Ticket Tricks

In one of Beyoncé's biggest hits, she tells a man that he "should have put a ring on it" if he wanted to continue seeing her.

Beyoncé might need to put a ring on the hand of every fan to justify the ticket prices for her upcoming shows at Encore. Including taxes and fees, the cheapest tickets for the special performances, titled "I Am ... Yours," cost $279.40. The others will set you back $554.40, $829.40 and $1,104.40 a piece.

So far this year, Beyoncé's concerts have been doing well, selling an average of 11,000 tickets and grossing more than $1 million per city in the United States, says Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of Pollstar, a trade publication that covers the concert industry.

But that's with an average ticket price of $97.27. With tickets costing hundreds of dollars, she's automatically shrinking her Vegas audience, Bongiovanni says.

When the concerts were first announced in May, tickets were even more expensive. They were sold with a two-night room or suite package at Encore, so fans had to pay the ticket price plus the cost of two nights in the hotel. A room at Encore can cost several hundred dollars a night.

A limited and unknown number of ticket-only reservations was available for the 1,500-seat theater, but within weeks, the hotel was offering all tickets to locals and then the general public, without the hotel stay requirement.

Often, a show such as this serves as a loss leader for casinos, Bongiovanni says. The concert sells rooms and, if the casino gives tickets away as comps, the loss is made up through the expected increase in gaming, dining and shopping.

But Bongiovanni says casinos don't report ticket information to Pollstar so it's impossible to say whether the concerts are selling well.

"She's certainly capable of filling 1,500 seats, but we're in a recession," he says. "From a local perspective, money's tight."

Representatives for Encore would not comment for this story.

The high ticket prices and changing offer didn't surprise Anthony Curtis, publisher of the newsletter Las Vegas Advisor. Curtis monitors promotions offered by Las Vegas hotels, and he's been seeing a lot of changes in show tickets, with some tied to promotions and others available at reduced prices.

"There's almost nobody in town that can get (full price)," Curtis says. "Everyone's fiddling with their prices, no matter what."

Las Vegas has a strong history of flexible pricing, moving them around to find what Curtis calls the soft point, the price when tickets start selling at a sustainable rate. No one seems to be immune to the effects of this recession, so resorts are offering deals in an effort to entice people to spend.

But Curtis says he has noticed that higher-end properties such as Wynn and Encore are resisting this time-honored Las Vegas tradition.

"Places like the Wynn, they've tried really hard to not do what everyone else is doing," he says.

While fans have to pay a premium to see Beyoncé, other performers are practically begging people to come see them.

Cirque du Soleil is offering buy one ticket, get the second ticket for $25.

"Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular" is offering $30 tickets to locals through the summer. For every regularly priced ticket purchased, locals can get another for $30. Regular prices range from $75.90 to $165, inclusive.

The offer started out as a way to mark the show's third year, says producer Scott Zeiger. It was so successful, it was extended.

The idea is to entice locals to see the show which will ultimately help build word-of-mouth recommendations, Zeiger says.

"And quite frankly, the economy has changed and it's important for us to recognize that," Zeiger says, citing Las Vegas' unemployment rate. "The industry I'm in is dependent on people spending their discretionary dollars. We have to offer a good price to attract locals."

The promotion is also to encourage people to plan ahead. One phenomenon that theaters are experiencing is the last-minute syndrome. In the past, showgoers booked weeks in advance, but now, in an effort to get the best deal, they're buying tickets on the day they attend, Zeiger says.

"The reservation window is getting shorter and shorter," says Zeiger, whose company also produces Wayne Brady's show and "Jersey Boys." "We are selling hundreds of tickets each day for that night's performance. That's sort of new. A year ago, the hot shows were sold out in advance."

Zeiger says he does a 12-week analysis of ticket sales and that gives him an idea of what sales are going to be like. Lately, it's hard to predict what will happen, he says. Prices can be flexible but only to an extent. A show's production costs remain the same.

"It's just a bit of a nail-biter to look at tomorrow night's show and see only 650 tickets sold," Zeiger says. "But by day's end I've sold 1,300 tickets."

This may be the new normal for Las Vegas, says the Advisor's Curtis. It's the kind of situation that calls for casinos to run room and show promotions to encourage booking ahead, just so they have an idea of future sales, he adds.

Earlier this year, as a way to mark the 100th show, Caesars Palace offered Bette Midler's "The Showgirl Must Go On" tickets with dinner at Bradley Ogden. The current Divine Miss M Dinner package includes a ticket in the first mezzanine section and dinner at RAO's for $135, plus tax and fees.

For the same price, Jerry Seinfeld fans can get a ticket to his upcoming show with dinner at RAO's or Bradley Ogden in Caesars.

Then there's the trend of VIP show packages. They started popping up about a year ago and seem to be successful because new ones are being offered more frequently, Curtis says.

Bette Midler's new VIP package includes a front row seat, a chance to meet Midler backstage after the show, a photo with her, an autographed show program, a VIP escort into the theater and two drink vouchers. It costs $1,000 per person, plus tax and fees, and is available from Aug. 11 to Sept. 6.

"It's about getting the money off the top layer where it can be got," Curtis says. "There are people who will buy these tickets."

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@ reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.