Jeez, he’s already doing so much. Is it really fair for us to sit back and let Lin-Manuel Miranda conquer the robots for us too? The Hamilton creator wrote an impassioned New York Times op-ed today tackling the use of ticket bots by third-party brokers, the result of which is ticket scarcity and astronomical prices. Ticket bots are already illegal, but seeing as how people are willing to trade one or more of their internal organs for tickets to Hamilton and other hot shows, civil penalties have yet to slow down their use. Miranda supports local politicians in their efforts to establish criminal penalties for ticket brokers who knowingly resell tickets snatched up by bots, and to create more markup-price transparency. Says Miranda, “I want the thousands of tickets for shows, concerts and sporting events that are now purchased by bots and resold at higher prices to go into the general market so that you have a chance to get them. I want theatergoers to be able to purchase tickets at face value at our box office and our website, rather than on a resale platform.” Miranda also employs a loose analogy to the gambling men of Guys and Dolls, which is honestly above and beyond.
