Am I getting my money’s worth when I go to an event? It’s an age-old debate among punters that continues to get murkier as prices skyrocket and audience expectations change. Mitchell Hageman looks at how different events and experiences stack up when it comes to time - and cost.
This week, pop juggernaut Ed Sheeran is playing to New Zealand audiences for roughly two hours and 50 minutes each night.
When you add in the three opening acts, that stretches the concert experience to nearly six hours.
Sheeran is an award-winning musician, so at face value, you could assume fans are getting their money’s worth. However, comments on social media suggest some fans thought the gig was just a little too long.
Industry veteran and NZ Promoters Association president Layton Lillas says he thinks there is a sweet spot when it comes to concert length - two hours.
“If you’re going to play three hours, like Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran etc, then do the public a favour and start earlier, and don’t have as many support acts perhaps,” he says.
Decisions on timing are “always artist driven,” he says.
“But it’s never less than 90 minutes for a headline show.”
As we know, time is money, and while not an exact science, let’s look at the value of those tickets.
The cheapest ticket for Sheeran’s Wellington show tonight (D-Reserve, not including booking and other fees), costs $109.90, according to Frontier Touring’s website.
For six hours of entertainment, that’s $0.30 per minute, or $18.32 an hour.
There are plenty of factors when considering whether the price of a ticket is worthwhile including:
Then there’s also the question of expectation. In the age of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour (3.5 hours per show), are audiences expecting longer gigs and experiences in general?
Lillas suggests stadium shows are getting longer as artists’ back catalogues grow.
“Personally, I’m not into this at all. Make your shows to the point, all killer, no filler. I’m not sure how anyone doesn’t get restless from three hours?”
One thing we do know is Sheeran’s mammoth show was a far cry from rapper Travis Scott’s unusually short 70-minute Eden Park performance in 2024.
With no opening act except a DJ, punters who paid hundreds of dollars for tickets were left bewildered and short-changed.
The cheapest ticket originally cost about $180, before prices were slashed to about $60 after tickets failed to sell.
If we take the original price, it cost fans $2.57 per minute and $154.29 per hour.
The Herald compared other live events, calculating the cost per minute and hour.
We’ve excluded booking fees and gone with the cheapest tickets that were available upon release.
Set times for Auckland’s Laneway Festival, headlined by Grammy winner Chappell Roan, indicate punters will be milling around Western Springs for nine hours and 20 minutes if they want to catch a full day of acts.
First release tickets for the February 5 festival, which also includes acts Wet Leg, Pink Pantheress and Role Model, were $229.90. This all adds up to $0.41 per minute or $24.63 an hour.
The difference with a festival is the multiple stages with artist crossover and a bigger festival site, so one could argue the variety and constant entertainment alone are worth the ticket price.
Additionally, most acts are only performing at Laneway Festival, which means it will be the only chance to see them perform in NZ.
The controversial British comedian is charging $91.65 for the cheapest tickets to his upcoming Auckland show, and is expected to spend roughly one hour and 11 minutes on stage. That adds up to $1.29 per minute and $77.45 an hour.
If we assume you’ll probably get two to three jokes a minute, as well as heckles and region-specific jokes, it is more expensive per minute than Sheeran or Laneway, but what price can you put on laughter?
The two-hour theatrical extravaganza at Auckland’s Civic Theatre ($70.86 a pop) works out to be $0.59 a minute or $35.43 an hour.
As Lillas notes, two hours is a sweet spot when it comes to event length. No opening acts also means less time spent waiting around.
While theatre ticket prices have increased over the years, you will always know the length of the experience you’re paying for before you head in.
Is it better to enjoy the crowd atmosphere at an All Blacks game - or just stick to watching it on TV at home or in a pub?
While prices for the 2026 home fixture tickets are yet to be released, a Herald colleague informed me that the cheapest tickets at their last game at Eden Park were $100-$150 mark (note, this may change this year).
If we take $100 as a starting point, you’re looking at $1.25 per minute and $75 an hour for a standard 80-minute game.
You might even get some more bang for your buck if there’s extra time, and there’s always mid-game entertainment, so you’re sort of getting a free concert.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.