USMNT @ Rio Tinto! Gold Cup 2013 too

I don't think it would be too hard to get an approximate number of tickets being scalped on the internet and before the game. Number of tickets sold - approximate number to tickets being scalped and the relation to number of empty seats. Obviously that is a correlation and not causation, but it would give an idea.

As for the Ipad comparison; if a scalper were to presale the tickets they were going to buy it would be a problem. It is not the same as making arrangements with a person to pick up tickets for you and paying for the "connivence" fee.

The idea that people are willing to pay for it so it is ok is misconstrued. If there are 100 tickets available at $30 a piece and a scalper buys 20 tickets, they are not going to try and sell them the next day for $100 now are they. They are going to wait until the other 80 tickets are sold then they are going to try and sell them. They don't create the demand per se but they take advantage of it.

Ultimately they are out to make a buck and they are taking advantage of a situation to do it. So yes they are taking advantage of people and thus gauging them. Should the people buy the tickets from them? No. Are they part of the problem? For sure. But the scalpers are the ones that are taking advantage. However, the only way to stop them is to not buy the tickets.

 

Okay, let's walk through this slowly, and then I'll stop going on about scalping and we can talk about soccer again:

There are two ways to pay a high price for a ticket: (1) You wait in a long line or join a fan club or whatever and then pay face value or you can (2) pay a high dollar amount. Either way, 'legitimate' fans are paying a high price. It just depends on whether you're paying in time or money.

Scalpers are trading time for money. Specifically, they spend the time and resources to get the tickets, and then sell the tickets to people who would rather pay with money. There's nothing illegal about that. You make this trade all the time.

Scalpers are not causing lower attendance. The tickets they buy eventually end up in the hands of 'legitimate' fans. They just do so at prices that reflect actual demand. If scalpers were causing lower attendance, that would mean that they are eating the cost of a whole bunch of tickets that they are unable to sell. If they are sophisticated enough to set up computerized system to buy tickets, they're smart enough to buy and price tickets in such a way that they aren't left with a ton of extra inventory.

Scalpers are not distorting a market. Free markets don't work when there are externalities imposed on third parties. Scalping is a transaction between two people that makes them both better off, and I fail to see any externality imposed on anyone else that might distory the market.

The fact that unique events represent a pseudo-monopoly is not an argument for making scalping illegal. Just because it's a monopolistic market doesn't mean that a secondary market makes things worse. I don't see any connection between these two.

It seems like a lot of the negative reaction against scalpers is that what they do doesn't seem "fair" in some sense. Why is it more fair to outlaw them and thus prevent people who are unable to wait in long lines or be on their computer at exactly the right time from buying tickets? What is unfair about a person willingly paying a high price for a ticket to a unique event? I just don't get it.

Okay, I've made my arguments. Unless someone brings up a great argument for why scalping should be illegal, I'll stop now.

 

A few years ago the Jazz and some other teams adopted software similar to what the airlines use to dynamically price tickets to games, and ticket prices could change even by the minute depending on how ticket sales are going, weather, or other factors. The main reason for this was to undercut scalpers so that the revenue they were losing to scalpers was kept by the team.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...eans-ticket-prices-will-vary-more.html?pg=all

Pretty much confirms what Ivensor is arguing. Scalping is just taking advantage of an inefficiency in the way teams set their prices when they decide on the price for all tickets without knowing really well what the demand for all tickets will be.

 

Wish I could double-rep this. Thanks for posting this, sokol. Perfect illustration of what all teams should do if they don't like scalpers selling tickets at high prices.

 

and it perfectly illustrates what scalpers are doing to teams and their fans. the scalpers are costing the team and hurting the fans in such a way that the team has to go out and develop these kinds of systems to undercut the scalpers. that proves the whole point that scalpers do nothing but cut at the baseline for everyone but themselves.

 

I don't think the scalpers are really hurting the fans at all though. If they're using a dynamic system, then if there is a rush to buy tickets, the price would spike and only the people that got in quick got a good deal, while the rest paid a higher amount. I would gather that as an even got closer to selling out, the ticket price would also increase. The only thing this system hurts is the scalper. It doesn't really benefit the fan unless they were able to buy a ticket during the times it was for a lesser amount.

 

Right. What this system does is take away the profits from the scalpers and gives it to the team instead. It's also maybe A bit nicer for the fans since they don't have the risk of getting scammed by a fake ticket from a scalper.

 

If the ratio were 80/20, fans buying as first purchasers to scalpers, then scalpers wouldn't be terribly distorting the market. But, look at the video I linked in my earlier post. (http://www.newschannel5.com/story/18609327/scalpers-get-edge-on-fans-at-eric-church-show) and you'll note that the floor of the concert went to the scalpers at about 60% or more. The guy in the story that was supposed to be representing the position of the scalpers was surprised to know that scalpers actually acquire that large a percentage of the most desirable seats.

 

I don't know. They may have a rough start with A-Rod and Texiera being injured.

 

Unfortunately I was unable to get tickets for the WCQ, prices were outrageous and now scalpers have gone into full effect charging your first born for one ticket, let alone three. Guess I'll try and see about flying in for the Gold Cup matches in July. Really disappointed to be honest.

 

Maybe you'll be able to pick them up outside the stadium after kick off (say 10 m into game) for less than face value...like the Jazz games, or maybe not.

Don't blame RSL - this is run by US Soccer and that's the entity that follows FIFAs pricing model and jacks prices up to begin with. I paid more than 4 times what I pay for my season tickets for essentially the same seats. I also know that friends and family have demand (more than I could supply) and so I bought 16 seats using the STH and USSoccer offers on consecutive days (8 tickets each time)...and as of yesterday I have over 20 people asking for those seats (so 4 of them are SoL).

Gold Cup will be fun. There'll be a lot of international flavor, maybe more. It'll be lower key. We can cheer for both Sabo and the US. I only bought 2 tickets to that puppy.

 

This year's Gold Cup just became much more interesting.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...ners-will-play-one-match-2017-confederations-

 

I'm annoyed with this. It kinda, sorta makes the two Gold Cups relevant, when all I wanted was for CONCACAF to cancel one of them. This tournament should only be held every 4 years.

So, thanks 15 to 32, you just made my shitlist.

 

Since I was only buying one ticket and was headed to Utah then anyway (my oldest daughter will start an intern gig with the Utah Shakespeare Festival that week), the ticket prices worked for me. Add a flight or make all four of those tickets come out of my pocket, and the prices might not.

Then again, we were recently in NYC and Broadway shows were more than twice what I am paying to sit in the upper deck at midfield. For my own personal interests, $75 would be too much for a Broadway ticket, while $100 might not be too much for a WCQ.

 

Does anyone know where I can get an XL Honduran jersey? I'm taking a friend to that game that went to Honduras on his mission. I've checked all the major soccer jersey sites but none of them have anything above Large available. Figured I'd check with anyone here before abandoning my search.

 

Honduran jersey? No seat for you!

 

I just checked--there are none available--sorry. You should abandon your search immediately.

 

A simple Ebay search found this guy selling an XL.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Joma-Commem...t=US_Soccer_Fan_Shop&var=&hash=item1e78a4366c

 

Let me help you and your friend out, this is really the only option:

http://www.ussoccerstore.com/us00m113112ab.html

Really? A Honduran jersey? I mean, I understand the sentimental value given the mission to Honduras, but COME ON. You live in the effing US of A, you are AMERICAN. Not only is it a challenge getting enough US support to these games, but having AMERICAN'S choosing to support the other team because of something like a religious mission is bewildering to me. Does his passport say United States of America on it? Yes? Then support the damn USA. Really isn't that hard.