National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) Issues Statement Regarding Scarcity of Hannah Montana Tickets

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following many media
 reports that ticket brokers caused the scarcity of Hannah Montana tickets,
 the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) (http://www.natb.org)
 today issued the following statement:
 
     "Whenever tickets to premium events sell out too fast or the ticket
 price is too high, ticket brokers become an easy target of public scorn.
 Due to misreported facts about recent events such as the Hannah Montana
 concert tour, the public needs to be made aware of how tickets actually go
 on sale and how many tickets are actually available for sale. Recent,
 inaccurate press reports lead the public to believe that brokers control
 the market for premium events. This is simply not true. You need to look at
 how many tickets an arena actually holds for a concert or sporting event
 and how many of these tickets actually went on sale to the general public.
 Ticket brokers are no different from stock brokers -- they buy and sell
 tickets every day. When the phone rings at a broker's office, someone is
 either selling a ticket or wants to buy one. The prices are set by the
 market and not by the brokers. Most importantly, the media is primarily
 isolating this to one event, the Hannah Montana tour. Ticket brokers take
 risks every day when buying and selling tickets. Unbeknownst to most, many
 times the market goes in the opposite direction. Every day of the week our
 members are selling tickets below face value for some event."
 
     The following are some basic facts consumers should be aware of:
 
     -- During the Hannah Montana tour, many of the tickets were not made
 available to the general public. For example, the Hannah Montana concert in
 Kansas City was held at the Sprint Center which has a total capacity of
 18,500 seats. Yet, published reports stated that only 11,000 seats were
 available for the concert, of which a mere 4,000 were sold to the public.
 The reason for this is that prior to the public sale there was a fan club
 sale. Additionally, many Hannah Montana seats in the front half of the
 orchestra for other concerts have been auctioned off by Ticketmaster with
 some tickets selling for over $800 on Ticketmaster's secondary market
 exchange -- TicketExchange.
 
     -- This type of act could sell out large stadiums and the shows were
 held in small arenas, driving a fan frenzy marketplace. It's simple
 economics -- the law of supply and demand -- and it applies to every
 business not just tickets.
 
     -- Demand for the concert has been so high that complaints over a lack
 of available seats prompted Missouri State Attorney General Jay Nixon to
 reach a "fair settlement" with Ticketmaster to release an additional 2,000
 tickets for the October 23 concert to the general public -- to a show which
 Ticketmaster claimed was sold out.
 
     -- NATB has always advocated that teams, promoters, and
 facilities/venue service providers accurately disclose how many tickets are
 sold.
 
     -- When the law of supply and demand dictates the price of tickets,
 consumers reselling their tickets on the Internet are a contributing factor
 for what the market prices are.
 
     -- Ticketmaster, a primary market ticket seller, actively encourages
 consumers to buy and then sell their tickets on Ticketmaster's secondary
 market exchange.
 
     -- NATB requires its member brokers to adhere to a strict code of
 professional ethics and consumer protection, including a comprehensive
 consumer grievance system. NATB's Code of Ethics can be found at:
 http://www.natb.org
 
     -- NATB member brokers offer consumers a unique, 200% guarantee if
 purchased tickets are not delivered as promised.
 
 
     The National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) was formed in 1994 by
 a group of leading ticket brokers, involved in the sale of sports, concerts
 and theater admission tickets, for the purpose of establishing an
 industry-wide standard of conduct and to create ethical rules and
 procedures to educate the public concerning ticket-brokering services and
 to serve the primary goal of the NATB, promoting consumer protection. All
 members of the NATB are dedicated to the principle of assuring the public
 that dealings with NATB members are conducted with integrity, reliability
 and convenience. To this end, the NATB has created procedures that permit
 the public to report improper and unethical conduct by ticket brokers, and
 to disseminate consumer protection warnings and guidelines. Through
 self-governance, the NATB has provided many enhanced protections for
 ticket-buying consumers. The NATB has worked with law enforcement agencies
 across the country, state and federal legislators and the NFL and other
 professional sports leagues and teams, to accomplish these goals, and has
 been vital in the NFL's fight against counterfeit and stolen tickets. More
 information about the NATB is available at http://www.natb.org.
 
 
 
 
 

SOURCE National Association of Ticket Brokers