What Talking Tickets is about for readers, old and new.
Why Live Nation? Why Now?
I’ve been writing a lot about Live Nation over the last few days.
The trial. The secret settlement. The unsealed documents. The David Marcus reply on LinkedIn.
It’s a lot.
Especially since I don’t really ever write about or think about Live Nation.
But I began thinking about the structure of the work I do: advising, consulting, teaching.
It comes down to one thing: strategy.
The structure of your market will impact your strategy.
That made me take a fresh set of eyes to everyone and everything in the business of sports, tickets, entertainment, you name it.
This antitrust trial helped me see: the curtain has been pulled back.
Live Nation’s business model was always clear. You could see it. You could describe it.
The market share. Vertical integration. Fee structures. Exclusive deals.
Partners knew it. Fans felt it.
But there was still plausible deniability.
This case has helped us see inside.
The culture. The contempt. The ways executives and staff actually talk about fans.
This was hidden.
Now it is not.
Internal chats from 2022. Live Nation executives…laughing.
“These people are so stupid.”
“I gouge them on ancil prices.”
“Robbing them blind, baby, that’s how we do it.”
These documents prove two things:
One: I was right. My structural argument was on target.
I just didn’t go far enough.
The extraction machine isn’t just efficient…it’s efficient and proud of it.
Two: The lengths that a company will stretch to so you can’t see a business model that will disgust you.
Plausible deniability.
Live Nation fought to keep this information hidden. They lost.
Inner City Press won. Matthew Russell Lee won. The free press won. Freedom of Information won.
Now we see what we weren’t supposed to see.
The counterpoint is something along the lines of “They’re just shooting the shit.”
People might say that this is just co-workers blowing off steam. We shouldn’t be looking to cancel these folks.
Water cooler talk.
They aren’t wrong. I’ve said stupid things. I’ve said things I wouldn’t want printed on the front page of the newspaper. I’ve made jokes about customers that don’t reflect my deepest beliefs.
We all have.
This is different.
Look at the quotes again:
- “These people are so stupid.”
- “I gouge them on ancil prices.”
- “$50 to park in the grass. $60 for closer grass.”
- “Robbing them blind, baby, that’s how we do it.”
These aren’t private texts, venting about a rough day. They’re work chats about work decisions.
These aren’t complaints about a difficult customer. They are celebrations. Chest bumps because you made your customers your mark.
No regrets. No, “this doesn’t feel right.” No pushback.
Just pride. Laughter. High-fives.
This behavior is not the exception. This is the job. Setting prices. Maximizing yield. Extracting revenue.
We’ve all made jokes about customers. A bad tipper. A jerk. A frustrating call. A moment to vent.
There’s a line between blowing off steam and open contempt.
“These people are so stupid” isn’t about one person. It’s a blanket statement. You’ve dehumanized a fanbase.
“Robbing them blind, baby” isn’t a joke. When you hold the power, it becomes a mission statement.
I don’t know Ben Baker or Jeff Weinhold.
I’m not here to cancel them. They may even subscribe to the newsletter.
I don’t know. I don’t look.
I know they have friends, family, people who love them.
My default isn’t that they are bad guys.
I know they weren’t created in a vacuum.
They were hired. Trained. Promoted. Rewarded.
That system creates attitudes, beliefs, actions. Encourages them. Rewards them.
Incentives are powerful forces.
Quarterly earnings. Margin targets. “Maximizing yield.” All polite language that translates to take as much as we can.
The chats aren’t the exception. They just give voice to what we see with our eyes.
Don’t trust me.
Would they say this to a fan’s face? No.
Would they want this published on the internet? Unlikely.
Does this language appear in the training manual? I doubt it.
Is this how they’d describe their work to a journalist? I don’t think so.
It’s not banter. This is a mask slipping moment.
We got to see it.
This is about a business model that works. Works so well that people who run it can laugh about it openly…no worries.
Why?
Because the machine is bigger than one person’s discomfort.
You have a problem? The machine will crush you.
That’s why this matters.
Live Nation’s strategy is clear. Coherent. Designed.
Own the venues. Own the promotion. Own the ticketing. Own the data. On and on.
Extract from every layer.
These documents prove it. Executives laughing about gouging fans. Celebrating “$50 to park on the grass. $60 for closer grass.”
That’s not a bug.
The strategy works. It’s efficient. It’s profitable. It’s also contemptuous.
But…it is a strategy.
Maximize yield is the only logic.
Every layer of the business exists to extract money. Every innovation serves extraction.
The fans are ATMs. The transactions cash out. The relationship isn’t even a consideration.
That’s not an accident. That’s a plan.
This isn’t just Live Nation.
If that were true, I doubt I’d spend this much time on the company or the case.
It is the problem of strategy. The system. Success and failure.
Everywhere.
Once you know how to look for it.
The Met Opera: failing. Not because of a lack of resources.
Because of a lack of strategy.
Tottenham Hotspur built a £1.2 billion cathedral. Fighting relegation…because they forgot to build a team inside the monument.
Why?
A lack of strategy.
Live Nation built an extraction machine. The documents open up for the world to see.
Why?
Strategy.
Three organizations. Three choices. Three outcomes.
Strategy is a choice. Even when you don’t make a conscious choice.
The Met Opera is flailing and failing.
Not because they lack resources. Not because audiences disappeared. COVID didn’t do it.
They lack strategy.
Look at their actions:
- Chasing Saudi money. The deal collapsed. Reputational damage for nothing.
- Selling naming rights to the theatre? A for-sale sign in the window.
- Chagall murals for sale, too? Worth a shot.
- Shrinking the season to the fewest productions in 60 years. A fact.
On its own, each decision makes sense.
A lifeline here. A cash infusion there. A little boost over yonder.
Together, you see a different picture.
No clear direction. No coherent plan. Every idea is a good one.
No answer to the one question that matters:
Who are we now?
I’d say it’s a lack of strategy. But strategy is what you do, not what you say.
It is a strategy of reaction.
Budget in trouble. React. Raise money. Cut costs. Repeat.
It works. Then it doesn’t.
Then it becomes too late.
The Met Opera has a strategy. It’s just no one would want to admit to it.
This is Strategic Drift. It is a choice. Made by not truly choosing.
Tottenham Hotspur built a £1.2 billion stadium.
The place is amazing.
State-of-the-art. World-class. Beautiful. A cathedral to football.
But they forgot to build a team.
Mauricio Pochettino said, “We have a great stadium, a beautiful house, but we need better furniture.”
In 2019.
Supporters are still waiting.
Now Spurs are 16th in the Premier League. Five points from relegation. A Champions League finalist in 2019. Europa League winners in 2025. 9th richest team in world football.
Fighting to stay up.
The Infrastructure Trap.
The building became the end, the strategy.
Every decision served the stadium. Chasing naming rights. NFL games. Concerts. Non-football revenue.
In theory, for the furniture. In practice, for the house.
The numbers look great on a spreadsheet.
Football doesn’t happen on a spreadsheet.
It happens on the pitch.
With players. With chemistry. A manager with a plan. A vision of success.
Tottenham forgot all of that.
They built a monument. They didn’t put anything inside.
Fans show up. Tickets sell. The experience is world-class.
The team loses.
Week after week. Season after season.
Even when there are glimmers of hope. A new direction is picked.
Sure, one trophy. But no identity. No answer to the question that matters:
Who are we now?
This is a strategy as well. One of misplaced ambition.
The infrastructure became the identity. The building is the brand. The football feels secondary.
That’s not drift. It’s choice. Dressed up as progress.
The stadium is a wonder. The team…not so much.
Three organizations. Three industries. Three outcomes.
Live Nation: a strategy of extraction. This has led to dominance. Contempt. And we have the court records to prove it.
The Met Opera: Strategic Drift. This has led to decline and chaos. Don’t trust me, look at what the Met is doing.
Tottenham Hotspur: The Infrastructure Trap. A beautiful house without beautiful furniture. A relegation battle.
The lesson is that strategy matters. It is also that everyone has one.
The question you must answer is whether you picked your strategy or if you wandered into it.
Live Nation picked extraction.
It works. It’s ugly. But it’s intentional.
The Met Opera didn’t choose.
They reacted. They flailed. Now they are in freefall.
Tottenham Hotspur chose infrastructure. Beautiful infrastructure.
Pochettino warned them about the furniture in 2019.
And…
…nothing changed.
It isn’t a great team. It isn’t success on the pitch. It isn’t even a guarantee of Premier League football next season.
This matters.
I hope it matters to you.
Because Talking Tickets is for you. I want you to be able to create more fans, sell more tickets and everything else, and bring more joy to the world.
But to do well tactically, you have to have a strategy that you choose.
You know the system. Top down.
To change the system. To beat the system. You have to know how to make the system work for you.
You may even need to know how to beat the system.
This is why I’m writing about these things.
Not to dunk on Live Nation. Not to pile on the Met Opera. Not to make Tottenham fans feel worse. (And I know. I’m a Tottenham supporter.)
I want you to see the system.
I want you to have a language to understand the system.
I want you to have the tools to work the system.
Extraction. Strategic Drift. The Infrastructure Trap.
These aren’t just labels. They are real organizations. With real patterns. That repeats.
Once you know what to look for…you see them everywhere.
I don’t want you to be blind.
Having a strategy is a choice. Some people make it intentionally. Others don’t.
You want to be intentional.
Not just to say, “It is what it is.”
But to be willing and able to do something about it.
Choosing is hard.
But it is the only way forward.