Ticket Markets

This page collects my work on ticket markets. This market has been of interest to me for a long time, dating back to queues at Ticketmaster kiosks for concert tickets as a teenager, and going with my dad to see the Mets clinch the 1986 pennant with scalped tickets.

For my views on this market overall, the best place to look is my 2019 keynote address at the Federal Trade Commission. Also fun is the 2017 Freakonomics podcast episode, “Why is the Live-Event Ticket Market So Screwed Up?” My forthcoming research paper on auctions and “Bob the Broker” was a labor of love, even if auctions in the primary-market for concert tickets have faded from use. If you want to show your students that “auctions work” at discovering prices, check out Figure 1.

Selected Materials

Research Paper

Talks and Public Discussion

FTC Keynote Talk, How to Fix the Market for Event Tickets

FTC "That's the Ticket" Workshop on Consumer Protection Issues into the Event Tickets Market, June 11 2019.
PowerPoint Slides with Speaking Notes
Slides as PDF
Slides as PDF with Speaking Notes
[All Related Material]

Freakonomics Podcast, Why Is the Live-Event Ticket Market So Screwed Up?

Coauthors: Stephen J. Dubner
Freakonomics Podcast, December 2017.
[PDF] [All Related Material]

Press

How the Dysfunctional Ticketing Market Harms Artists & Fans — And What Can Be Done to Fix It

Coauthors: Taylor Mims
Billboard, July 18, 2023.
[PDF] [All Related Material]

Angry Taylor Swift Fans Push Lawmakers to Take on Ticketmaster

Coauthors: Andrea Salcedo and Julian Mark
The Washington Post, June 12, 2023.
[PDF] [All Related Material]

Beyoncé Is Going on Tour. Is Ticketmaster Ready?

Coauthors: Julian Mark and Bethonie Butler
The Washington Post, February 2023.
[PDF] [All Related Material]

Everyone Hates Ticketmaster. Is Everyone Wrong?

Coauthors: August Brown
Los Angeles Times, January 2023.
[PDF] [All Related Material]

Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster Meltdown: What Happened? Who’s to Blame?

Coauthors: Julian Mark
The Washington Post, November 2022.
[PDF] [All Related Material]

How Is This Legal?

Coauthors: Byard Duncan
Reveal News, March 2021.
[PDF] [All Related Material]

Podcasts

Market Design and Live Events

Coauthors: Tyler Smith
American Economic Association, March 2023.
[Podcast] [All Related Material]