The Springsteen Ticket System ‘Works Too Well’

Ticket handlers and promoters are hardly calling it a backlash, but--surprise!--as of noon Wednesday a fair number of tickets still remained available through Ticketron and Ticketmaster outlets for all four Bruce Springsteen Coliseum shows next month.

Brian Murphy of Avalon Attractions, the concerts’ promoter, would give no definite number but said “a few thousand seats for each show are still left over.”

Murphy added the seats remained “because our wristband idea worked too well.” The wristband system assigned a priority number, printed on a hospital-type, unremovable wristband, that denoted the bearer’s place in the ticket purchasing line.

Murphy noted the system may have soured some resale ticket brokers on the Springsteen dates by forcing them to hire more line-standers than might be economically feasible. Since the priority wristbands were issued randomly and only four tickets could be bought by one person, large numbers of the line-standers would have to be placed in line in order to make desirable tickets with high resale potential available to the broker.

In addition, Murphy acknowledged, the system also may have discouraged those people with very high numbers from sticking around for their tickets.