The Wall Street Journal has alleged that Van Halen colluded with scalpers to rake in an additional $1 million during the band’s fall 2007 tour. The financial newspaper reports that the band farmed out up to 500 premium seats — involving roughly 20 shows — to secondary ticket brokers.
Dubbed “Project Showtime,” the alleged scheme was part of a Ticketmaster initiative designed to pull desirable tickets from the company’s system and pass them directly to private sellers. As part of the arrangement, the private sellers kept 30 percent of the inflated sales prices, and passed on the remaining 70 percent to Ticketmaster, the band, and its handlers.
The Wall Street Journal further alleges that Van Halen manager Irving Azoff spearheaded the scheme. At the time, Azoff was CEO of Front Line Management, which Ticketmaster then co-owned. Azoff now serves as Ticketmaster’s chief executive.
The WSJ goes on to say that distrust among the participants in ‘Project Showtime” led to the demise of the arrangement, but not before secondary ticket brokers were given tickets to scalp, with Azoff’s blessing. In the past year, Azoff has often railed against the practice of ticket scalping.