Low Face Price Has Led to Huge Premium on Secondary Market for Garth Brooks Tickets

When Garth Brooks announced he would be returning to touring, he stated one of his main goals was to keep prices affordable for fans. Tickets in general have not just been affordable, the same face price applies to any seat in the area from the floor to the nosebleeds.
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When Garth Brooks announced he would be returning to touring, he stated one of his main goals was to keep prices affordable for fans. Tickets in general have not just been affordable, the same face price applies to any seat in the area from the floor to the nosebleeds. While that does allow for cheap tickets, the lower prices have allowed the the average price for Garth Brooks tickets on the secondary market to balloon.

Brooks will be opening up his return tour in Chicago. The original announcement was for just one date at the Allstate Arena on Friday September 4. Shortly before tickets went on sale additional shows were announced. Eventually a new one was announced every half hour until ten shows were scheduled. Overall, the average for the 10 shows at Allstate Arena is currently $204.07. That average for all shows is 211.6 percent above the $65.50 face price. The highest priced show is still the September 4 show with the average price of the concert at $303.11.

The shows take place in the 11-day stretch of September 4-14, with concerts on seven of those days. There will be two shows scheduled September 6, 12 and 13. After the first show on September 4 was announced, the secondary market average price had eclipsed $600, only to drop once the other concerts were added. Even as the average price has fallen on the secondary market, the least expensive of the 10 concerts, September 12 with an average price at $149.12 is still 127.7 percent above the face price.

Overall demand for Garth Brooks tickets, especially at such a low face price point is another major factor is the high secondary market prices. Within the first three hours of going on sale, 180,000 tickets were sold for the Allstate Arena concerts. It's even possible that Garth Brooks tickets continue to see a price increase. The most expensive shows right now are the first couple, but once those are over the other shows are likely to see an increase as well. The last shows should see a huge premium once they are the only ones left on the market.

Secondary market prices could be more affected for any future concerts that do not have week-long runs at a venue. Brooks has just announced Atlanta will be the second city to host a concert for his world tour, with a September 19 concert at Philips Arena. The face price is slightly more expensive at $71.50 for all seats, but Philips Arena also has a concert capacity of about 1,000 fewer people.

Tickets for the Atlanta show are scheduled to go on sale August 8. If it remains a single concert only, it could lead to a secondary market akin to where the initial September 4 Chicago concert was when it was first announced. Still, even the lower secondary market averages will be well above the listed face value for these concerts. Some of these high prices are due to the inexpensive face values for all seats, but a lot can be attributed to Garth Brooks tickets being in such high demand after 13 years.

For more Garth Brooks tour announcements, visit the TiqIQ Blog.

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