It’s the headliner effect — and it’s not just Chappell Roan.
“This is the worst year,” a young man told me outside Zilker Park. He said he usually comes to the Barton Springs entrance during the Austin City Limits Music Festival and buys a three-day pass from scalpers for $200. On Friday, a reseller wanted $800 for a 3-day pass, he told me.
The price was confirmed independently by this reporter when a different scalper said he could sell me a 3-day pass for $850 and a single day pass for $400.
(He offered to buy my media wristband for $400 and said he could offer more if I brought him four.)
Another scalper closer to the entrance offered a single-day pass for $350. Over by the west entrance of the park, a gentleman was trying to sell a three-day pass for $1250.
Five other scalpers told the Austin American-Statesman that they were struggling to find wristbands in the first place. None of them had bands to sell before 3 p.m. They were coy about what they’d sell them for.
One expected Sunday to be unusually pricey for pop star Chappell Roan.
Another man offered to escort me in for $200. “I don’t care if you have five people with you,” he said. “Don’t worry about how.”
Blink-182 reunion show resales were going for $1000 last year
The inflated prices make sense. Resale tickets for the Blink-182 reunion show at Moody Center last summer ballooned to $1,000 on the SeatGeek app. Now the band is playing the Honda stage — and Zilker Park is effectively one big dance floor.
Worth noting: Live Nation, which books ACL, and its affiliate Ticketmaster have been accused of acting as a monopoly. The conglomerate exercises vast influence over the concert ticket-buying process. The U.S. Department of Justice recently filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster.
On Barton Springs Road, the scalping business is booming.
“Go to the bar this week. Save a ton of money next week,” a reseller told me down at the Chevron station on Barton Springs Road.” He was sold out of wristbands.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: ACL Fest tickets are being resold for up to $800 for a 3-day pass
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