I can explain how they get those prices, from how Im led to understand these things work. Note explain,not justify.So as I understand it-
The vendor will get the concession from the venue, they will work out what price they want to make a decent profit after costs,say for a pint around £6. The venue though will take around 25% + VAT. The vendor will charge a price that gives them their £6.
A pint sells for £9 the venue take 25 %+ VAT leaving the vendor with their £6.30.
Thequestion is should the venue be taking so much of a cut,it also applies to band merchadise,a T shirt selling for £40 the band will only get £27.50 of that.
From what I understand this is common in most UK venues,including O2 academies, less so in Europe.
Baffling you spend £365m on an arena and then hire out one of the main things that make money on to a vendor. Must work though as they all do it.