Kid Rock Teams-Up with Live Nation Just Weeks After Testifying Against Them in Senate
Kid Rock announced he will be teaming-up with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, locking tickets purchased to his upcoming tour to…

Kid Rock announced he will be teaming-up with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, locking tickets purchased to his upcoming tour to the Ticketmaster “Face Value Exchange” system – despite having testified before a Senate subcommittee in January calling-out their “monopoly” over the ticketing industry.
The performer and close friend of President Trump revealed plans to use the walled garden ticketing system on “Freedom 250” tour, which generally restricts transfer of tickets from one account to another and bars resale outside of the Ticketmaster-controlled system.
“Tickets can only be resold for the original price paid,” Rock said in a social media post, adding that this includes fees and taxes.
He said that if fans aren’t able to attend a show, then “the only place to resell is on Ticketmaster.” While he noted that ticket transfer is turned off “in most places,” this will help “stop tickets from being flipped on other sites for profit.” Rock added that some states, like Illinois, don’t allow resale, but “Ticketmaster will still keep prices at face value on its site” and “makes sure every resale ticket is 100 percent legit and gets fans through the door.”
“This isn’t perfect, but it’s a real step to shut down scalpers and protect fans. No extra cost to fans — same tickets, same prices, just fairer access,” Rock said. “Bottom line: buy tickets, go to the show and if plans change, sell them the right way so another fan gets in.”
This may come as a surprise, considering Rock just testified on Capitol Hill about the issues within the ticketing industry and called-out Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s monopoly. During his testimony, he told the committee that Pearl Jam had previously testified before them in the ’90s, and back in 2009, they were told that a Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger would benefit fans, with Live Nation’s CEO promising to “increase compeition and power artists and lower costs.”
However, Rock said that the merger has not been in the best interest of fans nor artists, as “the economic foundation that supported artists in the past is crumbling.”
“Piracy is threatening their livelihood,” Rock said. “Secondary ticketing is driving up prices for the fans with absolutely no benefit to the artist,” Rock added. “Needless to say, that experiment has failed miserably. Independent venues have been crushed. Artists have lost leverage. Fans are paying more than ever and getting blamed for it.”
Rock even asked Congress to subpoena the contracts signed, arguing that the deals between artists, promoters, venues, ticketing companies, agencies, and vendors would “find mountains of fraud and abuse.”
In a video message, Rock recognized that he’s been “hard” on Ticketmaster previously, but this is the best solution he can come up with at this time.
“The best I can come up with at this present time and the present state of ticketing that I am working tirelessly to try and fix, and as hard as I’ve been on Ticketmaster, I want to thank them for working with me on this,” Rock shared. “For this tour I’m using Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange to keep tickets in the hands of real fans and at the prices I set and to keep them out of the hands of scalpers, bots and bad actors.”
He added that “this program’s hopefully gonna work out” and “it’s the best we’ve ever had.” Additionally, he said that he’s set the prices himself for his “Freedom 250” tour, noting that “I believe they’re fair.”
“If you buy or sell tickets for anywhere but Ticketmaster for my Freedom 250 tour, you’re an idiot. Plain and simple,” he continued. “If you do buy tickets from another site, there’s no guarantee you’re getting in and most likely you will not.”
Rock’s 10-date “Freedom 250” tour will kick-off at Dallas’ Dos Equis Pavilion on May 1 and run through June 20, wrapping at The Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown. The newly-announced tour coincides with Rock the Country Festival, where Kid Rock will top the bill at most stops.
Find Kid Rock’s full list of upcoming tour dates below:
Kid Rock | Freedom 250 Tour
05/01 – Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion *&
05/08 – Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek *&
05/09 – Charlotte, NC @ Truliant Amphitheater *&
05/15 – St. Louis, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre ^
05/16 – Tinley Park, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre ^
05/30 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre +&
06/05 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center #
06/06 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center #
06/19 – Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Music Center #
06/20 – Burgettstown, PA @ The Pavilion at Star Lake #
* = w/ Brantley Gilbert
^ = w/ Parker McCollum
# = w/ Jon Pardi
+ = w/ Big & Rich
& = w/ Them Dirty Roses
Kid Rock | Rock The Country Festival Dates
05/01-02 – Bellville, TX @ Austin County Fairgrounds
05/29-30 – Bloomingdale, GA @ Ottawa Farms
06/27-28 – Sioux Falls, SD @ W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds
07/10-11 – Ashland, KY @ Boyd County Fairgrounds (no Kid Rock)
08/08-09 – Hastings, MI @ Barry Expo Center
08/28-29 – Ocala, FL @ Florida Horse Park (no Kid Rock)
09/11-12 – Hamburg, NY @ Erie County Fairgrounds
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