The Santa Barbara Bowl is one of our city’s greatest treasures — a nonprofit institution meant to preserve culture and ensure community access to world-class music. Yet for many locals, buying a ticket feels less like a community service and more like a corporate shakedown.
We, the taxpayers, grant the Bowl its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. That means tax exemptions and the ability to fundraise with charitable dollars. In return, we expect affordability and access. Instead, concert tickets often sell out instantly, only to reappear at astronomical prices on resale platforms — layered with sky-high transaction fees. The Bowl may not directly control resale, but by partnering with major promoters and ticketing companies, it’s complicit in a system that prices out ordinary Santa Barbarans…