Theater Tickets Are Cheaper in London Than New York. What Gives?

The New York Times: The hottest celebrity on the London stage is a four-foot-tall bear with a fondness for marmalade. Tickets to “Paddington: The Musical” are hard to come by — the show is consistently sold out — and costly, by British standards: The best seats, when bought directly from the show itself, are 250 pounds, which is about $330.

Openstage Aims to Reshape Presales With Fan Access System

www.ticketnews.com: Openstage has introduced Ticket Unlocks, a new artist-controlled ticketing access system designed to prioritize verified fans and reduce bot and reseller activity during high-demand on-sales. The system, previously used by major acts including Radiohead, Oasis, Bad Bunny, Lana Del Rey, and Hayley Williams, is now available to all artists on the Openstage platform.

Belgium’s ticket resale ban heads to EU court in challenge that could reshape secondary rules

TicketNews: Belgium’s strict limits on ticket resale are headed for a test at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) after a Brussels court formally decided to send the dispute to Luxembourg — a procedural move that could reverberate well beyond Belgium’s borders.

Live Nation’s Two‑Front Strategy: Fight Breakup Pressure in D.C. - Rewrite the Rules in the States

TicketNews: A bill advertised as a crackdown on ticket fraud is now headed to the State Senate in California – moving in step with a wave of state-level ticketing proposals targeting multiple aspects of the ticket resale business, from “speculative” ticket listings to outright price caps.

Buffalo Faith, Civil Rights Leaders Urge Albany to Target Ticketmaster Dominance — Not Resale Competition

TicketNews: A coalition of Buffalo faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and community organizations is pressing New York lawmakers to take aim at what they describe as a live event ticketing system “stacked against” fans and artists — and they’re warning that one of the most talked-about fixes in Albany, a cap on resale prices, could ultimately strengthen the very market power legislators say they want to curb.

California Introduces Bill to Cap Resale Ticket Prices

www.billboard.com: California could become the next state in the U.S. to put a limit on the price of resale concert tickets. Today (Feb. 5), California state assemblyman Matt Haney introduced a spot bill titled the California Fans First Act that would cap the price of a resold concert ticket to no more than 10% above the ticket’s original face value.

Live Nation, Azoff-Aligned Lobby Throws Weight Behind Unfinished California Price Cap Legislation

TicketNews: A new California proposal being marketed as the “Fans First Act” is arriving with an industry-backed public-relations rollout – including full-throated backing from Live Nation Entertainment and its allies – even as the actual legislative language remains largely undefined.

'Go See A Show' Offers Discounted Tickets to Participating Pittsburgh-Area Theaters

onstagepittsburgh.com: Go See a Show, a regional initiative currently involving nearly 20 producing theater companies, is underway, offering discounts to performances and aiming to “reenergize local audiences and celebrate the enduring impact of live theater.”

Tickets Now on Sale for Kids' Night on Broadway Featuring THE OUTSIDERS, WICKED and More

www.broadwayworld.com: Tickets for Kids’ Night on Broadway are now on sale. The program returns to New York City on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, with 18 participating Broadway shows. A program of The Broadway League, Kids’ Night on Broadway allows anyone 18 and under to attend a participating Broadway show for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult.

Consumer Advocate Urges Senators to Look Beyond ‘Bots and Scalpers’ Ahead of Senate Hearing on Ticketing

TicketNews: As the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Technology, and Data Privacy prepares to gavel in today’s high-profile ticketing hearing, a major consumer advocacy group is urging lawmakers not to let the conversation collapse into a familiar script: blame scalpers, blame bots, and leave the structure of the market untouched.

& Juliet Partners With TDF to Provide 1,600 Free Tickets to Students and Educators

Playbill: Broadway's & Juliet has partnered with the theatrical not-for-profit TDF (The Theatre Development Fund) to launch The &Future Education Initiative, which will provide New York City students and educators the opportunity to see the hit jukebox musical on Broadway for free this spring.

AXS Sues Over ‘Spoofed’ Mobile Tickets, Renewing Scrutiny Over Transfer Restriction Schemes

TicketNews: AXS has filed a federal lawsuit against SecureMyPass.com, accusing the ticket‑delivery service of “spoofing” AXS Mobile ID tickets to help brokers transfer tickets outside the official AXS app — a practice AXS says has caused fans to be denied entry to concerts and sporting events.

Ticketmaster Hit With Class Action Alleging Illegal Tracking and ‘Surveillance’

TicketNews: A proposed class action filed in California federal court accuses Ticketmaster of unlawfully using third-party tracking technology to capture and transmit users’ browsing data to major advertising and analytics firms without adequate notice or consent.

EU called on to stamp out ticket touts by European live events industry

Access All Areas: More than 130 representatives from across Europe’s live events industry have signed an open letter calling on the EU to stop ticket resale abuse. The letter to EU Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath claims that, despite the introduction of stricter rules for reporting and removing illegal ticket resale offers, enforcement is severely lacking.

Mamdani Says Theater Should Not Be ‘a Luxury’ as He Hands Out Free Tickets

The New York Times: New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, was elected on an affordability agenda focused on free buses and child care. On Friday, he extended that agenda to the arts, handing out vouchers for free tickets to a long-running theater festival of experimental work and declaring that culture should be more accessible to the city’s residents.

When the Price of Art Surges: Royal Ballet and Opera Slammed for £415 Tickets

ticketnews.com: The Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) is under fire after tickets for Wagner’s Siegfried, the third chapter of the Ring Cycle, were listed for up to £415 — marking the most expensive publicly subsidized arts ticket currently on sale in Britain.

STUDY: Where Americans Spend the Most on Live Entertainment

www.ticketnews.com: Live entertainment is booming — and so are the prices. In the third quarter of 2025, the average concert ticket cost $128.46, up 34% from the same period just six years earlier, according to Pollstar. Among the top 100 touring artists this year, the average show grossed more than $2.4 million, up 29% from a year ago.

Content Creators on Stage- Do They Boost Ticket Sales?

www.broadwayworld.com: Social media’s role on Broadway has been increasing over the last couple of years. Shows like The Great Gatsby and Maybe Happy Ending have been able to ride social media virality to either help overcome early struggles, or outperform expectations based on critical and awards reception.

Oasis in Australia: Band's Management Praises Anti-Ticket Scalping Law

www.billboard.com: In a landmark move for Australia’s live music sector, Victoria’s government shut down bulk ticket scalping for Oasis’ recent Melbourne shows (Oct. 31, Nov. 1-4) at the Marvel Stadium by designating them under the Major Events Act 2009. The act allows the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events to formally declare events that then become subject to anti-scalping protections.

Consumer Advocates Warn Against DC Ticket Resale Price Cap Bill

TicketNews: Consumer advocate groups cautioned lawmakers in Washington D.C. against moving forward with proposed legislation to regulate ticketing at a hearing this week, indicating that it would backfire by strengthening the very monopoly it claims to constrain. The legislation, they warned, would limit consumer options and competition in the ticketing market, while allowing industry giants like Ticketmaster to tighten their grip.