Uncapping Ticket Markets

The popularity of StubHub, an event ticket secondary market, has led several state legislatures to repeal price ceilings on the resale of event tickets. Some have criticized this repeal, arguing that prices on the secondary market will rise dramatically as a result, to the detriment of consumers. This article empirically examines that concern, using StubHub data on resale prices of National Hockey League tickets before and after repeal. This article finds repeal had no persistent effect on the resale price of lower bowl seats to NHL games and no more than a small effect on the resale price of upper bowl seats. Just as important, the supply of tickets on the StubHub secondary market increased significantly after repeal, to the benefit of consumers