Local 12: ‘Treacherous’ resale market inflates Taylor Swift concert tickets
UC economics professor Iryna Topolyan explains the dynamics between buyers and sellers
Local 12 enlisted Iryna Topolyan, PhD, department head and professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, to lend context as to why tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour are so expensive.
Swift will perform before her “Swifties” at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Friday and Saturday night. Per Local 12, fans thinking about attending one of the Cincinnati shows at the last minute will be forced to pay north of $1,000.
Iryna Topolyan, PhD, department head and professor of economics.
“I have never seen anything like it,” Topolyan said. “Of course, sellers are trying to extract as much money as they can, so, it boils down to them trying to sell it to the highest bidder.”
Swift’s partnership with Ticketmaster has created “bad blood,” with the latter’s dynamic pricing model adjusting prices based on demand.
“I would guess that we will not see tickets selling for much lower,” Topolyan noted.
According to Topolyan, consumers bear a portion of the responsibility for the high prices.
“So, essentially what we are seeing here with sky-high prices is the phenomenon of the transfer of a big chunk of the consumer surplus from the consumers to the resellers,” Topolyan explained.
Read and watch more of Topolyan’s interview with Local 12.
Featured image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Lindner graduate students shine in international simulation competition
November 10, 2025
Five master’s of information systems (MS IS) students took home fifth place out of 23 universities at the International ERPsim Competition hosted by HEC Montreal during the recent spring semester. The competition tests students’ knowledge of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and their ability to adapt to challenging business problems.
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.