Plenty of seats still available for Bill Cosby show May 2 at Cobb Energy

Tom Rowland, director of marketing for Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, where Cosby is scheduled to perform May 2, declined to comment about the Cosby show in any way. He said he's been instructed to say nothing or even address if people have requested refunds, how many have done so or even if the venue is accepting refunds.

Tickets for the Cobb Cosby show went on sale last October 17, the day after comic Hannibal Burruss' joked on stage in Philadelphia about Cosby being a rapist, which went viral soon after. But it took a couple of weeks for the fuel to build and more women to come forward making accusations against him.

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre managing director Michael Taormina sent me this email, without addressing refunds or demand.

There are ways to gauge demand for an upcoming show online. In some cases now, you can see an entire map of the venue, providing visual info on which seats are available and which are not. This would enable you to pick  your seats, with instant knowledge of how full the place would be if the event were to be held today.

That is not the case with Cosby but based on my research, I'd say demand is middling at best. You can still buy good seats on the floor 20 rows back at face value, without having to go to a third party such as Stubhub. And even on Stubhub, you can nab tickets below or at face value, a sign of slack demand because most people on Stubhub are typically trying to make a profit.

The map on the Ticketmaster website for Cosby's show will not tell you exactly which seats are still open. Rather, Ticketmaster will offer you the "best possible" seats based on the number of tickets you need.

For a single ticket Thursday, I was able to nab $71 tickets in Row H orchestra, which is 13th row. When I asked for two tickets, I was able to get Row R orchestra. That's about 20 rows back on the floor in the center, which are pretty good seats. With three tickets, I was pushed to the side in Row V, 21 rows back. For eight seats in a row, I was pushed to the mezzanine six rows back.

All the higher-end tickets at $91.50 were sold out though I'm not sure what the inventory was for the higher-priced seats.

There are 2,750 potential seats to be sold.

On Stubhub, as of 4:50 p.m. Thursday, there were 219 tickets available there. People were selling tickets from $59 to $258. Many were selling their tickets at or even below cost though many were still seeking a premium. A majority of the tickets are being sold in the orchestra area, not mezzanine or grand tier. In fact, there are only six tickets available in grand tier, which generally means that area is largely empty.

The show is still more than 13 weeks away so demand could heat up as the date gets closer. But if it doesn't, Stubhub might see prices drop even more.

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

For comparison, there are two other stand-up comics on the Cobb Energy bill in coming months: Lewis Black and Ron White.

Black, at Cobb May 1, is selling tickets for $48.20 to $86.65. His Ticketmaster site enables you see how many tickets have been sold. Based on the map, it appears about half sold.

On Stubhub, 160 tickets are for sale, with people asking from $81 to $205, most if not all above face value.

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

White, who is holding two shows at Cobb Energy on March 28, appears to have sold 75 percent of his tickets for the early show and his 9:30 p.m. show appears virtually sold out.

His regular pricing for his tickets were broader than Cosby: ($62.80 after fees to $210.75 in the front row).

The early show has 222 tickets available at Stubhub at prices ranging from $90 to $198 (14th row).

There are only 77 tickets available on the ticket site for the more popular 9:30 show with prices ranging from $100 to $212.