AEG, the promoter of Michael Jackson's record-breaking London residency, is selling "hospitality" tickets for ten times their face value, even as it claims the event has completely sold out, it has emerged.
Chief executive Randy Phillips was hounded by the media yesterday after claiming "show business history" had been made when one million Jacko tickets, priced £50-75, were bought in a matter of hours.
But with fans now driving up the market value on auction website eBay, riverScrap.com has learnt that at least 50,000 tickets were held back for AEG to sell directly to fans at a price of £770 ($1075) each.
Within hours of the concerts going on sale yesterday (March 13), every major ticket agency said they had no more seats available.
Tickets reportedly sold at a rate of 11 per second, and with some 360,000 seats already having been snapped up in a pre-sale, it wasn't long before event organisers were claiming the residency had completely sold out.
"Not only are these concerts unparalleled, these records have never been broken," Mr Phillips buoyantly declared. "We knew this was show business history, but this is a cultural phenomenon."
And yet in spite of the press hype, punters can still log onto any major ticket agency to choose from 50,000 of the very best seats in the house, located in the front 20 rows of four prime blocks (A1, A2, A3 and 101).
Click here to buy "sold out" Michael Jackson tickets from TicketMaster
The catch is the price, with fans being asked to fork out a recession-busting £770-795 ($1075-1100) for their so-called Thriller Hospitality Packages, which also include champagne on arrival; "Red carpet VIP check in"; and - somewhat unexpectedly, for a VIP guest - a free parking ticket.
But while the packages are being billed as your last chance to snap up seats, one former eBay tout has told riverScrap.com that he believes thousands more face value tickets have been held back by the promoter.
"When an event shows as 'sold out', all that means is the current allocation of seats has been purchased," the insider explained. "They want you to think it's a complete sell-out because they're pushing lucrative VIP packages, but in reality more seats will almost certainly be released.
"It's simply not true to claim that Jacko's gigs have fully sold out. There will be more opportunities to buy them at face value."
After Prince's O2 residency "sold out" in 2006, the market value of his tickets soared on eBay. They quickly plummeted to below cost price, however, when the promoter released additional batches and added new dates.
Experts believe the same could happen with these concerts, especially as Jacko's ticket price is double what Prince charged, and he will be performing 50 shows compared with Prince's 21. The King of Pop will also be playing in the midst of the worst global recession for decades.
And yet as the media laps up talk of a "live entertainment phenomenon" (Chris Edmonds, TicketMaster), ticket sales on eBay are already through the roof, with individual seats fetching anything from £150 to £7,500.
"The eBay prices are inflated and it is because everyone believes the hype," the insider commented. "There will probably be a lot of red-faced people, who will be kicking themselves for buying speculatively. In a few months time, I'd expect many seats will be selling below cost [price]."
Michael Jackson is expected to earn anywhere between $50-100 million from the London dates. If the unsold "sold out" seats do indeed sell, AEG will generate some $53 million from hospitality packages alone.
Both parties have hit hard times recently. Jacko's financial health took a nosedive following his costly 2005 child molestation trial, for which he was eventually acquitted, while AEG has tried in vain to block a looming merger between rivals Live Nation and TicketMaster.
But when asked about financial matters, Mr Phillips is quick to play the altruist. "We're not in this for the money," he assured The Telegraph. "We're taking a huge risk on Michael." And so are the punters.
Well here's one who won't be contributing to
Whacko Jacko's next criminal defence fund...
Posted by: Lynne (weirdvis) | March 15, 2009 at 02:09 PM
who is this mystery ebay tout?
scum if you ask me. you shouldn't be associating with that sort....
Posted by: anon | March 16, 2009 at 01:18 PM
riverScrap probably interviewed him through the bars of a prison
Posted by: Zu | March 16, 2009 at 01:23 PM
I would never reveal my sources. But I'm certain that he never charged anyone £800 for an £80 ticket, unlike AEG...
Posted by: Martin (riverScrap.com) | March 16, 2009 at 01:30 PM