Ticketmaster Deal Leaves Kennedy Center Without a Ticket Plan for December Gala

Washington, D.C. residents are still waiting for tickets to the Kennedy Center Honors, an annual December gala that has operated without interruption since 1978. The event is scheduled for Dec. 7 at Capital One Arena and will honor five artists, including songwriter Paul Anka and actor Andy Garcia. As of Nov. 11, the center had only posted a submission form on its website for interested buyers.

Staffers say the delay stems from a major change in how the institution sells tickets. The Kennedy Center is replacing Tessitura, a nonprofit platform it has used for decades, with Ticketmaster. The switch was negotiated while Richard Grenell served as the center's president. During that same period, Grenell held a paid board position at Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster.

According to SEC filings, Grenell received $260,205 in salary and stock for his work on the Live Nation board in 2025. That compensation was significantly higher than what the Kennedy Center reported paying him. The center's recent tax filings state that Grenell was paid nothing for his role as president. The Kennedy Center declined to comment on these concurrent positions or the financial interests involved.

Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School, noted that serving as an officer for one entity while holding a financial stake in a partner entity creates a conflict of interest. He described the situation as a problem because it involves duties of loyalty to two different organizations. "This is literally conflict of interest," Briffault said.

Kennedy Center spokesperson PJ Elliott stated that discussions about Ticketmaster began in spring 2024, before Grenell took the presidency. Elliott wrote that the center determined it had outgrown its previous system. However, current and former employees told NPR that Ticketmaster was not seriously considered in 2024. One former senior executive wrote that the center had a robust system with Tessitura and that Ticketmaster was "absolutely not negotiating" with them at that time.

Matt Floca replaced Grenell in March and has since leaned on new artistic director Rick Canny for business decisions. Canny, a talent agent, wrote in a March email that he had advised on the Ticketmaster deal for almost a year. He stated he had shaped many of the deal's terms and was reviewing the final agreement. Canny did not respond to requests for comment.

The transition has also involved labor adjustments. The center laid off its unionized box office workers earlier this fall. Canny blamed the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees for impeding the new ticketing vision in an email to the center's chief financial officer. He wrote that the unions got in the way and that Ticketmaster could no longer make money with the center under the previous arrangement.

Ticketmaster faces scrutiny in the market. The Department of Justice settled a federal antitrust suit against the company and Live Nation in March for $280 million. A separate suit by 33 states and D.C. resulted in an April jury verdict finding that the companies operated as a monopoly. Live Nation controls about 80% of primary concert ticket sales in the U.S. The company did not respond to requests for comment regarding the Kennedy Center deal.