The textbook case is the Vienna Opera Ball (69. Wiener Opernball, Thursday, February 4, 2027). Sales fall exclusively to the Opernball-Büro of the Wiener Staatsoper, which states that no other point of sale exists. Individual entry tickets, at €435 (including a €35 solidarity contribution to "Österreich hilft Österreich"), a maximum of four per person and with no seat, are not sold first come, first served: they are allocated by lottery among those who registered. For 2027, the registration window ran from June 1 at 10 am to June 5, 2026 at 11:59 pm; it is closed. The trap is therefore the calendar: five days of registration, eight months before the ball. Those who miss the draw fall back on the other channels: table seats at €665 (the €435 entry ticket included, a maximum of six per person, sold first come, first served since June 24, 2026 at 10 am), boxes, sold only directly by the ball office, from €15,000 to €27,000 depending on location, or simple spectator tickets, from €110 to €290. One non-commercial route remains: applying to the opening committee, free to enter on opernball.at, open until September 16, 2026, with a participation fee of €140 per person if admitted.