Springsteen Extends Broadway Run – Details
Bruce Springsteen made huge news when he annoucned he was going to play a series of “Springsteen on Broadway,” solo shows at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street) from October 3 through November 26. Tickets went on sale through the Ticketmaster Verified Fan system and sold out instantly. As a result, he’s announced a second run of shows from December 1 through February 3.
Springsteen will perform 5 shows a week. Here’s a complete list of performances (scroll to bottom of page).
New On Sale Date And Info
Tickets for the newly announced dates go on sale September 7th at 10am exclusively through Ticketmaster Verified Fan®. Fans can register for the opportutnity to receive a ticket code now.
Fans who already signed up to receive a code when the first round of shows went on sale will not have to re-register. Ticketmaster Verified Fan registration will close September 3 at 10pm
The Secondary Ticket Market Is Insane
Tickets for the sold out dates are selling on the secondary ticket market for as much as $10,000. This is ironic considering that the decision to go with the Ticketmaster Verified Fan system was aimed at combating ticket bots and inflated sales in the secondary market.
In Bruce’s Own Words
Being that the venue is so intimate (960 seats), Springsteen’s aim with the Ticketmaster Verified Fan system was focused on making sure true fans had the best access to tickets.
“I wanted to do some shows that were as personal and as intimate as possible. I chose Broadway for this project because it has the beautiful old theaters which seemed like the right setting for what I have in mind. In fact, with one or two exceptions, the 960 seats of the Walter Kerr Theatre is probably the smallest venue I’ve played in the last 40 years. My show is just me, the guitar, the piano and the words and music. Some of the show is spoken, some of it is sung. It loosely follows the arc of my life and my work. All of it together is in pursuit of my constant goal to provide an entertaining evening and to communicate something of value,” says Springsteen
How The Ticketmaster Verify Fan System Works
The Ticketmaster Verified Fan system, uses a series of algorithms to determine whether a ticket buyer is more likely to use a ticket or put it on the reseller’s market.
Executive Vice President David Marcus of Verified Fan says, “Verified Fan is about creating an invitation only experience around the on-sale. You give your basic information, your name, email address, mobile phone number to Ticketmaster and Ticketmaster applies a bunch of algorithms to that limited data set and it can determine if you’re likely to go to the show, or if you’re likely going to sell your ticket.”
Marcus also mentioned that the system can look into a prospective buyers ticket purchasing past to help determine if they are a true Springsteen fan or someone looking to sell the tickets once they are purchased.
Unfortunately, this system does not have access to other ticket vendors records. If a Springsteen fan purchased tickets for a Springsteen show and that show wasn’t a Ticketmaster event, the Ticket Verify sytem will have no knowledge of their previous Springsteen purchase. The Ticket Verify Fan system only benefits those who have used Ticketmaster on previous occassions.
Marcas added that he knows it’s in his company’s best interest to make Springsteen fans satisfied with how the process works.
“We are acutely aware of the unique history that Bruce has with his fans, the depth of passion his fans have for him and the commitment to him through ticket buying over the last 40 years, we are very sensitive to that,” Marcus replied. “There are only 30,000 to 40,000 tickets for sale and we are going to try our best to identify people who are likely going to use these tickets and not resell them. I can’t guarantee that every single passionate tickets buyer from the last 40 years is going to be rewarded with a ticket because the supplies are limited. That’s the reality of it.”
