By Zach Sturgill
Frustration over rising sports ticket prices has been growing in recent years, and newly released messages have only contributed to that sentiment.
Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold, two Live Nation employees, joked that they were robbing people blind. The messages were made public on March 11 as a part of the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, a concert promoter and ticketing company that owns Ticketmaster.
The messages referred to extra fees and services, such as parking and VIP upgrades, but many viewed it as a reference to extraordinarily high ticket prices.
“I think them saying that shows how unfair some ticket prices are,” said sophomore neuroscience major Andrew Thai. “A lot of diehard fans of sports teams can’t afford to go to games anymore because of the prices.”
According to the chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland, Andrew Sweeting, supply and demand factors contribute to the increase in ticket prices.
“Clearly, there is still demand to attend concerts and sporting events even at the current high prices,” Sweeting said. “On the supply side, there used to be some folk wisdom that events were underpriced to generate goodwill amongst fans. The advent of an active secondary market really eliminated the incentives to underprice events.”
The frustration with tickets also lies in the fees that companies include, which is what Baker and Weinhold discussed in their messages.
“I was looking at tickets for a Washington Commanders game and the price completely changed when I went to check out because of the fees,” said junior finance major Arjun Muley. “The price of my tickets went up by like $100.”
According to Sweeting, this is something that people are starting to notice more.
“I think people are especially aware that add-on fees can make up a large part of the price nowadays, and they do not understand these fees and how they relate to an actual service provided,” Sweeting said.
Market dominance also plays a factor in high prices. Live Nation owns Ticketmaster, which has a lot of control over the market for tickets.
“The vertical relationship between Ticketmaster and Live Nation put Ticketmaster allegedly in a favored position to get the ticket business for concerts, etc., in LiveNation venues,” Sweeting said. “If a firm does get some type of advantage over competitors, it will often want to charge higher prices for the service that it provides.”
Backlash over high ticket prices has been especially evident in this year’s upcoming FIFA World Cup. Several fans and even U.S. lawmakers have voiced their concerns over high costs.
“When they said the World Cup would be here, I really wanted to go to a game, but tickets are way too expensive,” Thai said. “I still want to go, but it might not be worth it.”
For many fans, sports’ most exciting events, like the World Cup, are no longer accessible. As scrutiny of companies like Live Nation continues, rising prices and fees are putting events out of reach for many fans, and leaving others to wonder if going is worth the cost.
Featured Image: A ticketing and will-call location at the University of Maryland’s SECU Stadium on March 23, 2026. Photo by Paige Trendell.