NCAA, RazorGator Share In Profits Of Final Four Tickets

NCAA Sharing In Profits From Resell Of Final Four Tickets On RazorGator

The NCAA is "engaging in a practice it once frowned upon: The resale of Final Four tickets at prices well over face value," according to Michael McCarthy in a front-page cover story for USA TODAY. The league's official ticket package provider, RazorGator yesterday  was selling hundreds of all-sessions tickets to the Final Four, some "for nearly 15 times their face value of $140-$220." Fourteen blocks of at least 10 tickets in the lower level were also available. RazorGator CEO Jeff Lapin said that most of these blocks "come from tickets purchased by RazorGator from the NCAA at face value." NCAA Dir of Public & Media Relations Erik Christianson said that those tickets sold to RazorGator "come from allocations reserved for public sale (22% of the tickets) and the associations use (10%)." Under a partnership that began last year, RazorGator "adds a 10% markup, bundles in other goodies such as pregame parties, then sells the tickets" on their Web site. NCAA Senior VP/Basketball & Business Strategies Greg Shaheen said that the NCAA "allows RazorGator to purchase an undisclosed number of tickets." Lapin said that the NCAA and RazorGator then "split the revenue from the online ticket sales." Lapin declined to say what the split is. He said that most of the large blocks are "purchased by corporate clients." Lapin "expects many fans of eliminated teams to sell their unused tickets through RazorGator's online Fan2Fan Ticket Exchange" (USA TODAY, 3/19).