It’s worse than that.

The venue contracts with Ticketmaster to hike all the fees and shit, which then get kicked back in some percentage to the venue (and sometimes the band) and Ticketmaster takes the heat.

So the 50% that goes to “Ticketmaster” may be 80% to the venue.

Ticketmaster actually kicks money back to the venue?

I thought their business model was to bankrupt venues and then buy them at auction.

They're a liability sink. It's good business!