Not Even a Bronze Medal for the Command-and-Control Approach to Olympic Tickets in London

The Fan Freedom Project has been tracking the Summer Olympic ticket fiasco, here's a sample of links below that document how despite the high demand for tickets, there have been a lot of half-empty stadiums because of the lack of an efficient secondary market for tickets.  The economic lesson is that any shortage or surplus is almost always the result of a failure to allow market pricing, and/or preventing markets to operate.     

1. "No Gold Medal for Olympic Ticket Market" - These Olympics provide a disturbing snapshot of what happens when event organizers stack the deck against ordinary fans and try to stop the free market from working.

2. "The London Olympics Ticketing Fiasco" -- A San Francisco woman says she had a "carpe diem" moment (gotta love that) last week and decided at the last minute to attend  the Summer Olympics in London with her two sons.  She reports:

"Booking the flight and hotel room was simple. There was plenty of room on the direct flight from San Francisco to London. We got a great deal at a hotel. Getting tickets to the events? Not so easy."

After describing the details of her difficulties getting tickets, she concludes:

"My hope is that the next Olympic host city outsources their ticketing operations to Amazon.com, or another online retailer that knows a thing or two about high volume Internet commerce. And, hey, corporate sponsors and members of the "Olympic family," give us commoners a break. If you aren't using your tickets, be kind enough to re-sell them. There are a lot of eager buyers out there."

3. From The Economist: "Bring on the Touts" (British term for scalpers):  The author observes that "A command-and-control approach to Olympic tickets works no better than a command-and-control approach to any other market," and he blames the half-empty stadiums on Olympic organizers and Britain’s politicians "for refusing to allow a market in tickets."

Bottom Line: The market for tickets, like all markets, is a harsh mistress.  Attempts to ignore or circumvent incontrovertible market forces will be punished with severe and predictable consequences: shortages, surpluses, and inefficiencies.