REPORT: Sports Fans Saved $351 Million Since 2017 Through Ticket Transferability

A new report found that ticket transferability is essential, saving sports fans more than $351 million since 2017.

The report, from Sports Fans Coalition, looked at data of more than 34 million tickets sold for MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL games from 2017 through 2023, provided by Automatiq. SFC found that across all sports, tickets on the secondary market were sold below the original price more than a third of the time.

Additionally, fans in states where their ability to transfer their purchased tickets is protected by law saved an average of almost twice as much as those in states that do not protect ticket transferability or where teams, venues, or others in the industry can restrict transfer. Six states currently protect a fan’s right to transfer tickets, and only four of those have sports teams. In Colorado, New York, Illinois, and Utah, fans saved an average of $76 million between 2017 and 2023, averaging $19 million per state. In the remaining 26 states that have professional sports teams and don’t protect a fan’s right to transfer tickets, fans saved $274.6 million over the same time frame, which averaged only $10 million in fan savings.

Tickets resold before face value have generated savings of $29.17 per ticket, the report found, which fans can put towards the price of a beer or pretzel at a major league stadium.

Brian Hess, Executive Director of SFC, told TicketNews that “transferability doesn’t just help sports fans recoup costs when they miss a game; it helps price-sensitive fans find opportunities to make memories with their loved ones.”

“Fans can often find cheaper tickets on secondary markets than the teams offer,” Hess said. “Those savings are even enough to buy food and drink at the game. Lawmakers should protect the opportunities for fans from all walks of life to attend games by protecting transferability.”

Find SFC’s full report here.