You can’t hate these people enough.
I don’t have to tell you what a problem scalpers are for live music fans. These scumbags scoop up tickets to the biggest shows, taking them out of the hands of real fans, and then turn around and list them at an insane markup to fans who weren’t able to get tickets because they were all bought up by scalpers.
It’s a massive issue, but one that ticketing platforms have zero incentive to fix because they profit from the entire scheme. They make money on fees on both the original sale and the resale, and it was even revealed in a lawsuit filed by the government that several resale platforms allegedly buy tickets themselves to resell them to fans at a markup.
Another problem, though, is that customers are often buying tickets that sellers don’t even have.
It’s a practice called speculative ticketing, and how it’s legal is beyond me. Basically, scalpers list tickets that they don’t have on resale sites like StubHub, often before they even go on sale, and then try to buy those tickets once they’re available. If they aren’t able to get them, the scalper is supposed to provide a ticket of equal or greater value, but often it results in fans standing outside of the concert waiting on tickets that the seller never had to begin with.
A perfect example of this practice is currently taking place with Morgan Wallen‘s upcoming tour.
The “I’m the Problem” singer announced his 2027 Last Time I Checked Tour today, a 14-show stadium tour that kicks off at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on June 11 and wraps with two nights at the new Nissan Stadium in Nashville on August 27 and 28.
Presale registration for tickets opened today, with Morgan’s Club Wallen fan club presale starting on Tuesday, November 17 and tickets going on sale to the general public on Friday, November 20.
So how are there already tickets on StubHub for over $1,000?
Taking a look at the resale site, there are already tickets listed for every date of the tour, ranging from around $250 for the cheapest ticket in most cases to over $1,500 for floor seats.
For opening night of the tour, StubHub currently shows 502 listings for pairs of tickets, and 352 listings if you’re just looking for a single seat. The cheapest ticket available is $247 for a single seat in section 304, though no seat number or row is included on the listing. The most expensive, meanwhile, is $1,580 for a ticket in floor section C – which again, includes no row or seat number.
It’s much the same story for all of the shows on the tour: Here’s a look at the listings for the final show of the tour in Nashville.
And according to StubHub, fans are already buying tickets with no guarantee that the seller will ever have them to deliver: The site delivers fans a warning that tickets are “Selling Fast,” and clicking on the listings say that it’s a “Popular Pick” with 4 tickets sold in the last hour.
The practice of speculative listing is supposed to be prohibited by StubHub: According to their policies, “you must only list tickets that you already have in your possession (‘In Hand’) or that have been allocated to you. … Listing or selling speculative tickets on our Site is not allowed and may result in account suspension, fees, charges or other consequences.”
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the site is doing much to crack down on the predatory practice, because there are thousands of listings for Morgan Wallen’s tour that isn’t on sale yet.
Hopefully nobody’s buying these tickets, and something is done soon to actually crack down on the issue. I’m not holding my breath though.
