Sporticast: A Secret World Cup Ticket Market

(Lorenzo Gordon)

On the 552nd Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the financial impact of this New York Knicks playoff run and World Cup tickets.

The Knicks are a rare major U.S. sports team owned by a publicly-traded company, which means there’s more public data on the team’s economics than with most other NBA franchises. With the Knicks now eight wins away from their first NBA title since 1973, analysts and investors are starting to take stock of what this playoff run might be worth.

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The hosts talk about why a trip to the NBA finals might be worth $140 million in added revenue for the Knicks. They also discuss why the NBA is uniquely structured to give playoff teams a larger piece of the money they generate from postseason ticket sales. They also debate the hierarchy of Madison Square Garden’s limited celebrity courtside seats, whose regulars include director Spike Lee, comedian Tracy Morgan, actor Timothée Chalamet and model Kendall Jenner.

Next they talk about the World Cup ticketing controversy. The price for tickets has become the enduring story of the World Cup so far, but the market is more complex than many fans realize. They talk about how FIFA appears to have approached the event in the U.S., what’s made people so angry, and what might happen next. Will the governing body lower prices, will fans eventually buy the remaining seats at current levels, or will FIFA find a subtle way to move tickets into the secondary market?