Original article published on Kansas City Star (03/05/18) by Timothy Finn

Concert promoters are learning that they sell more tickets the earlier shows go on sale, and the revenues from those early sales can be placed into accounts that draw interest. “It became quite evident that tours that had their dates on sale for an average of 150 days outperformed those who were on sale for a shorter period of time,” says Live Nation's Bob Roux. “Since 2014, we have worked hard to encourage tours with all or a majority of their dates in the summer months to get confirmed and to go on sale in January and February, and it seems to be working as we are selling more and more tickets every year.” Promoters now appear to be following this practice year-round instead of only for seasonal events. Shani Tate, an executive for Kansas City's Sprint Center, notes the money collected by local ticket vendor AXS online or at the box office is mandated by city and state regulations to be remitted to the venue, and is stored in an interest-bearing account until the show. “For tickets purchased through the venue, monies are held in an event-specific escrow account because when a show cancels unexpectedly, refunds must begin processing within 24 to 48 hours,” she says. Although early ticket purchases can make sense for highly popular shows, in other cases it pays to wait longer.

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