It's a Buyer's MarketTickets are plentiful, and scalpers' prices are usually rightby Michael Bamberger
THE COP, a burly man dressed in black, was enduring the midday heat, sitting in a sagging golf cart, looking for lawbreakers, when a visitor broke his reverie with a question. "Just out of curiosity," the visitor asked with offending peppiness, "but scalping tickets is illegal, isn't it?"
To the cop's left and right, behind him and in front of him, there were men with signs in the air—tickets needed—and wads of cash in their pockets.
"So's jaywalking," the police officer said.
"Spenders" and "chislers" shop the busy International Boulevard.
photograph by
The intersection of Marietta Street and International Boulevard, outside the Omni Hotel, has emerged as the scalpers' bazaar at these Centennial Olympics. From time to time, the scalpers will tell you, the area becomes heated. But for the most part, it has been wide open. The cops have been gentle on the scalpers because there have been no reports of blinkers (bogus tickets) for sale. And among the buyers, there have been very few chislers (aggressive bargain shoppers), which is good, because chislers draw attention, which is bad. Most of the buyers have been spenders, and the scalpers like doing business with spenders. One scalper took a check—a check!—for four tickets to the opening ceremonies. The scalper bought the tickets for $1,400, cash, and parted with them for a $2,400 check. That's faith.
Most of the scalpers working International are professionals, traveling salesmen, believers in the power of the marketplace and in the value of their profession. They can be seen at Super Bowls, Indy 500s, major rock concerts. The workforce is all-male but otherwise integrated. There are blacks, Native Americans, whites, Asians working shoulder to shoulder, in the Olympic spirit of cooperation. "You want judo?" a white scalper asked a European spender. "See that black dude over there."
Of course, there's always one guy who has to louse things up for the law-abiding. According to the scalpers, there's a fellow in town, a former boxer, shaking down other scalpers. "He comes up to you and says, 'Gimme 200 bucks,' and you've got to do it because he's crazy," a scalper said.
Some of their activity is nearly legal. Georgia law allows the resale of tickets, but for no more than face value, and a permit is required to make street sales. Most of the tickets being sold by scalpers are offered for face value or slightly higher. Except for swimming, gymnastics and men's basketball, you can buy tickets for just about any event at reasonable prices. The scalpers make money because they have bought the tickets from motivated sellers, ordinary visitors unable to attend the events. The scalpers also buy tickets from major ticket brokers, who are holed up in plush apartments with thousands of tickets that they bought wholesale. How the brokers get their tickets is a secret. They didn't win them in a radio contest.
Back on the streets, there's Moose and Minnesota Mike and Knockout Pete and Jose from L.A. and a couple hundred others, trying to make a living. Business has been O.K. Working conditions are good. People are civilized. The opening ceremonies were a gold mine, right up there with the Masters. However, there are also tickets still available at ACOG outlets, and it is common to see fans trying to unload at face value tickets that they cannot use.
Many of the spenders are from overseas, unaccustomed to the American entrepreneurial spirit, pleasantly surprised by what they are finding. The scalpers carry schedules, explain how a round-robin baseball tournament works, know the important events from the duds. They give directions to venues. They make change.
"There's a nice spirit here," one of the scalpers says. He has a Republican haircut, new sneakers, shorts with many pockets. "The traveling guys are reasonable, and most of these guys are travelers. They follow the etiquette. If a guy is making a sale, you don't jump in there. You just don't do that."
A spender came along. The scalper said, "Let's take a walk." He showed his wares underneath the lid of a garbage can. No sale.
Moments later, the scalper was back on International, trolling. "I'm thinking about going to the swimming finals and diving," he said. "I love swimming and diving."
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SI Olympic Dailies
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