Lynne Kiesling
Jeff Jacoby has a nice column in yesterday’s Boston Globe on ticket scalping laws, and how they are being eliminated in some states but not others. He picks up on some of the same themes that Mike did in his recent post about how Major League Baseball has jumped on the StubHub bandwagon and will establish a formal ticket resale relationship with StubHub.
Another innovation I’ve seen is Ticketmaster’s online auctions of premium seats; for example, Ticketmaster Canada is running auctions for upcoming Police concerts in Toronto, for seats in rows 1-6 on the floor. Of course, this innovation is both a substitute for StubHub and a complement to StubHub, because auction winners can still choose to resell their tickets on StubHub. Mike wrote about Ticketmaster’s auctions back in May 2006.
I love this evolution, as an example of how technology can change the appropriability of rents in this market. The Internet and new business models increase the ability of firms like StubHub/eBay, the artists/sports teams, and consumers such as season ticketholders to extract rents arising from heightened demand for some tickets to some events.
Interesting side note: before last Saturday’s Cubs/Mets game here at Wrigley, standing room only tickets were going for $75 on the street. Yikes!
Thanks to Russ Roberts for the Jacoby link, and for his podcast on scalping that he links to in that post.