Supply and demand

Steve Wynn and Garth Brooks are wildly successful businessmen with long track records of pleasing their fans and silencing their critics. But they're setting themselves up for failure if they think they can foil the forces of supply and demand.

Mr. Wynn, the valley gaming visionary, lured Mr. Brooks, the country music superstar, out of retirement to perform a series of concerts at the Encore resort. Mr. Brooks tipped his cowboy hat to his legions of fans -- many of whom, no doubt, are suffering in this economy -- when he insisted that every ticket be priced at a flat $125. That's a bargain for one of the best-selling solo artists of all time, but an especially sweet price considering Mr. Wynn's intimate theater has a capacity of about 1,500.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Brooks' first 20 shows sold out in about five hours last Saturday, and ticket scalpers purchased a fair share. Some brokers already are demanding more than $700 for a single seat. They'll find willing buyers, perhaps at even higher prices, because of scarce availability and the fact that fans can't be sure Mr. Brooks will perform again when his contract with Mr. Wynn runs out.

But Mr. Wynn believes he can dramatically underprice his tickets and prevent their resale at whatever the market will bear. Jennifer Dunne, vice president of public relations and advertising for Wynn Resorts, says the company "has an action plan for the scalpers."

"We have a number of people mobilized to take the necessary steps to see that the scalper tickets are canceled. We won't stop until we succeed."

Plenty of other entertainers have tried to keep scalpers from making a living off the talents and fame of concert headliners, and they've all failed.

Mr. Wynn's plan to cancel tickets held by fans who didn't buy them directly from the Wynn Resorts box office is problematic on many fronts. For starters, it punishes Mr. Brooks' fans, not scalpers. A scalper who bought two seats at $125 each then sells them at $750 a pop makes $1,250. The fan, meanwhile, unaware of the Wynn Resorts policy, is turned away at the door with nothing to show for a $1,500 investment.

And what of locals who buy tickets for visiting family or friends? Will their seats be canceled as well? Such a strategy could lead to lots of empty seats and lots of bitterness toward both Mr. Wynn and Mr. Brooks.

It's ironic that Mr. Wynn would take such a heavy-handed approach to controlling the decisions of his patrons, given his recent defense of capitalism on "Fox News Sunday." He should follow his own advice and get out of the way.