While we are on the subject of ticket pricing (see the comments to this Sports Economist post by Rod Fort), I thought I’d pass this little ditty along.
The practice of handing them (tickets to luxury boxes) over to lobbyists seeking influence has survived waves of Washington scandal and reform. When Wizards owner Abe Pollin built the MCI Center in the mid-1990s – following anti-incumbent rebellions earlier in the decade – he priced luxury-box tickets at $48, which it just happens was under the new congressional gift limit of $50. There are still loopholes galore for getting around such rules. But politicians, having gone shy, are wary of being seen in luxury boxes.
Erect a barrier and smart, rational people will find a way around it.
The quoted paragraph comes from a Wall Street Journal article entitled “As Scandal Looms, Politicians are Facing Whole New Ballgame” from the December 30th WSJ, page A1. You can access the entire article here at AOL Money & Finance.
My experience with luxury boxes is that they are rented for a period of time and the posted ticket prices for their seats are largely illusory, so there would appear to be lots of leeway in “setting” those prices.
