Michael Giberson
It’s been a while since we’ve commented on the secondary market for sports event tickets. Partly, I think, the practice has become legal and common in most circumstances and the on-line markets make the practice more transparent. What was once a seemingly repugnant transaction has been normalized. Or, at least, it is becoming normalized.
At the same time, the expansion of the ticket resale market does have some effect on the one issue at the heart of the sports business: revenue. If you want to get up-to-date on ticket resales and baseball, Dennis Coates at The Sports Economist points to a story from the Sports Business Journal about StubHub, MLB, and other resellers.
Hey Michael,
Thanks for pointing out that great article by the SBJ. Unfortunately, until the process becomes entirely transparent, it’ll never really be “fair”. Right now, Stubhub gets away with charging people for their fan protect guarantee by hiding the identity of sellers and allowing the risk of being scammed to continue. The second that veil is lifted, the possibility that a bad seller will continue to spoil the game for others will decrease significantly. There are a number of ways by which a marketplace can effectuate a cleaner, more transaction base. One company that seems to be on the right track is Seatcrew.com They’re new and are just getting started, but from what i’ve seen, it looks like they have the right idea.
Keep up the great work!