Tenants' union helps BlackRock make money selling tickets

A tenants' union has organized an event whose tickets are sold through Ticketmaster, a platform in which BlackRock, one of the world's largest investment funds, holds a stake. The paradox — criticizing the power of real estate capital while paying fees to a company linked to that same capital — has sparked a debate about the coherence of grassroots organizations.

## An event with tickets on Ticketmaster

The controversy broke when it emerged that a tenants' union had put together an event and was selling tickets through **Ticketmaster**, the world's largest ticketing platform. The company is partly owned by **BlackRock**, the world's largest asset manager, with more than **10 trillion dollars** under management as of the end of 2024. In other words: every ticket bought on that platform generates a fee that ultimately benefits one of the funds that has invested the most in the housing market.

The paradox is no small matter. Tenants' unions exist precisely to stand up to the power of large housing landlords. For one of their activities to raise money through a company linked to that same capital has been seen by many as a contradiction that is hard to defend.

## The criticism of consistency

Reactions were not long in coming. Some recalled the benefit concerts once held in social centers, with free or at-cost entry, now replaced by a ticket-selling model that goes through a multinational. The criticism is not so much about charging for a ticket as about the channel chosen to sell it.

The underlying argument is simple: if the adversary is big capital, it makes little sense to fund its profits. The usual response — that Ticketmaster offers infrastructure a social center does not have — fails to convince those who see in the choice an abandonment of principles.

## The ticket business

Ticketmaster controls a very significant share of live event ticket sales in the United States and the United Kingdom, and its business model is based on service fees that in many cases exceed **20%** of the ticket price. That figure is no small detail: at an event with **500 attendees** and a **20-euro** ticket, the fees can exceed **2,000 euros**. Money that comes out of attendees' pockets and ends up on the balance sheet of a company partly owned by BlackRock.

The question left hanging is whether a tenants' union can afford to choose suppliers without looking at who is behind them. The answer, it seems, is far from unanimous.