Scalped

Why do concert tickets cost so much?

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Scalped

Why do concert tickets cost so much?

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2023-2024 Versions

In the fall of 2024, Citizen Math released updated versions of every lesson in our library, plus a few new ones! We know you may have already prepped an earlier version or planned a repeat of last year, so we're continuing to make these earlier versions available through Thursday December 5, 2024.

You can find the new lessons through the regular search, and we hope you love them as much as we do. You can read more about these updates in Our Community.

Why do concert tickets cost so much? If you’ve bought a sports or concert ticket lately, you may have paid far more than face value. From service fees to processing fees, additional costs can cause ticket prices to skyrocket.

In this lesson, students use percents to describe how much of a ticket’s price goes to various parties -- artist, venue, brokers, etc. -- and debate the fairest ways to price and sell event tickets.

REAL WORLD TAKEAWAYS

  • When you buy a ticket from an online retailer, fees represent a significant percent of the total price.
  • Concerts often sell out when scalpers buy up all the tickets in order to drive up the price of the tickets, which they intend to resell.

MATH OBJECTIVES

  • Calculate and use percents to compare values in a real-world context

Appropriate most times as students are developing conceptual understanding.
Grade 6
Percents
Grade 6
Percents
Content Standards 6.RP.3 Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations. (a) Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with whole- number measurements, find missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on the coordinate plane. Use tables to compare ratios. (b) Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed. For example, if it took 7 hours to mow 4 lawns, then at that rate, how many lawns could be mowed in 35 hours? At what rate were lawns being mowed? (c) Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part and the percent. (d) Use ratio reasoning to convert measurement units; manipulate and transform units appropriately when multiplying or dividing quantities.
Mathematical Practices MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. MP.8 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

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