yOOnew.com Launches New Features

October 25, 2007 - 3:43pm —
Online ticket futures exchange yOOnew.com, looking to improve on its options marketplace for sports tickets, has begun allowing fans to “short sell” team options for championship tickets.
The site, which is growing in popularity with fans, has also undergone a redesign and offers real-time price plotting, similar to that on the financial sites of Google and Yahoo!
“Among the things we’ve been concentrating on is making sure the site’s interface is intuitive and easy to use,” said Gerry Wilson, yOOnew co-founder. Fans who use yOOnew are buying a chance to buy a ticket to the playoffs if a specific team makes it that far. The also pay a transaction fee that equates to a percentage of the price of the option, and of course if the team doesn’t make the big game then the fan is out the money they paid for the option.
For example, during a season, ticket options for teams with low odds on reaching the finals are inexpensive, and some options for teams with better odds might be more expensive. But in both cases, those prices are generally lower than what they might cost once the team reaches the finals. In the case of the Colorado Rockies’, for instance, options were selling in August for between $9 and $11. Those options are worth hundreds of dollars now.
The ability to short sell options, Wilson said, lets fans speculate on the price movement for tickets. In the financial world, shorting is the selling of a stock (in this case an option on a ticket) that a person doesn’t own. If the stock (ticket) price drops, the person buys it back at the lower price and keeps the difference between that price and what they originally sold it for. If the stock (ticket) price increases, they lose money.
“In addition to fans, it also allows brokers to hedge some of their risk,” Wilson said. Another new feature is the “Matchup Fantasy Seat” option, which allows a fan to speculate on a two-team matchup. For example, someone could buy an option that the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys will make the Super Bowl, which lowers the price of the option because the odds are greater that both teams will make it.
The site can yield a lot of joy for some fans. Connecticut resident Mike Secchiaroli, a Boston Red Sox fan, enjoyed Game 1 World Series tickets Wednesday night that he bought months ago on yOOnew. He paid for four options of $140 each for four tickets and sat with his father, uncle and his wedding’s best man in the rightfield Grand Stand at Fenway Park.
Face value for the tickets was $150 each.
“It was great,” Secchiaroli said. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford some of the high prices that tickets were selling for, so I call this ‘my fan insurance.’ It’s a gamble, but I could go the casino and lose $400 in a couple of hours, or let my money percolate for a few months with the same or better odds.” Had he decided to sell the Red Sox options instead, he said he could have made about $750 each.

By Alfred Branch, Jr.