Elaborating on the amount Hamilton ticker resellers make

I was quoted in this Bloomberg story as saying:

At least $30,000 from every show goes to ticket resellers instead of the musical’s investors, producers and cast, according to Matt Rousu, an economics professor at Susquehanna University. With eight shows a week, that comes out to $240,000 every seven days, or almost $12.5 million a year filling the pockets of brokers, he said.

How did I come up with my estimate of $30,000?

Resale tickets rarely sell for less than $800 on ticketmaster.  Some sell for $1500-$2000.  The average price of a ticket from the Richard Rodgers Theatre is about $100-$200.  So that means we can conservatively estimate $600+ per resold ticket is going to resellers.

If you look at Ticketmaster, there are resale tickets available - and usually from 50-200 seats for sale for each show.

If you assume that just 50 tickets are sold on the resale market (likely way too low) and resellers are getting $600 per ticket (also low), you come up with an estimate of "at least $30,000" going to resellers.  In reality, it is probably much more.

Quoted in a Bloomberg story about the musical Hamilton

Link here

It starts:

The Broadway hit “Hamilton” is making millions. It could be making millions more if not for scalpers snapping up seats and hawking them for $2,000 a piece or more.

AAEA Workshop: The “How-To” of Experimental Economics in Agricultural, Environmental & Applied Research

I'm presenting Thursday night ... Free and open to public

I'll be presenting a very brief (trying for 6 minutes) talk on Broadway Economics Thursday night.  The event is free and open to the public, and there are three other professors who will also present (again, in 6 minutes or less).

Here's the write-up distributed by the Honor's Program:

The Honors Program is hosting "360 Second Lectures" with Professor Ramsaran, Professor Kelsey, Professor Rousu, and Professor Viker.​ Join us for an evening featuring distinguished professors sharing their knowledge on various topics of their choice in hopefully under 360 seconds! The event will be held on Thursday, April 21 in Degenstein Meeting Rooms 1-3 at 7:30 PM.

Hope to see you there!

Malnutrition in Cuba

I came across this passage today (link here):

... access to food is the Cuban people’s most pressing daily preoccupation and that many come up so short that, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, malnutrition is the plurality cause for hospital admissions in Cuba (41 percent).

My Q&A about Broadway Economics with ECNMY.ORG

Link here

I am excited about the new website being formed in the UK, ECNMY.ORG, to help make economics more accessible.  They published an interview with me about Broadway Economics, which you can find here.  Excerpt:

From ‘Money Money Money’ (Mamma Mia) to ‘You Gotta Get A Gimmick’ (Gypsy), the site features a stack of songs from many different Broadway shows, from Evita to Once, and provides ways in that make concepts like marginal utility a little less intimidating.

We spoke to the person behind the site, economics professor Matthew Rousu.

Price discrimination in cruise lines

The major cruise lines are great at price discriminating - charging different prices to different consumers based on consumers' willingness-to-pay.  (See my previous post here for evidence.)  I went on a cruise over my spring break and on the first day, three couples were discussing the prices they paid:

Couple #1: Inside Room (which is least desirable).  The total price after taxes and fees was $1550.  This couple booked their trip just one week before the sail-away date.

Couple #2: Inside room.  The total price after taxes and fees was $2300.  This couple booked their trip four months ahead of time.  However, this couple also got a free beverage package (all alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks free throughout the cruise) and several meals at "specialty restaurants".

Couple #3: Balcony room, $2900, booked 4 months ahead of time.  This couple also received the free beverage package and the free meal package.

Another interesting note - couple #2 called a few days before the cruise departed and upgraded to a balcony room for $300 more, making their price $2600 for the exact same package couple #3 received (for $2900).

Three couples and four different prices, all for the same trip.  The cruise lines are good at extracting as much as they can from their customers.