In response to the high levels of ticket touts and traffic congestion outside the America West Arena, home of the Suns basketball team, the Phoenix City Council passed an ordinance early this month that allows touting, no licence required, to take place in a designated area across the street from the main entrance to the arena; everywhere else touting is still illegal. Thus Phoenix became the first municipality openly to encourage touting at the event site and to centralise the market.
The NBA All-Star Game on Feb 12th '95 gave the new Phoenix touts' market its first run. On game day, the police swept through the downtown area in the morning and issued warnings to touts not selling in the designated area. With the touts gathered into a one-stop shopping forum, buyers could easily gather information from all sellers. Some sellers simply stood passively with one or two tickets in hand. Others held signs advertising seat locations and prices. The professional ticket traders with large numbers of tickets aggressively shouted out prices and moved through the crowd seeking customers. In total, some 400 touts traded in the designated area in the five-hour period before the game; half of them were professionals, and of the professionals at least 150 were from out of town.
Present were all the trappings of a buyers' market. Prices for $100 face-value upper-deck seats that sold earlier in the week for $450 were fetching $300 two hours before the game and $150 at tip-off. One tout complained, 'We can't make nothing'. With supply and demand in one place, buyers shopped and sellers hustled - scuffle-free. It was reminiscent of the humble Wall Street beginnings of the stock exchange.
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