Way to go, Stubhub

[Danny Boy®]

"A Suffolk Superior Court judge is allowing StubHub Inc. to proceed with its lawsuit accusing the New England Patriots of trying to monopolize the resale of its own tickets."

http://www.boston.com/business/glob...sales_suit_against_patriots_gets_green_light/

 

[Tunescribe]

"A Suffolk Superior Court judge is allowing StubHub Inc. to proceed with its lawsuit accusing the New England Patriots of trying to monopolize the resale of its own tickets."

http://www.boston.com/business/glob...sales_suit_against_patriots_gets_green_light/

It's a race to see who can be greedier, and the judge just fired the starting pistol. Honestly, StubHub is nothing more than legalized scalping and the Patriots should let people do whatever they want with their own tickets. Another argument for the fact that the Krafts SHOULD have gone with PSLs from the very beginning.

 

[fgssand]

It's a race to see who can be greedier, and the judge just fired the starting pistol. Honestly, StubHub is nothing more than legalized scalping and the Patriots should let people do whatever they want with their own tickets. Another argument for the fact that the Krafts SHOULD have gone with PSLs from the very beginning.

I agree with you Tunes....while initially opposed and thankful they did not, having value for my seats would be awesome. I think there would be more turnover as well as some people would want to realize a gain right now.

Plus, the "Pass it on" expense is huge. Right now my kids have decided that unless and until I fork over the $5,000 per seat t assure they get seats....I'll be Bernie from "Weekend at Bernie's".

 

[Tunescribe]

I agree with you TUnes....while initially opposed and thankful they did not, having value for my seats would be awesome. I think there would be more turnover as well as some people would want to realize a gain right now.

Plus, the "Pass it on" expense is huge. Right now my kids have decided that unless and until I fork over the $5,000 per seat t assure they get seats....I'll be Bernie from "Weekend at Bernie's".

People don't realize that ownership of PSLs is like money in the bank earning a higher-than-market interest rate. The initial outlay might be a pain in the butt, but their value appreciates significantly over time AND you can do whatever you damn well please with your tickets. If Kraft offered PSLs now, I'd jump on it in a heartbeat.

 

[SeanBruschi54]

"A Suffolk Superior Court judge is allowing StubHub Inc. to proceed with its lawsuit accusing the New England Patriots of trying to monopolize the resale of its own tickets."

http://www.boston.com/business/glob...sales_suit_against_patriots_gets_green_light/

Screw StubHub.

Does anyone honestly buy tickets from that scalping piece of crap site?

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I too feared PSLs when the stadium was 1st planned as my season ticket friend Frank wanted me to go in on them with him. I had the cash but lacked the foresight to see that they would be a growth investment. That was before I lost big 6 figures in the internet bubble burst. Frank had got his tix from his father-in-law back before the Kraft era. But now he can't afford to pass his seats onto his 2 sons because of the high cost to do what used to be free. He had written letters to the Globe on this subject which were published. Subsequent to that, every time I went to the game in those seats security would come ask me who I was, whose seats they were, how much did I pay for the. Meanwhile people around us had purchased EBAY seats and were never queried. Go figure.

Corporations can pass on seats from management team to management team with no hassle but private individuals are harrassed.

That criticism aside, I am greatfull that we have the Krafts as owners.

 

[DarrylS]

Stub hub, Ace Tickets are all just about the same, they prey upon us who were not smart enough to figure what was going on in the early 00's, now they will screw us for any penny we have. I know Stub Hub is just a broker, but it is just about the same.

 

[drew4008]

Screw StubHub.

Does anyone honestly by tickets from that scalping piece of crap site.

Many times, and it has always been a positive experience. Hopefully they can win this.

 

[SeanBruschi54]

Many times, and it has always been a positive experience. Hopefully they can win this.

OMG dude.

Are you serious? You pay triple the face value prices?

Next time you want tickets let me know i could probably get them for you for face value and you can pay me the ridiculous extra amount.

I cant believe people actually BUY those outrageous ticket prices.

 

[DaBruinz]

It's a race to see who can be greedier, and the judge just fired the starting pistol. Honestly, StubHub is nothing more than legalized scalping and the Patriots should let people do whatever they want with their own tickets. Another argument for the fact that the Krafts SHOULD have gone with PSLs from the very beginning.

Its not a race to see who is greedier. Personally, I think that StubHub (like any other ticket agency) scalping tickets should have the screws put to them.

That being said, something that people (and Stubhub and the moron judge) seem to forget is that the Patriots are the controlling interest of the tickets. They can chose who they allow in and who they don't allow in. And they can chose to no allow re-sold tickets into the stadium. And they can do it because their waiting list is so long.

Yes, the Patriots CAN monopolize the sale of their own tickets. Heck, at any point in time, they could turn around and tell ticket agencies that they are no longer allowed to buy tickets and that any tickets bought and re-sold by them will not be honored. And all the Pats have to do is make that announcement, put it on the tickets. And there won't be squat people can do about it.

Honestly, I think that the judge is proceeding with the incorrect lawsuit. He should have had the owners of Stubhub arrested for scalping tickets.

 

[Tunescribe]

Its not a race to see who is greedier. Personally, I think that StubHub (like any other ticket agency) scalping tickets should have the screws put to them.

That being said, something that people (and Stubhub and the moron judge) seem to forget is that the Patriots are the controlling interest of the tickets. They can chose who they allow in and who they don't allow in. And they can chose to no allow re-sold tickets into the stadium. And they can do it because their waiting list is so long.

Yes, the Patriots CAN monopolize the sale of their own tickets. Heck, at any point in time, they could turn around and tell ticket agencies that they are no longer allowed to buy tickets and that any tickets bought and re-sold by them will not be honored. And all the Pats have to do is make that announcement, put it on the tickets. And there won't be squat people can do about it.

Honestly, I think that the judge is proceeding with the incorrect lawsuit. He should have had the owners of Stubhub arrested for scalping tickets.

I agree with you about StubHub and other brokers, but the Patriots currently sanction re-sale ONLY through the team-managed ticket exchange, for which they charge a service fee. If the team succeeded in banning all re-sale except through their own service, only they stand to gain from it. But anyway, I don't see how you can stop scalping thievery short of making ticket brokering illegal. The only other sane solution would be to legally limit a broker's markup to a certain percentage above face value, say, 50 percent.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Its not a race to see who is greedier. Personally, I think that StubHub (like any other ticket agency) scalping tickets should have the screws put to them.
.

Why ? They don't set the price of the tickets for sale, it's done by the person selling the tickets. Stubhub makes a commission (10% IIRC) off both the seller and buyer. It's the sellers who are either selling for market price or greedy depending on your perspective.
I've used them for baseball tix (not at Fenway) to see the Red Sox in a few other cities and paid $5-10 over face value for great seats. It's afree country. If you don't want to buy scalped/resold tickets off of EBay or StubHub, don't because no one is forcing you to do so. If you eliminate brokers/resellers/scalpers and only allow it thru the team's authorized sites, what do you think will happen to prices??????

 

[pats1]

"Why Ticket Scalping Should Be Legalized" post by QuiGon coming in 3...2...1...

 

[fgssand]

OMG dude.

Are you serious? You pay triple the face value prices?

Next time you want tickets let me know i could probably get them for you for face value and you can pay me the ridiculous extra amount.

I cant believe people actually BUY those outrageous ticket prices.

Sounds great...I'll take four, lower bowls for San Diego and four for the Jets. Let me know what you can come up with.

 

[Vern]

I don't get it. "monopolize the sale" -- of their OWN TICKETS?

These are the property of the Krafts. They should get every last cent out of them. I have no idea why some free rider should get a cent off these tickets. They did absolutely nothing to add any value at all, nor did they incur one iota of "risk" as though the tickets were some sort of an investment.

The only reason there even is any resale value to the tickets is because the Krafts want to make them available at below market rates so that "blue collar fans" can still have a shot to get into the games. Naieve perhaps, but not at all motivated by greed. Stub Hub and reselling fans have no such defense.

If Stub Hub wins this, and the Krafts are smart, they just say screw you to idealism and sell ALL the tickets at full auction to the highest bidders from the get go. There are 60,000 people out there who will probably pay more than any of us who hold tickets now.

 

[zippo59]

Stubhub sucks. Their prices are ridiculous, often triple or quadruple the face price of tickets. I was going to buy tickets from them until I realized they were trying to screw me over.

 

[PatsSteve1]

As far as I know no one has ever been forced to pay a scalper for a ticket. And as far as I know the Patriots have always gotten what they charge, face value, for a ticket even if it was later scalped. So what are the Patriots really mad about? That they didn't charge enough for the ticket?

 

[QuiGon]

"Why Ticket Scalping Should Be Legalized" post by QuiGon coming in 3...2...1...

Well, I was planning to watch this thread from the sidelines but since you insist...

Scalping should be legalized because, ultimately, the consumer benefits from a free and open marketplace. It's really quite a simple concept to anyone with a high school level understanding of economics.

 

[PatsFan37]

As far as I know no one has ever been forced to pay a scalper for a ticket. And as far as I know the Patriots have always gotten what they charge, face value, for a ticket even if it was later scalped. So what are the Patriots really mad about? That they didn't charge enough for the ticket?

Exactly, why do the Patriots care?

Perhaps because they'd rather see the tickets go to someone on the waiting list, who has shown through their intention to buy season's tickets that they're a serious and consistent fan, than to someone who has a lot of money.

Further, they want to make sure that people buying season's tickets see them as a way to go to games, not as a business venture.

 

[Vern]

As far as I know no one has ever been forced to pay a scalper for a ticket. And as far as I know the Patriots have always gotten what they charge, face value, for a ticket even if it was later scalped. So what are the Patriots really mad about? That they didn't charge enough for the ticket?

Basically yes. They knowingly offer tickets at well below market value purely and only so that not only the super rich can go to Pats games. There are larger benefits to having a diverse fan base (tends to weather the bad years better and might increase overall interest compared to purely corporate/rich fans). But whether it's altruistic or driven by big picture revenue and fan base targets, scalpers completely defeat what is a very legitimate business practice.

I believe if the scalpers win the case, the team has three options:
1. Use technology to imprint tickets with the name of the buyer and check ID at game time. This would be the most full proof way of still maintaining a diverse fan base, but might be too unwieldy at game time. They could make it so that only one person's ID in a group of tickets has to match as a sort of compromise. E.g. only one person per six tickets needs to match. They use bar codes today as a precursor to this on season tickets.
2. Sell all tickets at true market values, possibly with an auction system in which every individual seat is sold for whatever it will bear (and/or including adoption of PSLs). This at least gives them the direct revenue that scalpers siphon off today, but dramatically hurts their overall objectives of having a diverse fan base at the games. Again, with legal scalping, this is a "make the best of it" option.
3. Some hybrid of the above - perhaps sell a limited number of "ID required" seats at below market rates to achieve diversity at game time, and then sell the rest at just flat higher prices. That way, the only tickets with the true resell value would be those that are not transferable, while all the rest would have been sold at much higher face value prices and wouldn't yield much if any net return on the open market.