Why don't we 1) make tickets non-transferrable (but refundable), 2) start pricing half the tickets as what the person will pay via auction and the other half as a fixed-price lottery? I'm not aware of many other ways to make things fair when demand outstrips supply so much.
Why does it need to be fair? It's a private business putting on an event that nobody needs to go to except as a luxury entertainment. It's not access to food and water. We don't expect that other limited luxuries should be available to everyone, so why concerts and sport events?
Surely tickets going to the people who'll pay the most is fair?
If you want to avoid a Hunger Games situation where only the rich and famous enjoy your product (the NBA and many musicians care about this) that sort of person needs to be provided for
Now some will argue this is not sufficient but the rub is, if your not going to support the team the full season then why should you have preference over someone who does?
So all teams provide for regular fans. However many people who do complain about the 'system' are fans of fancy, as in fans when the team wins and is in the playoffs.
There are similar passes and priorities for entertainment venues.
It's important to keep the sport seemingly accessible for the long term prospects of the sport.
Maybe if they charged market rates for tickets the taxpayers wouldn't have to pay for the stadium.
People would think it was very strange if BMW made available a proportion of their cars at a lower price, or if people got angry at swiss watches being resold at a profit.
It's not so much about the price as it is about the product being dangled in front of your face and then snatched away whenever you try to grab it.
This is apparently what Louis CK is doing for his latest tour. I ordered tickets and I have to pick them up from the box office with ID starting 1 hour before show starts. Or I can request a refund.