There is also a lot of H1N1 going around.
Preventing fans from selling their tickets in case of emergency is horrible. Something should be setup for the fans who's plans change to sell them to other fans at face value. I will never buy a ticket that far in advance. People break up or change jobs.
By preventing the Ticket Brokers from buying tickets none of the Miley shows sold out. Ticket brokers will often overspeculate and drive a ticket market down. I recently went to a U2 concert and paid $150 for 2 tickets to see the show. These were the same tickets that had a face value of $252 each.
Before the policy to get everyones name was put in place for the Garth Brooks show, the secondary ticket market had already fallen to $100 above face value.
One does not have to look real far to find Real Corporate Greed. The NFL "Super Bowl." The NFL Sells Super Bowl Tickets DIRECT to Ticket Agencies and Gets a "Kick Back" on the Final Sale Price! I do also sometimes use Ticket Scalpers, but when They get ALL the Good Tickets, something is Really Wrong.