The Ludacris concert Tuesday at 7 p.m. will be the most expensive event ever put on by the Student Activities Council, but many students are upset by the ticket prices and overall costs.
SAC, which spent “about $60,000” to bring Ludacris to the Michael D. Rose Theater, is charging students an unprecedented $18 for an advance ticket and $30 for a ticket the night of the concert.
SAC President Keith Ellis said that the committee has probably over-stretched its bounds this time.
“We are trying to feel our way through the concert scene and see what might be too much to charge students for tickets and what is just right,” Ellis said. “I think that this time, with the Ludacris concert, we might have pushed our limits a little too far.”
SAC pays for events using the student activity fees that students pay each semester as part of their tuition. SAC tries to make back about 25 percent of their costs through ticket sales.
“Bringing in a huge name like Ludacris incurs enormous costs for the Student Activities Council, and we try to recover a certain amount of those costs,” Ellis said. “In order to do that, we have to raise ticket prices so that we don’t take a total $60,000 hit.”
Although the concert is the biggest in history, it has not sold out and many are attributing that to the raised ticket prices.
“In raising ticket prices, we seemed to have deterred students a little bit more than we have in the past,” Ellis said. “Students seem to be willing to pay $10 to come see a show, but $18 seems to push their limits.”
Some students are, in fact, deterred by the ticket prices, and the total cost the university paid to bring Ludacris here.
“Paying $18 or $30 for a ticket is the only thing that is ludicrous about the whole thing. We pay student activity fees and these concerts should be free,” said Emanuel Campbell, a student at The University of Memphis.
Student NaTrika Hale agrees with Campbell and said she believes that the money for the concert could have been better spent.
“True enough, he’s a celebrity and he should expect good money, but $60,000 is a whole lot when we have other things that need to be fixed at The U of M, especially when we already pay for that stuff in our tuition,” Hale said.
SAC uses the 25 percent it makes from ticket prices to fund smaller events during the rest of the year, Ellis said.
“Students do pay an activity fee and we do feel that a good percentage of the money we spend on concerts should come from those fees,” Ellis said. “But, in order to provide a well-balanced calendar we need to make up some percentage of that money.”
The general attitude of most students seem to reflect the thoughts of student Torran Suggs who said, “I’m into rap and I’m glad that The University is having a rap act perform instead of the usual rock stuff, but I feel the concert should have been free for all the students.”
