Bob Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, is getting tough on StubHub and ticket scalpers. As luck would have it, I met Bob Kraft a couple weeks ago at DEMO 2007, and we discussed the problem of ticket scalpers. Mr. Kraft was very serious about the problem and said then that the Patriots would get tough on scalpers. Little did I know that there were already lawsuits underway.
The Boston Globe reports today"Seeking to enforce their policy prohibiting ticket resales, the New England Patriots have obtained the names of 13,000 people who sold or bought the team's tickets using the online site StubHub Inc. The Patriots obtained the list last week as part of a legal dispute with StubHub, an online marketplace for individual buyers and sellers of tickets, over who can resell Patriots tickets and how. The team, which has taken an unusually strong stance against scalping, has indicated in court that it may revoke the tickets of people who resold on StubHub."
I applaud Mr. Kraft and the Patriots for getting tough on scalpers. This isn't just a passing interest. They have developed an in-house Patriots TicketExchange for season ticket holders to legally sell their tickets to the average consumer.
So, how did I meet Mr. Kraft? Quite by accident. I was at DEMO 2007 talking to every company in the demo pavilion. I was talking to MatchMine, a media recommendation service, when I noticed Bob and Jonathan Kraft standing next to me. The Kraft family is the main investor in the company and they were at DEMO to help promote the company. Michael Troiano, CEO of MatchMine, introduced me to Bob and Jonathan.
If you are a Patriots fan like me, you have probably heard a lot about the Kraft family and how they approach their businesses, including the Patriots, with deep family values. It is all true. They really do consider the Patriots, and indeed Patriots fans, as part of their family. They have built their various businesses based on close partnerships and honest family values.
Full Disclosure: While discussing the ticket scalper issue with Mr. Kraft and how difficult it is for the average consumer to get tickets, Mr. Kraft invited me and my family to attend a Patriots game. I gave Bob and Jonathan my business card never expecting to hear from them. To my surprise and delight Jonathan Kraft contacted me the following week and came through with amazing tickets on the 50 yard line. On behalf of all of my family, thank you to the Kraft family.
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How did the Kraft's get involved with a Internet startup? I know Jonathan was very involved with a few Waltham based companies in the late 90's early 2000. From the image it looks like you got ten tickets? That is amazing.
Posted by: andrew | October 19, 2007 at 02:21 PM
MatchMine is a great story. Jonathan Kraft was working with his Patriots team staff to develop a media distribution platform for the web. The idea was to quickly get video clips, photos, and other media out on the web where fans could access it. They in fact did that, but then thought, hey why not make this a media distribution and discovery platform for all kinds of media.
Some of the key developers thought about leaving the Patriots and going out on their own to build a company. The Kraft family, especially Jonathan, said hey, lets keep this in the family. We will fund you and help you build this out. You can actually read teh whole story on the MatchMine site. Hit the About button.
Yes, there were 10 of us, and yes the Kraft's are amazing.
Posted by: Don Dodge | October 19, 2007 at 02:36 PM
Don -
You really thnk scalping is that bad?
What typically happens with these ticket exchanges is that the tickets get bought for face value by "legal" scalpers that have a state licence (like Ace Tickets and Higs Cityside Tickets) that then mark them up 3-10x face value and make a huge profit.
Why should these companies get to profit from this and not the average consumer? Why are the Krafts going after the average fan/consumer and not the big companies?
What we really need to do is end the legalized oligopoly on scalping that the couple licensed ticket brokers have and just let the free market determine a ticket price.
Posted by: Mike Volpe | October 19, 2007 at 06:02 PM
Well, it is bad if the average consumer can't afford to buy a ticket. There are only two ways to solve the problem; change the law, or enforce the terms of use with ticket holders.
Changing the law will take forever. Lawmakers don't seem to care.
The Kraft family is trying to make purchasing tickets fair and affordable. The Patriot TicketExchange is set up to make it happen.
BTW, the Red Sox also have firm rules about reselling tickets, and have revoked season tickets from people who have violated the rules. In fact, I believe they make a public announcement at each game reminding ticket holders of the rules.
I think these policies are in the best interests of all sports fans.
Posted by: Don Dodge | October 19, 2007 at 06:21 PM
I don't believe the average consumer can afford 2 tickets at face value so the morality of reselling at a higher price is moot IMHO. However, I do think a key question to ask is whether or not the Patriots are generating any additional revenue through their in house ticket exchange. Is this simply a matter of transferring wealth from ticket holders back to the Patriots?
Posted by: Andrew Fife | October 20, 2007 at 05:37 AM
Patriots tickets are actually very affordable, relatively speaking. Compared to dinner at a nice restaurant, or skiing, or golf...pick your favorite thing, Patriots tickets at face value are a real bargain.
Patriots tickets start at $49 for standing room, $59 for upper deck. The most expensive ticket right down on the first rows is $125.
So, yes, I do think scalping tickets is a problem and a moral issue.
The Kraft family cares about making it fair and affordable to attend games. Remember, the Kraft's were season ticket holders and fans for many years before they bought the team.
And no, Patriots TicketExchange is NOT a scheme for the Patriots to make more money. My understanding is that they are exchanged at face value.
In this day and age, with people like Donald Trump and other arrogant rich businessmen, it may be hard to believe that there are still honest and caring executives. The Kraft family is the real deal. They really do practice family values in everything they do, in all their businesses. It is a way of life for them and everyone who works for them.
BTW, Mark Cuban, Ted Leonsis, and Steve Ballmer are wonderful down to earth people too. It is a small sample set, but all the billionaires I know personally are really great people. Maybe that is why they are so successful. You can't be that successful by yourself. It takes a dedicated team of people. And those people want to work for leaders that are strong, yet compassionate, aggressive, yet humble. It is rare, but these guys have it.
Posted by: Don Dodge | October 20, 2007 at 10:48 AM
It seems to me that the typical person who can afford to eat at nice restaurants, ski or play golf is upper-middle-class. What is the average income these days... Something like $35K?
When you factor in ticket fees and parking your looking at about $135, which doesn't include any food or lost income if the person is an hourly worker in a services/retail position. Thats big chunk of expendable cash for anyone trying to live on $35K (or even a household income of $70k) in a relatively expensive area like New England.
So I disagree with you about the affordability and morality of this issue. But I do want to clarify that I'm not knocking the Kraft Family. I don't know much about them and I take your endorsements of the Kraft's business practices at face value.
Posted by: Andrew Fife | October 20, 2007 at 05:18 PM
The only problem with the list provided to the Patriots is that it only includes names and not the activities associated with each name.
Stub Hub contcated me and told me my name was provided - I told them i never bought, sold, tried to sell or tried to buy any Patriots tickets on their website. They confirmed that my only activity was a "View" of a single game back in August of 2004.
Nonetheless, it appears to me that my name will be considered the same as any others on the list that actually have bought/sold/tired to buy or tried to sell and this is totally unfair as i did not violate anything in the season ticket agreement.
Posted by: DJ | October 24, 2007 at 12:44 PM
Someone pointed me here for comment...As a season ticket holder of multiple Boston sports team and a business person this seems to be about control. The Krafts are making money...and as much as they can, when they can. I call it the Belichick window of opportunity. "The Kraft family is trying to make purchasing tickets fair and affordable. The Patriot TicketExchange is set up to make it happen."
Please realize that this is *not* for the "average Joe". To be able to purchase these tickets you either have to know a season ticket holder that already handed over thousands of dollars for tickets, $40-50 a game for parking, $7.50 a beer, $12 "happy meal", etc OR you have to hand over $100/per seat to get your name on the Season Ticket Waiting list [last count that I've heard it is at over 50,000 names @ 4 tickets allowed and a capacity of 68-69,000 the math is pretty simple on the likelyhood of getting tickets]. Personally I think it is helping financing "Patriots Place" - the new mall being built that consumed all the parking, increasing the parking costs [supply/demand] , add about a 1/2 mile of walking to the game and making traffic go from a bad dream to a nightmare.
In the end we have to thank B. Kraft for building the facilities for the team, hiring a great coach and learning from his mistakes by moving aside and letting the coach run the team. But along the way, I think there was some vision lost of where he came from as the environment has changed in a negative way.
Now for the *real* season ticket holders/fans that go to every game. The problems will arise when the tide turns. The supply/demand for tickets won't be there and you won't be able to give the tickets away if it is impossible to go to a game [other sports teams in town have experienced this recently].
To some degree, you see this already for the night games with the ticket exhange as a number of tickets are available since people have lost interest of attending a game when they will return home at 2-3am! If anyone would like to go to a night game, just call someone that has access to the ticket exchange.
cheers,
J.
Posted by: JF | December 06, 2007 at 10:28 AM
As a followup. I was just notified that my tickets are going up for the '07-'08 season by over 50%! The average price of tickets across the board is going up something like 35%! I guess that is the price we have to pay for going 18 and Oh No...
In a sport that is limited by a salary cap, revenue sharing, etc it really makes you wonder if the Patriots ownership has lost sight of the average guy as prior to the ticket increase I believe the Patriots were already number 1 or 2 in the fan cost.
Cheers,
J.
Posted by: JF | February 15, 2008 at 02:40 PM