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Dismal speaking tour turnout leads Clintons to slash ticket prices, offer Groupon deal
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Dismal speaking tour turnout leads Clintons to slash ticket prices, offer Groupon deal

NYT columnist asks What's the point?

Dismal interest in Bill and Hillary Clinton's 13-city speaking tour has caused the price of tickets to plummet from as much as $325 to as little as $5.

What was the turnout on opening day?

“The former president and first lady's tour opened in a Canadian hockey arena last Tuesday "to an underwhelming crowd and swaths of empty seats," the Daily Mail reported.

Ticket prices fell shortly before the event, and the cheapest seats could be find on Stubhub for under $5 in U.S. dollars or $6.55 Canadian, the report stated.

The Clintons are now dropping ticket prices by up to 60 percent. They're also attempting to drum up interest for a Los Angeles appearance with a Groupon deal.

On the “An Evening With the Clintons" website, tickets are still listed for up to $325.

The Clintons' tour is currently on hiatus and reconvenes on April 11, 2019 in New York City. Other cities on the tour include Boston, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Tickets for a May 19 appearance at The Forum in Inglewood, California — which has more than 17,000 seats — were originally priced at $77. Now they're selling for $35.

“Despite the site telling customers that 'tickets are selling fast!' with 'limited time remaining,' it appears that less than 450 discounted tickets have actually been sold," The Daily Mail stated.

What is the point?

A New York Times columnist called it "Curtains for the Clintons."

“What is the point?" columnist Maureen Dowd wrote. "It's not inspirational. It's not for charity."

Dowd also said the scene inside the Scotiabank Arena, the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was depressing. Although she paid $177 weeks in advance to attend the event, tickets dropped to two-for-one in one section of the arena.

Faced with a large swaths of empty seats, organizers scrambled “at the last minute to cordon off more sections behind thick black curtains," Dowd wrote.

“I get reassigned to another section as the Clintons' audience space shrinks," she continued. "But even with all the herding, I'm still looking at large swaths of empty seats — and I cringe at the thought that the Clintons will look out and see that, too."

The website for the Clinton's tour bills the event as follows: "Experience a one-of-a-kind conversation with two individuals who have helped shape our world and had a front seat to some of the most important moments in modern history. From the American presidency to the halls of the Senate and State Department to one of the United States' most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections, they provide a unique perspective on the past, and remarkable insight into where we go from here."

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