Ted Talks Tickets, Other Stuff

Ted Leonsis chatted with journalist and financial guru Jonah Keri this week on Keri’s podcast. He talked about the business of sports, building through the draft, and using analytics to assess player contributions.

If you have 30 minutes and are interested in such things, head over to Keri's site and take a listen. We admit we were a bit disappointed that Ted didn't talk Wizards draft specifics, this being draft day and all.

One thing that we found interesting was Ted talking about the secondary ticket market. He likens himself to a venture capitalist, funding hundreds of small businesses when someone re-sells their ticket for a profit. He provided this anecdote:

“We lost in Game 7 of a playoff and this father and his three kids were walking up and the guy looked at me and he just gave me this death glare and said, ‘I spent $5,000 on my tickets and you guys choked in Game 7? And the beer was warm!’ I said ‘I didn’t get $5,000 from you.’”

A valid point, and of course Ted goes on to discuss some ideas he has for making his own money in the secondary market.

The problem of scalping does not have an easy fix.   We think something can be done about that warm beer, though.

Questions, comments or tips? Email Sarah at sarahskogod@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter (@sarahschorno).

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