Anyone who has ever been to a concert or a game knows the pain of paying top-dollar prices for tickets through the venue or monopoly-like distribution companies such as Ticketmaster. There are few ways to get around these prices; buying from scalpers is always risky due to problems with counterfeiting and highly inflated prices. With Ticketmaster’s recent merge with Live Nation, the cost of attending events has risen significantly, with few alternatives for obtaining low-budget seats.
Recently, legislation on Beacon Hill is under consideration that would deregulate the market for secondary sale of tickets. A proposed bill from Brighton Representative Michael Moran would render the secondary market completely legal and open up the market for more consumer-friendly prices and practices.
The Boston Red Sox are in a partnership with Ace Ticket and StubHub, two major ticket resellers, but market deregulation would open up the reselling business even more and level the playing field for fans on a budget. According to The Boston Globe, Red Sox fans pay the highest average face-value ticket price in the league, somewhere around $53.38 per ticket. Many fans are forced to pay these prices because of the absence of veritable secondary choices. Since Ace Ticket has teamed up with the Red Sox, ticket prices have been lower because a greater supply is made available.
If fans are unable to attend games for which they already have tickets, they should have a marketplace easily accessible and readily available through which they can sell those tickets. Doing so would open up games and other events around the city to a variety of consumers from different socio-economic games. Things like baseball and live music should not be exclusive events attended by the fortunate few who can afford to pay through the nose for the nosebleed section.
Some are worried that a deregulation of the secondary market would backfire and drive up prices, but the bottom line is that is would allow more competition, which would make way for more affordable pricing. Additionally, if an event is sold out, there should be a variety of resell capacities so that those who wish to attend aren’t forced to pay inflated StubHub prices or turn to questionable scalpers lurking outside the park who may be selling “tickets” that are actually two-for-one photocopies at Kinko’s. A deregulation and subsequent mainstreaming of secondary ticketing would completely change the business of ticket sales and make it easier on both consumer and company.
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