Episode
What's The Reason For This Podcast S2E22 - David Weingarden - Z2 Entertainment
- Published
- Feb 3, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3417
- Processing state
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- https://rss.com/podcasts/whatsthereasonforthis/2515752
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Summary
🎧 This week on What’s the Reason for This? , Kodi and Shay welcome David Weingarden , Vice President of Z2 Entertainment , into the dungeon (virtually) for one of the most important ticketing conversations we’ve ever had — breaking down the real forces behind ticket prices, scalpers, bots, and why fans keep getting screwed. 🎟️⚠️🔥 If you’ve ever been 19,000th in a virtual queue 🧍♂️🧍♀️📉, paid triple face value for a ticket 💸😤, or accidentally bought from a fake site that looked legit, this episode explains exactly why that’s happening and who benefits from the chaos. Fresh off testifying at a U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the proposed TICKET Act , David pulls back the curtain on the ticketing ecosystem from speculative ticketing and bot armies 🤖📈 to deceptive URLs, unchecked marketplaces, and the massive lobbying power protecting the status quo. This isn’t conspiracy talk it’s documented reality. 🧾⚖️ David breaks down: 🎟️ What speculative ticketing actually is and why it should be illegal 🤖 How bots scoop tickets instantly (sometimes from overseas IPs) 🧑⚖️ Why enforcement, not just laws, is the missing piece 🏛️ What really happened when Colorado tried (and failed) to pass strong ticket reform 💰 How scalpers outspent independent venues 75 to 4 in lobbyists 📢 Why marketplaces claim “we’re just the platform” and why that excuse wouldn’t fly anywhere else 🏟️ How monopolistic control over venues, ticketing, promotion, and resale hurts fans and artists 🎸 Why independent venues are the ones taking the blame and the abuse for a broken system The conversation also zooms out to spotlight the human side of independent venues 🏠🎶 how places like the Fox Theatre, Boulder Theater, Aggie, Chautauqua, and 10 Mile don’t compete with billion-dollar corporations by throwing m…