Posted on 09/16/2004 8:35:05 AM PDT by Horatio Gates
LOS ANGELES -- Spending nearly $25,000 for baseball tickets seemed like a worthy investment to Michael Mahan, considering the 700th home run ball crushed by Barry Bonds will likely fetch a much higher price.
But it appears Bonds will reach that historic milestone in the coming days so Mahan, a lifelong Los Angeles Dodger fan, has been selling most of those tickets in the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium.
Mahan, 28, decided six months ago to purchase every seat in the Bonds-friendly section of Dodger Stadium for two of the last three games against the San Francisco Giants in October. He was hoping that Bonds would join only Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron in the 700 home run club.
Mahan has been reselling most of the 6,458 tickets for as much as $15 each -- much more than the $3.50 the Dodgers front office gave him as part of a standard group-discount rate.
"An individual found a way to manipulate the system, and it won't happen again," Gary Miereanu, the Dodgers' vice president of communications, told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.
Mahan said he sold tickets through his Web site at $15 each and said he sold 3,000 tickets to a broker for less than $15 each but declined to disclose the exact price. He donated 400 tickets to charity and said he gave about 300 to family and friends.
"I haven't done the numbers. I'm not going to lose money," he said.
Mahan, an investment banker, has even taken it one step further. He has required every ticket buyer to sign an eight-page contract compelling them to hand over to him any Bonds home run ball they might catch. He would then sell the ball and split the money evenly with the fan who caught it, according to the contract.
The only people in the right-field pavilion free of legal constraints at the two games will be Mahan's parents, two sisters and 8-year-old brother.
"If one of them gets it, I'm just as happy," Mahan said. "I'm sure they'll want to give it to me."
The Dodgers have threatened to let fans into the right-field pavilion for free if 20 percent or more of Mahan's seats are unoccupied on the game days.
"It's irrelevant because they're going to be 100 percent full," Mahan said.
Free enterprise at its finest!
The Dodgers must be commies
Obiter: The first place to find the scalpers at Maple Leaf Gardens was right under the "NO SCALPERS" signs.
Ingenious. Good for him!
"Mahan, an investment banker, has even taken it one step further. He has required every ticket buyer to sign an eight-page contract compelling them to hand over to him any Bonds home run ball they might catch. He would then sell the ball and split the money evenly with the fan who caught it, according to the contract. "
We live in a nominally market economy, so he CAN do what he wants if not specifically excluded by his own purchase contract from the dodgers, BUT....
he comes across as a prick.
He is selling tickets at a loss at giving some to charity and family. No scalping that i can see.
GOD i LOVE THE FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM. That is why america can never fail. It has an inbedded genius not available to any other nation.
the dodgers will cram that area full of security so he can't get the ball (ps. i wish i had that sort of money to waste)
I would think the only way they could would be to put language on the ticket making it impossible to put the kind of binding contract he is requiring for purchase.
Mahan has been reselling most of the 6,458 tickets for as much as $15 each -- much more than the $3.50 the Dodgers front office gave him as part of a standard group-discount rate.
$3.50 for a seat?
You cannot even get a hot dog for that at Fenway Park in Boston.
My guess. The Dodgers management will order the coach to walk Bonds at every at bat.
Nothing. Both are engaging in voluntary trade.
Yes, he does, but they should hire this guy.
WOw...now that's thinking ahead!!!!
Free Market at work.
Some of the teams are getting smarter about the market by charging different prices for different games. You'll see more of this in the future.
For instance, the Anaheim Angels could charge a higher price for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday games than they would sell the same seat for a M, T, W or Th game. Also, they could charge a higher price for when the Yankees come to town than when the Royals come to town. It's called Supply and Demand - the supply for each game is approximately 43,000, but the demand fluctuates depending on the day of the week or who's playing.
Read the article again. He's not selling them at a loss. The tickets are $3.50, and he's selling some for $15, and others for somewhat less, but still more than he paid for them.
It's a pretty spiffy scheme, but WoofDog is correct: it makes Mahan look like a prick.
I have a fond memory of chowing down on Dodger Dogs at Chavez Ravine.
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