Revenue Management

U2 – Pricing for fans: the fans always go for the GA tickets (“the best seats, also the cheapest”). U2 is debating whether to offer discounts to U2.com members for GA tickets. There are 10,000 U2.com members in France, and U2 believes that they would all would show up if entrance was free. Members are mostly low-budget teenagers and students, so the most that any of them could afford to pay for a GA ticket is €80. Hence 05 world tour named after the first single from their new album, ‘How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb’.

The Irish band collected three Grammy awards for Vertigo: best rock song, best performance by a group with vocal and best short form music video. U2 claimed their sixth UK Number One on February 13, 2005 with 'Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own', beating Elvis Presley’s 'Wooden Heart’ to the top of the singles chart.

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For the past two decades, U2 has charted success on its own terms, not just on the artistic, but also on the business side of the music industry. U2's world tour was the top-grossing trek of 2005, according to figures from Billboard Boxscore.1 Vertigo reported $260 million revenues and drew more than 3 million people to 90 concerts, all of which were sell-outs.

U2’s price strategy was defined on a worldwide basis for their tour. Ticket prices averaged US$90 (and down to US$49.50) on the low end and US$165 on the high end. As usual with U2, lowest priced tickets were on the floor: "The best seats are the cheapest, and we want people to get excited," said longtime U2 manager McGuinness.

The first North American leg of the concert ran for two months, visiting 13 cities, ending in Boston in late May. Vertigo 2005 arrived in Brussels on June 10th for the first of 24 scheduled European performances, finishing up in Lisbon. The band stayed in Europe through mid- August, and then returned to North America for another run of 30 arena dates. More details can be found on the official Vertigo site http://www.u2-vertigo-tour.com/ (see also Exhibit 2).

U2 played at the Stade de France on July 9th and 10th, 2005. Presale for U2 subscribers (a US$40 annual membership) started on the official U2 website on February 1st 2005 for the Intermediaries. These are allocated 10-15% of the tickets and re-sell them to smaller collectivities. The selling price to these intermediaries is typically 9 to 15% below the full price.

• Direct to consumers. The remaining tickets are sold at full price via various channels, such as the CSdF website, box offices, Ticketnet, etc.

Seating Categories

Stade de France has roughly 80,000 seats across several categories, including logia, VIP, gold (Carré Or) and up to four seating categories. The allocation of one particular seat to a category is done mainly based on physical attributes and location in the stadium, but it also depends on the nature of the show (see Exhibit 1). Logia and VIP seats are very comfortable arrangements, with access to a private bar and dining room, etc. They are typically sold to corporations as part of high-value hospitality packages. A further option, standing general admission (GA) tickets on the lawn, allows spectators to be very close to the scenes and have the opportunity to dance.