Where are the tickets?

The text messages are coming in hot and heavy.

"Cardona in hospital–two balls stuck in his throat" read a message from a gloating Ateneo fan, celebrating the Blue Eagles’ 72-70 win over La Salle in Game 1 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s seniors basketball tournament at the Big Dome last Sept. 26. The reference, of course, was to Ateneo’s unforgiving defense that blocked two attempts by Archers star Mark Cardona in the dying seconds.

"Ateneo’s UAAP basketball battle cry in 2001–We believe, in 2002–It’s our time, in 2003–Now na talaga, in 2004–Sure na ‘to, and in 2005–Maawa kayo, kami naman." That came from a La Salle diehard after the Archers fried the Eagles, 85-77, to level the title series count, 1-1, at the Araneta Coliseum last Sunday.

So it’s down to a final game for all the marbles tomorrow. Do or die, winner take all, sudden death, and all that. La Salle versus Ateneo. The dream matchup for the championship. Will it be five in a row for Archers coach Franz Pumaren? Or will Ateneo’s rookie coach Joel Banal finally end La Salle’s winning streak?

The other day, the Big Dome’s ticket booth opened to a long queue that lined up as early as six in the morning. A source said a fight broke out among enterprising early risers who’re looking to make a killing by scalping the hottest tix in town. No honor among thieves, that’s for sure. Scalping is big business when the demand for tickets far exceeds the supply.

My pal Lito Tanjuatco, president of the La Salle Alumni Association, says he expects scalpers to laugh all the way to the bank tomorrow. The only way to stop scalpers from preying on the poor paying public is to control the distribution of tickets. The trick is to make sure the tickets get to the right hands.

Let’s try to figure out where the tickets went or are going.

First, let’s establish the Big Dome’s seating capacity. There are 1,130 patron seats, 958 for lower box, 3,727 for upper box A (with Standing Room Only tickets), and 6,096 for upper box B (with SRO). That’s a capacity of 11,911–not counting general admission. For basketball, the coliseum should be able to take in over 17,000 fans.

Tomorrow’s bill features two games–La Salle versus Adamson in the women’s finals and La Salle versus Ateneo in the men’s finals. Under the UAAP formula, the participating schools split 464 patron seats–40 percent of the total–or 116 each. Since La Salle is playing in two games, its take is double or 232.

Here’s how the patron seats were supposedly distributed–La Salle 232, Ateneo 116, Adamson 116, ABS-CBN 50, Malacanang 30, Gatorade 25, UAAP directors 40, and Araneta Coliseum 226. There’s a balance of 295 unaccounted for. Gatorade officials said they never got 25 tickets so those are unaccounted for, too.

Patron tickets sell for P200 apiece at face value. Scalpers are asking P3,000 each and there are hundreds of takers. Assuming a conservative estimate of 250 patron tickets in the black market, scalpers could gross as much as P750,000 for tomorrow’s show.

In the lower box section, the distribution was as follows–La Salle 2l6, Ateneo 108, Adamson 108, ABS-CBN 50, Malacanang 30, UAAP directors 40, and Araneta Coliseum 191. A balance of 215 is unaccounted for. A lower box seat sells for P150 each and the black market tag is P2,000. Assuming 200 lower box seats are peddled by scalpers, their gross could add up to P400,000.

In upper box A, the distribution was–La Salle 850, Ateneo 425, Adamson 425, UAAP directors 80, and Araneta Coliseum 745. A balance of 1,202 is unaccounted for. Assuming 1,000 upper box A tickets are sold by scalpers, they could rake in P1 Million from their sales. A P100 upper box A ticket is going for P1,000 in the black market.

In upper box B, the distribution was–La Salle 1,780, Ateneo 890, Adamson 890, and Araneta Coliseum 1,219. A balance of 1,317 is unaccounted for. Each ticket sells for P50 and it would be safe to assume scalpers are hawking at P500 apiece. Assuming 1,000 upper box B tickets are sold by scalpers, their take could total as much as P500,000.

Tanjuatco admits his distribution figures are unverified but he insists they’re reasonable and conservative estimates, based on allocations in past games. If Tanjuatco’s figures are accurate, scalpers could haul in at least P2.6 Million for tomorrow’s games.

Who are being prejudiced by scalpers? The paying public, that’s who. Students cough up their allowance money to buy tickets and cheer their schools in the stands. What kind of example are we showing the youth if we tolerate scalping? You can argue that it’s a free country and fans could opt not to patronize the scalpers. So should we now open our doors to smugglers, swindlers, and pirates, too?

Scalping is against the law but you and I know, it’s alive and well when there’s a hot show in town.