When the Rolling Stones hired Chicago-based perfume manufacturer Jovan Inc. to sponsor their 1981 tour, such corporate tie-ins were looked upon with derision in certain independent sectors of the rock world.
Now, such sponsorships are routine, and these corporations are playing an increasingly larger role in shaping the exchange between rock bands and their audience. The Stones took the concept a step further when they hired telecommunications giant Sprint as both tour sponsor and ticket broker for their upcoming North American tour, which begins Sept. 23 and 25 at Soldier Field. As part of the deal, Sprint announced it had been allowed to sell “some of the best tickets in the house” to its customers before the general sale for the first Chicago show and many of the other tour dates.
In essence, the company’s customers were ushered to the front of the ticket line in Chicago, and bought all the seats allotted for the promotion by dialing a special number. Sprint spokesman Mark Bonavia said the percentage of tickets sold varies, but said it could be as high as 50 percent in some cities.
When general tickets were put on sale for the first Soldier Field show, the remaining seats quickly sold and a second date was put on sale, which also sold out. When asked about the fairness of such a pre-sale, Bonavia said, “We sell a mix of tickets throughout the house, not rows one through 50.”
The Stones’ Mick Jagger also deflected concerns by saying, “It’s just another way of selling tickets and nothing to make a fuss about. I think it’s a pretty low percentage of tickets. I can see it might have been a problem if it had been 50 percent of the tickets of a smallish arena.”
