For decades, U2 have sold out some of the biggest venues in the world. Bono says the band has a longstanding way of making their shows more accessible.
On The New York Times’ “Interview” podcast, Bono said U2 had “little” to say about ticket prices for live shows. However, he said, the band has been working for a long time to create a cheaper front seat.
“What we do in our band is get the best seats in the house – we’ve done all this – and make sure they’re often the most affordable,” Bono said.
This does not mean that U2 object to charging some premium fans.
“We also don’t have a problem separating the rich from their money,” Bono said. “You know, as they say, rich people have feelings too. If they want to pay a very high price, we don’t mind.”
Bono says his goal is to make fans feel good about what they’re paying for. He said U2 shows have a “level of depth” where people who disagree politically can “feel safe.”
“If they’re in America, we want people to feel very good about the choice to pay for a ticket – and probably pay too much – to see us,” Bono said.
U2 performed 40 nights at the Sphere in Las Vegas from September 2023 to March 2024. The official announcement said that tickets for the residency start at $ 140, and that the greater capacity of the venue will allow “60% of the tickets to be priced at $ 300,” in addition to “a limited number of premium-priced tickets” in each show.
High ticket prices have become a defining feature of the modern concert experience. The average ticket price for the top 100 tours will rise from $96.17 in 2019 to $132.62 in 2025, according to data from Pollstar, a music industry trade publication.
Dynamic pricing, which allows prices to rise with demand, has helped drive up costs. In the secondary market, tickets can also be relisted at a higher price than their original value.
There are also concerns about consolidation in the ticketing industry. In April, a federal jury found Live Nation liable for antitrust violations, determining that its market monopoly led Ticketmaster to overcharge customers $1.72 per ticket from May 2020 to 2024.
Sports fans face the same sticker shock. A Business Insider analysis of past ticket data found that a Category 1 ticket to this year’s World Cup final cost $10,990 in April’s opening sale. In the previous seven World Cups, the same ticket price was $988 and $1,783 in today’s dollars.