Ticket Brokers: It’s Not Our Fault That Hannah Montana Tickets Cost More Than Your Mortgage Payment

The parade of finger-pointing surrounding the scarcity of tickets to the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus “Best Of Both Worlds” tour–a situation that has resulted in crying 11-year-olds, fathers lining up to humiliate themselves, and possibly flawed lessons on economics from the Federal Reserve–marched on earlier this week, when the National Association Of Ticket Brokers (it’s like the Elks Club for scalpers the “secondary market”) issued their take on the situation. And in their mind, the root of the whole problem resides in MileyWorld, the official Hannah/Miley fan club!

• 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.

“Large stadiums” may be a bit of a stretch (there aren’t enough 11-year-olds to fill every stadium across the country), but Cyrus does seem to be one of the few acts on the road this fall who hasn’t had to downshift any of her shows. Maybe next year, she can have a real “best of both worlds” tour where she tours with an act that caters to the moms and dads of fans? (Surely Maroon 5 would appreciate the help these days.) At the very least, it would help prevent all the parents chauffeuring their kids around from getting too blitzed while their kids are singing along with Miley’s every word.

National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) Issues Statement Regarding Scarcity of Hannah Montana Tickets [PRNewswire via TDS]