Pro Teams Increasingly Dealing With Online Ticket Resellers

Some Question Teams’ Partnerships With Online Ticket Resellers

Nearly half of all NFL teams have relationships with online ticket marketplaces, an “about-face for some sports teams that, in years past, were vehemently against scalping, partly because it cut into box office sales,” according to Bill Ordine of the Baltimore SUN. Forrester Research senior analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said, “Teams realized they were either going to get involved or sit back and let it happen around them. It was a matter of deciding to either try to beat ‘em or join ‘em.” The Ravens have a deal with TicketsNow, and Senior VP/Public & Community Relations Kevin Byrne said, “The secondary market is a reality and a very positive sign that there’s such a demand for tickets. And part of it is that it has become a legitimate business through the Internet, and that it’s now gone beyond a guy on the corner with a handful of tickets.” But Ordine notes some question a team “initially selling the ticket and then profiting in a sponsorship deal with an online ticket service that helps sell that same ticket a second time.” Univ. of North Carolina ethics professor Jan Boxill said, “It does seem that the team is getting paid twice (for the same ticket)” (Baltimore SUN, 10/14).