When in Doubt, Blame Ticketmaster

We will not be attending the Rose Bowl. Not only are we not the type to fly cross country for a sporting event, we are also not the type to sell our first born in order to pay for tickets for a sporting event.

One major contributing factor to the astronomical ticket prices for this year's Rose Bowl is that demand for tickets to the game -- which pits first-ranked USC against the second-ranked University of Texas for the national championship -- is unusually high. But, perhaps more significant is that the Rose Bowl has entered into agreements with two ticket outlets, Ticketmaster and PrimeSport.

While we realize this may be the future of national sporting events, the situation makes us a little sad. Tournaments, bowls, play-off games and other competitions like the Rose Bowl are a big part of (for lack of a better term) national culture, and the fact that they are increasingly becoming accessible only to people with Benjamins to burn is a really depressing sign of the times.

The last lot of tickets available to the public sold out in less than 5 minutes on Tuesday, which means that regular folks hoping to attend the big game should probably either start planning to liquidate their savings or sell a kidney. More information available here.

[image from http://s94614395.onlinehome.us/albums/2005-Rose-Bowl/Rose_Parade_utband6.jpg]