This has been mentioned by a few bloggers, but I think the topic is a good case study in investing in “growth areas” (or as I would call it speculating on stocks).
Olympic Final Hockey Tickets
When the Olympic Hockey Final tickets went on sale about 2 years ago, they were snapped up very quickly. Still, they were all sold (presumably) at their face value by the Vancouver Olympic Committee. VanOC made its money selling those tickets, much like a company issuing stock or an IPO (for a newer company). The profits have been made by the issuer.
Now we get into the world of the presumed value of the tickets, and what they start being re-sold for.
As the Olympics came closer and closer, the value of the tickets rose from their face value, to what folks are willing to pay for this Final Game, and I would assume that they started appreciating the day they were sold by VanOC. The appreciation may not have been much, but I am sure you could have made some good money simply “flipping” your tickets as soon as you got them. Â At this time there is minimal “risk” in this investment, because other than the Olympics being cancelled or Team Canada refusing to use NHL players, the tickets are worth at least as much as what they were bought for.
Speculation Time
When Team Canada was announced a month or so ago, that is when the value of the tickets might have started going UP and DOWN (i.e fluctuating), with all the Arm Chair GM’s looking at the roster and deciding whether Team Canada could make it to the game.
The big risk now introduced is, if Team Canada does not make it to the game, the tickets value drop significantly (possibly well below face value). Â This is what now will drive the value of the tickets. Canadians would go watch the game if Team Canada was going to win 100-0 or lose 0-100 (maybe not pay as much) but if there is no Team Canada your investment is going to “tank”.
Tournament Starts
Team Canada blows Norway out to start the tournament, and Confidence is high, so your ticket value is going up, and you are sitting pretty. No reason to sell right now, right? What about locking in your profits, because remember what happened in 2006? No, you decide to keep your tickets, and keep going!
Team Canada then plays a worrisome game against Switzerland to begin with and now the ticket value could go up or down with “experts” saying there is a chance this team may not “have the stuff” that is needed to get to the Gold Medal. Do you take your profits now, or do you hold on and hope for Team Canada to turn it around? You decide to keep your tickets and pray for the best.
Team USA appears with a hot goaltender and puts a beating on Team Canada that causes a collective PLOTZ in Canada, and the experts are now sure this team does not have what it takes and now some of your implied profit disappears, because now Canada must play Germany and then Russia to get to the Semi-Finals. Your ticket value has now dropped a great deal, and you kick yourself for not selling after the Norway game, when your value must have been at the highest, but you decide to ride this donkey to the end.
Canada knocks off Germany handily, and now your ticket value is increasing again, and that voice in your head asks, “Is it time to sell?”, but you are a gambler, and you know that if you hold on and Team Canada beats Russia (the experts are again saying this is going to be a rough game) your ticket value will rebound, so you hold on.
Holy cow, Canada obliterates Russia, and your ticket prices sore, with the possibility of a re-match between the US and Canada in the finals a real possibility (this would give you the Maximum pay back on your ticket, because not only could you sell to Rich folk from Vancouver you could make Yankee Dollars from Americans there too). You are on Cloud 9, thinking, all Team Canada has to do is knock off the Slovaks, and you will make a fortune, on your simple investment!
Here come the Slovaks and Team Canada is cruising, until that Goal and suddenly the market for your tickets gets a lot more nervous. That second goal and you are again panicking that you should have sold after the Russian game and taken your profits!!! OH NO!!! But, Team Canada pulls it off and you are given the added bonus of the Americans pulverizing the Finns, so here you have the ultimate appreciation of your ticket investment, Team Canada vs. Team USA in the finals, your investment has paid off.
Congrats Your Investment Has Come in!
Or has it? Should you sell the day before the game, or what until the day of the game? How are you going to sell it? Will you sell it to a scalper, or will you stand in front of Hockey Place and try to sell the ticket yourself (risking running afoul of the law enforcement agencies that frown on that kind of free enterprise?)? What happens if you don’t find a buyer who is willing to pay what you want?
Maybe you are a Hockey Fan and you don’t care what anyone offers now, you are going to enjoy what you paid for, and don’t care of how much money you can make (you will however feel smug when the two guys who sit down beside you at the game saying they paid $10,000 each for the tickets, or will you? Will you have non-sellers remorse?).
An interesting case study. What would you have done?
Very interesting indeed! One of my friends won 4 tickets in a row during the initial lottery. Face value, $740 each. He sold 2 for $6400 together.
I will ask him how he feels about not selling the other 2… but I loved watching the game on my new 52″ TV. Sometimes BEING there doesn’t matter as much. Especially when you can profit so much!
If I was in his shoes, I certainly would have sold all the tickets. Making money is more important to me than seeing a game live.
I wanted to know how much it would cost to check out the hockey game in the after market.
$38,000 was the highest I found.
There was certainly a demand.