Re: BIG NEWS on Pete's page

[Alan McKendree <amck@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 08:41:59 -0400
> From: "Schrade, Scott" <sschrade@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> What'll be interesting to see is how Ticketmaster's "auction" prices
> compare to the ticket brokers set prices.

It certainly will.  My prediction is that the really choice tickets 
will go for somewhat more to significantly more than the old brokers' 
prices.  IIRC, front-rows were going for $300 - $600 in 2002 
depending on the venue.  And if you think we're interested in that, 
imagine how the band and management feel :-).

> Or will the ticket brokers just dominate the auctions & then sell the
> tickets at a humongous set price: say, $4000.00 (!) for a front row seat?

I'm saying brokers will not dominate. Just because a broker sticks a 
$4,000 price tag on a front row seat doesn't mean he's going to get 
it. In general a broker will have to outbid all of their own 
potential customers to acquire the tickets at an auction.  There 
might be instances where a broker gets lucky but he'd have to find a 
customer who 1) for whatever reason could not pay more than the 
broker paid at the auction, but then 2) later is able and willing to 
pay more than the broker paid.  Trying to resell tickets at MORE than 
you paid, when you've already obviously paid more at the auction than 
your customers are willing to pay, is not a workable business model.

Having said that, this auction business is a real double-edged sword. 
In the past, we fans had a chance, somewhat like winning the lottery, 
to get the best tickets through Ticketmaster, even though the face 
value was clearly less than market.  Those who didn't get lucky in 
that way could buy from brokers (who I admit frequently had back-door 
connections of some sort).  The brokers charged what the market would 
bear, but the other side of the coin was that they bought the tix to 
resell, not to keep, so they had to adjust their prices as needed to 
sell all their stock.  With auctions, however, you're bidding in the 
heat of the moment against every other crazed fan in the area with 
money to burn, and the fan is typically bidding on a ticket or two to 
keep and use, not dozens to get rid of later -- so once the auction 
ends, 98% of the best tickets are simply off the market.  Net result 
is that IMO excellent tickets will be harder to acquire even though 
everyone has a fair shot at them.

Cheers,
--
Alan
"the average Texan...carries not just a gun but a SHOTGUN."
    --Pete Townshend, 1967