Scholarly
Several scholars have examined various areas of ticket resale. This page is a collection of research and news articles that have a wealth of information on ticket resale (a.k.a. scalping). It is updated when new research comes to light. I welcome suggestions for additions.
Note: Where it is possible to reference the research paper, links open PDF documents in a NEW window.
Hot Off the Press – Recent & Interesting
- Ticketing, bots, and the fair price ticketing curse
Pascal Courty. University of Victoria. (2017) - Pricing Challenges in the Live Events Industry: A Tale of Two Industries
Pascal Courty. University of Victoria (2015) - Primary-Market Auctions for Event Tickets: Eliminating the Rents of “Bob the Broker”?
Aditya Bhave and Eric Budish. University of Chicago (2017) - After Rocky Start, U2 Sorts Out Paperless Ticket Issues on Joshua Tree Tour
Dave Brooks. Billboard Magazine (2017) - To Learn About ‘Hamiton’ Ticket Bots, We Wrote Our Own Bot
Tiff Fehr. New York Times (2016) - Obstructed View: What’s Blocking New Yorkers from Getting Tickets
Eric T. Schneiderman, New York State Attorney Generals Office
Scholarly Literature
- The Economics of Ticket Scalping
James J. Atkinson. University of Notre Dame (2004) - Rockonomics: The Economics of Popular Music
Alan Kruger & Marie Connolly. Princeton University (2005) - Some Economics of Ticket Resale
Pascal County. Journal of Economic Perspectives (2003) - Ticket Pricing Under Demand Uncertainty
Pascal Courty. Journal of Law & Economics (2003) - The Welfare Effects of Ticket Resale
Alan Sorensen @ Stanford – Updated October 2009 - Ticket Scalping: An American History 1850-2005
Kerry Seagrave (2006) - eBay Auctions for Third Eye Blind Concert Tickets
Dennis Halcoussis. Journal of Cultural Economics (2007) - Establishing legitimacy in the secondary ticket market: A case study of an NFL market
Drayer & Martin (2010) - Buying Frenzies and Seller Induced Excess Demand
Patrick DeGraba. Rand Journal of Economics (1995) - Ticket Pricing
Rosen & Rosenfeld. Journal of Law and Economics (1997) - Towards a Positive Theory of Consumer Choice
Richard Thaler. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (1979) - Explaining Game-to-Game Ticket Sales for Major League Baseball Games Over Time
Multiple Authors. Journal of Sports Economics (2011) - Short Run Demand and Uncertainty of Outcome in Major League Baseball
Springer Science and Business Media, 23 October 2010 - Variable Ticket Pricing in Major League Baseball
Multiple Authors. Journal of Sports Management (2007)
Select News Articles on the Topic
- Facing the Music
Billboard Magazine (2008) - The Value of Scalping
Karl Case. The Boston Globe (2007) - Is the Ticket Biz Out of Line?
Paul; Farhi. The Washington Post (2007) - Scalping law? What scalping law?
Bruce Mohl. The Boston Globe (2006) - Multibillion-dollar industry pressures state to loosen restrictions on resales
Bruce Mohl. The Boston Globe (2006) - Ticketmaster vs. Ticket Buyers
Kent Smetter. The Wall Street Journal (2006) - To Protect Its Box-Office Turf, Ticketmaster Plays Rivals’ Tune
Ethan Smith, Sara Silver. The Wall Street Journal (2006) - Can’t Get No… Tickets
Steve Stecklow. The Wall Street Journal (2006) - Like it or not, scalping is a force of the free market
Charles Stein. The Boston Globe (2005) - The Price of the Ticket
John Seabrook. The New Yorker (2009)
Other Stuff
- Independent Review of Consumer Protection Measures Concerning Online Secondary Ticketing Facilities
Michael Waterson. Special Report for U.K. Parliament (2016) - Why Cant I Get Tickets? Report on Distribution Practices
Office of the New York State Attorney General - Understanding Ticket Brokers (PPT)
Joris Drayer & Stephen Shapiro. Presentation at Ticketnetwork (2010) - Exploring ‘gray area’ of ticket law: An interview with Jim Holzman
Boston Globe interview with Boston’s largest ticket broker (2006) - Restrictive Paperless Tickets, White Paper
American Antitrust Institute (2010)