Discovery in a Lawsuit Opens the Door to Live Nation's Business Practices...
Hi!
I’ve been doing some quarterly cleaning out of my inboxes, saved articles, etc.
So today’s note will have some stuff that I’ve found interesting.
I also spent the Easter weekend updating my site with a streamlined set of services and offerings.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m going to do two open-to-the-public sessions in September and November in NYC and Melbourne.
Those are going live in a few days.
BTW, I’m giving a guest lecture to a group of sports business students from NYU this week about communications and the things that go into an effective sports communication professional.
I drew a picture, but I’ll be curious what you wish people knew more about when they start in sports PR or communications.
Some stuff I’m reading:
Matt Stoller breaks down the latest Live Nation revelations:
Wow!
Who could have guessed that when I told you months back that there was antitrust stuff that would come out over time from the government when I live in DC and I have many people I know in antitrust laws and government relations?
OH! Dave’s right again!
You should spend a few minutes reading Matt’s breakdown.
Develop your take on the issue, but recognize this ain’t good and when you look at the recent commentary on ticket pricing from Live Nation in this context, you have to chuckle.
With the renewed emphasis on competition and antitrust enforcement, this isn’t likely to be the last we hear about Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s business practices.
Kid Rock even got in on things in a recent interview calling for:
Regulation
Prices
The contradictions in ending resale and profiting off of resale.
Eben Novy-Williams writes about sports gambling:
I’m not anti-gambling even though I sometimes run the risk of sounding that way.
What I am is pretty astute at following trends and lessons learned.
I pointed you to the work of Rob Davies who covered this topic in the UK with a lot of attention for the past few years.
In the UK, there were guardrails and things still got out of control.
In the US, no guardrails and now we are seeing a lot of negative stories at multiple levels.
As Eben points out, what could possibly go wrong?
Even more, I feel like the gambling money is a lot like the TV money, it covers up a lot of bad business practices.
I was on the ‘Build It’ podcast:
This is by the guys who started the DeKalb County Football Club.
They were hopeful that I’d be able to give them some actionable ideas for people starting and running small soccer clubs, but the information and ideas are universally applicable.
SportsPundit looks at what sports teams can learn from Uber:
One of my ambitions for all of you is to look for examples of things that work in other industries and places and ask how you can apply the idea or tool to your own business.
This is one of the reasons I mix in the theatre, sports, opera, and attractions stuff.
Selling a ticket is about selling the full product and not just the ticket.
Megan McArdle compares sports media rights to smoking v. non-smoking bars:
She makes a logical leap here that I didn’t know how she would stick, but the minority preference model she talks about makes a ton of sense.
Especially when you place it in the context of a potential 10-15% drop in media revenue for MLB this season tied to local rights challenges.
Michael Callazo likes the Marlin’s $52 ‘all-you-can-eat’ ticket idea:
I don’t dislike it, but I think you need some context to decide whether or not this works for you:
Is the price of the experience a real detractor? If so, what are the associated concerns?
Does all you can eat food really feel like added value to your target customers? Don’t assume.
How does this impact your perceived value as a brand?
Who is the target market for this and what do they really value?
I’m curious what you think.
Let me know in the Slack Channel!
But Michael is right…try adding value before you try discounting.
I need your help:
Send me articles, ideas, or questions. Especially for you theatre and arts folks…I’m always looking for new, interesting ideas to cover with you.
Share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues.
I’ve been emailing you personally, asking for ways to make the podcast and newsletter more valuable for you.
So far, I’ve got some great ideas like:
Group sales and how group sales can get the marketing focus they need.
Marketing and sales as a B2B firm selling to teams and venues.
More football (soccer)
Finding out the correct value proposition
“You should come to Australia again and do another workshop!”
The last one was more a statement of fact! But do let me know what you want to learn more about and I’ll work it into the podcast and newsletter.
HOW AM I DOING?
I love to hear from you.
How am I doing with ‘Talking Tickets’?
Is there anything you’d like to see more or less of?
Which aspects of the newsletter (and/or podcast) do you enjoy the most?
Hit reply and say hello — I’d love to hear from you!
Cheers!
Dave