People complaing about the Sprint Center Tickets

[ChiefsCountry]

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/281410.html

ROFL Don't people realize that major shows even if is a bunch of teenage girls is going to sell out quick.

[Mecca]

WWE is going to be there in October, is that the first major show?

[ChiefsCountry]

WWE is going to be there in October, is that the first major show?

Elton John is the first event and its sold out.

[Al Bundy]

It's selling out so quickly because the promoters and artists themselves are selling to scalpers 1st.

[Phobia]

WWE is going to be there in October, is that the first major show?

Cool. The exact polar opposite of the Hanna Montana show - teenage boys and mullets running around everywhere. If I were a better businessman I'd order 100,000 bandanas from China and sell them on the street.

[KurtCobain]

I'll be going to the Van Halen show on october 26th. Can't wait.

[Bugeater]

It's selling out so quickly because the promoters and artists themselves are selling to scalpers 1st.
Yep, but they call themselves "ticket brokers". We've had the same problem here since the Qwest Center opened. We're getting all these first-rate shows now, but it's nearly impossible to buy a ticket at face value because the brokers are snapping them all up online.

[Eleazar]

Cool. The exact polar opposite of the Hanna Montana show - teenage boys and mullets running around everywhere. If I were a better businessman I'd order 100,000 bandanas from China and sell them on the street.

Good margin on those.

I think they also eat mayonaise by the spoon, if you can't reach your importer in time you could sell it like frosty malts.

[Deberg_1990]

Cool. The exact polar opposite of the Hanna Montana show

Its a little scary that you watch Hanna Montana. Must be a Billy Ray Cyrus fan? :)

[Demonpenz]

I remember when hannah montana was the rowdiest thing in town, but the damn tickets got so high now it's a bunch if wine and cheesers. They went and outpriced your average working fan

[Phobia]

Its a little scary that you watch Hanna Montana. Must be a Billy Ray Cyrus fan? :)

Billy Ray Cyrus? Was he that QB who got cut from the Bills because he admitted he didn't prepare for a game?

[runnercyclist]

Billy Ray Cyrus? Was he that QB who got cut from the Bills because he admitted he didn't prepare for a game?

My favorite Billy Jo Tolliver quote: When asked what his golf handicap was "Are we bettin, or braggin?"

[Simplex3]

I guess now all the middle class morons that voted to build that f**ker with their money but left it in the control of the ruling class look kind of stupid, huh?

Not only that, but you're petitioning for a fix with the crooked mother f**kers that screwed you in the first place.

LMAO

[BigRedChief]

I guess now all the middle class morons that voted to build that f**ker with their money but left it in the control of the ruling class look kind of stupid, huh?

Not only that, but you're petitioning for a fix with the crooked mother f**kers that screwed you in the first place.

LMAO
UHHHH very little public money is invested in the Sprint Center. Most of the public money was raised by taxing rental cars if I remember correctly?

[Simplex3]

Is it just me or is Disney the world's most profitable teenage pimp? Every time you turn around they've taken some mid-teens girl and:

1. Put her in a TV show
2. Made a soundtrack for that show that she lip-syncs
3. Sent her on tour to lip-sync.
4. Release a clothing line
5. Release ancillaries like perfume, etc.

[dirk digler]

My daughter wanted me to take her to Hannah Montana so I got online early and I never could get any tickets. IMO it is bullshit. You can buy them from ticket brokers but the cost is outrageous.

Ticketmaster needs to fix the problem or like Pearl Jam did the artists need to stop using TicketMaster.

[Eleazar]

It sounds to me like they are holding a large number of tickets back for corporate sponsors.

If that is the case it isn't the voters' fault for approving an arena, it's the city's fault for negotiating a management deal with AEG that is unfavorable, at least in this respect.

And if you want to beat ticket brokers - go wait in line.

[Simplex3]

UHHHH very little public money is invested in the Sprint Center. Most of the public money was raised by taxing rental cars if I remember correctly?
Yes, it was a hotel and rental car tax. A trend which is happening all over the country, so we all (and the companies we work for) wind up paying somewhere, it's just not going to the one in our town.

[jiveturkey]

I guess now all the middle class morons that voted to build that f**ker with their money but left it in the control of the ruling class look kind of stupid, huh?

Not only that, but you're petitioning for a fix with the crooked mother f**kers that screwed you in the first place.

LMAOThey actually voted to take money from people coming in from other cities. It's actually a pretty good deal.

People complaining about ticket availability is nothing new. Once the newness wears off shows like this will be easier to get access to.

[Simplex3]

It sounds to me like they are holding a large number of tickets back for corporate sponsors.

If that is the case it isn't the voters' fault for approving an arena, it's the city's fault for negotiating a management deal with AEG that would leave them the opportunity to do this.
You think for one second those crooked govt. f**ks didn't make out like a bandit on that deal? They caused the problem and now they're sitting there acting like they're trying to solve it.

[BigRedChief]

It sounds to me like they are holding a large number of tickets back for corporate sponsors.

If that is the case it isn't the voters' fault for approving an arena, it's the city's fault for negotiating a management deal with AEG that would leave them the opportunity to do this.
Thats the trade off. You don't tax yourself? Well someone has to pay the load.
You want bigwigs to kick in major bucks for suites to foot the bill? You have to give them some perks.

[Eleazar]

You think for one second those crooked govt. f**ks didn't make out like a bandit on that deal? They caused the problem and now they're sitting there acting like they're trying to solve it.

Who are the crooked f**cks and how did they 'make out like bandits'?

[Eleazar]

Thats the trade off. You don't tax yourself? Well someone has to pay the load.
You want bigwigs to kick in major bucks for suites to foot the bill? You have to give them some perks.

it's possible they aren't selling all the seats, when I went to see the stones at Kemper, they had the stage at one end and the seats behind the stage had not been sold, I guess because all the stage setup stuff would have left them with a minimal view. So maybe there were only going to be 20k or 18k tickets in the first place.

I also read that many of the tickets had been sold in advance presale through her fan club. Those are probably several contributing factors.

Something is fishy here, for sure though... That place is supposed to hold like 20,000+ for concerts. Previously this would have been held at Kemper which holds, what, half that many?

[Deberg_1990]

Is it just me or is Disney the world's most profitable teenage pimp?

They have doing this for many years. Kurt Russell and Hayley Mills anyone?

[dirk digler]

It sounds to me like they are holding a large number of tickets back for corporate sponsors.

If that is the case it isn't the voters' fault for approving an arena, it's the city's fault for negotiating a management deal with AEG that is unfavorable, at least in this respect.

And if you want to beat ticket brokers - go wait in line.

People did. They were 50-100 people in line at one ticketmaster outlet and only about 12 people got tickets.

That is BS IMHO.

[KC Kings]

it's possible they aren't selling all the seats, when I went to see the stones at Kemper, they had the stage at one end and the seats behind the stage had not been sold, I guess because all the stage setup stuff would have left them with a minimal view. So maybe there were only going to be 20k or 18k tickets in the first place.

I also read that many of the tickets had been sold in advance presale through her fan club. Those are probably several contributing factors.

Something is fishy here, for sure though... That place is supposed to hold like 20,000+ for concerts. Previously this would have been held at Kemper which holds, what, half that many?

Kemper holds 13k, but the point is that it is all a huge scam, and when you have an emotional teenage female pressuring you to be a part of the scam it pisses you off.

Everybody knows brokers are going to scalp the tickets, so they let you join the fan club for $30 that will let you buy tickets an hour before they go onsale to the public. However, the tickets are only available from the fan club website, which is flooded as soon as tickets go on sale and getting the order screen to come up is futile. After an hour of refreshing you realize you just got screwed by Hannah Montana for $30. Now you will need to be one of the first callers into Ticketmaster to buy tickets. Or, you could go wait in front of a ticket outlet for hours before hand, and the first 1 or 2 people in line will be able to buy tickets because brokers can buy direct and the tickets are sold out in 2 minutes.

How ticket scalping is against the law, yet there are stores in every mall and on-line that sells tickets for 2-10X's selling price is beyond me.
And no, I didn't try to buy tickets so I am not bitter, and I don't feel sorry for a bunch of push over parents that will pay $500 a ticket for their kids, but ticket brokering is a racket and I can understand why it would piss somebody off.

[Simplex3]

Who are the crooked f**cks and how did they 'make out like bandits'?
Let's take Shawnee, for example, since I live there and am far more familiar with it.

Of the 8 city council members and the mayor, all but one have their campaign almost completely financed by Deffenbaugh every election. Then we all act shocked and appalled when they vote to let Deffenbaugh do everything short of dump garbage in the streets.

http://cosweb.cityofshawnee.org/web/minutes.nsf/7b7e62fa28efbb1686256af70079cc71/bed362428457a3f286256aa80058a983?OpenDocument

Councilmember Segale stated that it had come to his attention that a member of this Governing Body has leveled accusations of public misconduct against other members of this body. He stated he had been informed by several sources that Councilmember Carlson implied or stated that several members of the Governing Body, including himself, had been bought and paid for by Deffenbaugh. He stated that Councilmember Carlson’s comments were reportedly made at a public meeting involving residents of this community and members of the press convened to discuss the proposed Deffenbaugh expansion.

If you think for a second that those elected officials didn't get a trip or two, a few nice dinners, and several other perks from AEG during this thing to butter them up and get AEG a sweeter deal then I think you're high. Your govt. reps don't work for you, they're working for themselves (in the largest majority of the cases).

[BigRedChief]

Let's take Shawnee, for example, since I live there and am far more familiar with it.

Of the 8 city council members and the mayor, all but one have their campaign almost completely financed by Deffenbaugh every election. Then we all act shocked and appalled when they vote to let Deffenbaugh do everything short of dump garbage in the streets.

http://cosweb.cityofshawnee.org/web/minutes.nsf/7b7e62fa28efbb1686256af70079cc71/bed362428457a3f286256aa80058a983?OpenDocument



If you think for a second that those elected officials didn't get a trip or two, a few nice dinners, and several other perks from AEG during this thing to butter them up and get AEG a sweeter deal then I think you're high. Your govt. reps don't work for you, they're working for themselves (in the largest majority of the cases).
UHHH The Sprint Center was a total KC MO thing. No KS or Shawnee involvment.

[Extra Point]

Ticket Solutions: The solution to draining idiots' bank accounts. The whores!!!

[jiveturkey]

Some of you guys sounds like teenage girls.

This happens all of the time. The place doesn't hold 120,000 people.

[Simplex3]

UHHH The Sprint Center was a total KC MO thing. No KS or Shawnee involvment.
NO SHIT!?!!?

[StcChief]

Up early buy online as soon as they are on sale.

[Eleazar]

People did. They were 50-100 people in line at one ticketmaster outlet and only about 12 people got tickets.

That is BS IMHO.

Well, we need more information. How many tickets were there in total, how many were sold in presale, how many were held for corporate sponsors, and how many were left in total when they went on sale to the general public. We don't have enough info... but I suspect that it will come out that most of them went to corporate sponsors.

But what this reminds me of is trying to get Chiefs tickets in the early 90s. Few tickets were left by the time the general public was able to buy them. The season ticket holders (fan club) took the lion's share, and those with an 'in' (jackson county) took almost all the rest. That was just how it worked.

In any case, the brokers will only make $500 or $1000 on a ticket if people are willing to pay that. They aren't going to eat all the tickets they bought. They will go down in price as the show gets closer.

It does suck though, that people are allowed to do this. Ticket brokers add no value whatsoever, they just rake money out of the system.

[dirk digler]

Well, we need more information. How many tickets were there in total, how many were sold in presale, how many were held for corporate sponsors, and how many were left in total when they went on sale to the general public. We don't have enough info... but I suspect that it will come out that most of them went to corporate sponsors.

But what this reminds me of is trying to get Chiefs tickets in the early 90s. Few tickets were left by the time the general public was able to buy them. The season ticket holders (fan club) took the lion's share, and those with an 'in' (jackson county) took almost all the rest. That was just how it worked.

In any case, the brokers will only make $500 or $1000 on a ticket if people are willing to pay that. They aren't going to eat all the tickets they bought. They will go down in price as the show gets closer.

It does suck though, that people are allowed to do this. Ticket brokers add no value whatsoever, they just rake money out of the system.

Unfortunately I don't have the answers to that but they need to get the problem fixed. From what I understand Elton John tickets went the same exact way as the Hannah Montana tickets.

You can still get Van Halen tickets though.

[BigRedChief]

Ticket brokers add no value whatsoever, they just rake money out of the system.
Missouri Senate legalizes ticket scalping



By LUCIE WOLKEN
August 30, 2007 | 1:18 p.m. CST
JEFFERSON CITY — The “regular guy” caught a major break, according to Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee’s Summit, when a bill that included a provision to legalize ticket scalping in Missouri passed by a vote of 25-7 in the Senate late Wednesday night.
The session was called by Gov. Matt Blunt to discuss economic development and bridge safety in the state.
Selling a ticket above face value became legal as a result of the bill, repealing a long-standing law. Previously, Missouri was one of less than a dozen states to prohibit the practice.
While the scalping industry has operated underground successfully, proponents of the provision believe its passage will bring the “regular guy” into the market by decriminalizing his participation.
“We want to make sure the guy out there that has a couple extra tickets and has to resell them is not hauled off to jail,” said Bartle, sponsor of the provision. “It makes no sense that we would turn people into criminals for simply wanting to resell a ticket.”
In Columbia, the effects of repealing the 1989 anti-scalping law might seem minimal to fans who have attended games over the years.
MU Police Capt. Scott Richardson said officers only confronted scalpers “if we received a complaint from athletics or patrons entering the stadium.”
Richardson said that in his 14 years he doesn’t recall a single arrest for scalping.
On the few occasions MU Police have received complaints, the department would ask the scalpers to move off university property, explaining that it was illegal to sell anything on stadium property without a permit, Richardson said.
Football fans that feel hassled by scalpers on the walk to Faurot Field make up the majority of complaints, Richardson said.
Under previous law, scalpers could be fined anywhere from $50 to $1,000 and serve between 15 days and one year in county jail, depending on their number of offenses.
Sports teams will benefit from the passage of this legislation, said Michael Naughton, vice president of finance and ticketing for the St. Louis Rams, because they will now be able to legally become a player in this market.
“It is going on right now, if we sit here and do nothing, we are sitting here with our heads in the sand. It’s going on,” Naughton said. “The only ones who are not able to participate in this huge, mushrooming market are the teams that are willing to abide by the existing state law, so you are excluding your major teams and your existing venues in the state.”
Naughton said new business will now be encouraged in the state, which is missing out on revenue.
“Brokers are sitting on the other side of the river in Illinois and on the other side of the river in Kansas because it is legal for them to do this business outside of the state,” Naughton said.
Naughton said ticket holders will now have a venue to resell their tickets at the true market value.
Representatives for the St. Louis Cardinals, Rams, and Blues as well as the Kansas City Chiefs spoke in support of the measure in a committee session Monday.
Opponents of the ticket-scalping bill argue that organizations such as Ticketmaster stand to gain the most, not the average consumer.
“Why is Ticketmaster so excited to get the legislation passed? I don’t think they are going to leave any money on the table,” Rep. Trent Skaggs, D-Clay, said.
Skaggs referred to a study by the New York attorney general that said scalped tickets sales, on average, were 150 percent to 450 percent higher than face value.
“Obviously, that money is going to come out of somebody’s pocket and that is going to be the taxpayers and the consumers,” Skaggs said.
Some Democrats charge that this provision should not be in the special session because the governor’s brother, Andy Blunt, is a Ticketmaster lobbyist. Blunt said he has removed himself from lobbying in the executive branch.
Sen. John Loudon, R-St. Louis County, is in support of the provision, but he said it is important to ensure that the consumer does not lose out.
“If it’s impossible for Joe Six-pack to take his family to the game because he is priced out, then I will be sorely disappointed in what has happened, and we will have to revisit it,” Loudon said.
But supporters of the provision say that ticket prices could fall as a result of the repeal, as the supply increases and the demand remains constant.
In the last legislative session, Loudon sponsored a different type of amendment to control ticket scalping. He wanted to limit the number of tickets one person could purchase, as a way of minimizing scalping by prohibiting people from buying large numbers of tickets at the same time. The bill passed but was vetoed by the governor.
“We are creating a huge ripple in the marketplace in Missouri,” Loudon said. “I hope nobody gets rolled over.”

[Eleazar]

Thanks BRC. I hadn't heard any details. That sounds like ill-advised legislation to me. But, ticket brokers have been operating for a long time on the Kansas side and on the internet. I would be surprised if that was the difference in this case, no matter whether we think the law was a bad idea or whatever.

[Uncle_Ted]

Unfortunately I don't have the answers to that but they need to get the problem fixed.

Not that government regulation is the solution for everything, but here the free market is somewhat broken. This screams out for regulation, pure and simple. Most of these places are public venues, meaning that a large % of tix should be held for the public. It shouldn't be too difficult to craft a statute that is fair to everyone -- enforcement is the problem (though even that could be made self-financing if you make the fines high enough).

Just set a cap on prices (1.5x or 2x face value) and require the brokers to pay for a license (many states already do this). Determine who is a broker by volume so you don't include the "casual fan" in the licensing requirement (i.e., anyone selling more than 20-30 tickets above face value in any given year). Also require promoters using public venues to hold back at least x% of the tix for general sale to the public. Make the fine for a violation fairly high ($10K + forfeiture of the tickets) and do random sweeps of online and B&M ticket sellers. For casual fans, make the fine for violating the price cap much lower (something like $100, but increases for subsequent violations) and keep the forfeiture provision. Not a perfect solution re: out of state sales, but it still might help a lot.

Technology may also provide a solution at some point down the line.

It would be interesting to know if any state has a system for controlling scalping that people are actually satisfied with for the most part.

[phisherman]

boo hoo...

now's the time to teach all kids that this crap isn't really music anyways...nothing but a disney marketing blitz designed to seperate your wallets from those little green pieces of paper inside

in the words of the stones, you can't always get what you want

[Simplex3]

Not that government regulation is the solution for everything, but here the free market is somewhat broken. This screams out for regulation, pure and simple.
I disagree. The problem was this arena wasn't built by the private sector in the first place. If it was financed, built and run by AEG none of this would be a problem. AEG would sell the tickets for whatever they could get for them and none of this would cost anyone a dime unless they decided to pay the market value for the tickets. Problem solved.

The solution to govt f**k ups isn't more govt.

[tk13]

Sometimes stuff just sells out fast. You really have to keep checking, because sometimes they release more seats with time. You gotta stick with it... or try and hit a scalper close to showtime when they're just looking to dump them.

Waiting in line probably isn't a good idea... if you're 100 deep in a line, you probably aren't gonna beat all the internet buyers to the punch.

I'd agree about the fan club thing though... scalpers will eat those up if you let them.

[BigRedChief]

Thanks BRC. I hadn't heard any details. That sounds like ill-advised legislation to me. But, ticket brokers have been operating for a long time on the Kansas side and on the internet. I would be surprised if that was the difference in this case, no matter whether we think the law was a bad idea or whatever.
It was legal to scalp in Illinoia so St. Louie just went over there. It's legal in Kansas so KC just went there. The ban solved nothing.

[ChiefsCountry]

Hmm it looks like the concert wasnt even in the round so that means even less tickets

http://www.sprintcenter.com/images/HannahMontana_Map.gif

[HonestChieffan]

Still no place to park.

[OnTheWarpath15]

I think some of the bitching is misplaced.

Instead of bitching at the ticket brokers for wanting to make money, bitch at the people who are keeping these brokers in business.

When fans quit paying 2-10x face value for tickets, brokers won't be in such a hurry to be grabbing tickets.

[ChiefsCountry]

Still no place to park.

Sports Complex has spoiled Kansas City in that regard.

[Valiant]

I think some of the bitching is misplaced.

Instead of bitching at the ticket brokers for wanting to make money, bitch at the people who are keeping these brokers in business.

When fans quit paying 2-10x face value for tickets, brokers won't be in such a hurry to be grabbing tickets.


Yeah hopefully (it will never happen) those parents flat out refuse to go to brokers and then let the brokers eat the tickets.. Same goes for Elton John but I am sure somebody will fork out 500-2000 dollars for one of those tickets..

I can understand why so many people are mad, there should be no way that all tickets sell out in a minute... And Sprint and the brokers said they are not required to release those details on how the tickets were purchased.. So that means more then likely(me speculating) only 20-30% of the tickets were available to the public to buy...

[Skip Towne]

Move it to Arrowhead and be done with it.

[TN_Chief]

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/281410.html

ROFL Don't people realize that major shows even if is a bunch of teenage girls is going to sell out quick.Exact same furor over the exact same event here in Memphis. The sense of entitlement that some people have is utterly amazing. If not getting Hannah Montana tickets is the biggest disappointment in your child's life this year...how far ahead of the game are you?

[OnTheWarpath15]

From the Star:

Because of the stage configuration that the Disney star chose, only 11,000 tickets were available compared to 18,000 seats for a basketball game or 17,000 for the upcoming Elton John show. Also, the Jonas Brothers are the opening act and they are popular with teenage girls and boys.

Of the 11,000 tickets available for the Hannah Montana show, only 4,000 were made available to the general public when they went on sale Saturday, officials said. Another 4,000 were sold before that to fan club members, and the remaining 3,000 went to the performer, suite holders and others.


As TN Chief said, the sense of entitlement amazes me.

11,000 tickets for a city with a population of 2,000,000 people.....

"How DARE they shut ME out."

[Eleazar]

From the Star:

Because of the stage configuration that the Disney star chose, only 11,000 tickets were available compared to 18,000 seats for a basketball game or 17,000 for the upcoming Elton John show. Also, the Jonas Brothers are the opening act and they are popular with teenage girls and boys.

Of the 11,000 tickets available for the Hannah Montana show, only 4,000 were made available to the general public when they went on sale Saturday, officials said. Another 4,000 were sold before that to fan club members, and the remaining 3,000 went to the performer, suite holders and others.


As TN Chief said, the sense of entitlement amazes me.

11,000 tickets for a city with a population of 2,000,000 people.....

"How DARE they shut ME out."

So out of all the tickets, about a quarter went to "performer, suite holders and others", and the rest were available to the public, but half were snapped up by the fan club in advance.

It doesn't sound that bad, 75% of them being available to the public. It sounds like the main problem is the chosen arena configuration mitigates the benefits of having a huge venue.

[mcan]

Supply and demand people. Lots of people want to go so the tickets are going to disappear quickly regardless of who gets them. Having scalpers around insures that people who are willing to pay true market value for the ticket can actually go see the show. Basically, the people that want to go the most, get to go. Otherwise, the people who get lucky in a lottery drawing to be early in line, or people who's computers happen to connect to the ticketmaster server early get to go.

[cosmo20002]

Yep, but they call themselves "ticket brokers". We've had the same problem here since the Qwest Center opened. We're getting all these first-rate shows now, but it's nearly impossible to buy a ticket at face value because the brokers are snapping them all up online.

That is a big myth. Overall, brokers buy very few tickets directly. The lack of good seats are almost completely due to "holdbacks" by the artist for fan club/VIP package sales, the promoter, and the arena. Up to several thousand of the best seats can get eaten up that way.

When seats are advertised by brokers prior to the show, they don't even have the tickets. They are relying on the general public to sell them to them.

[cosmo20002]

How ticket scalping is against the law, yet there are stores in every mall and on-line that sells tickets for 2-10X's selling price is beyond me.

Its not illegal at all in Kansas and in Missouri in only illegal for sports events, not concerts.

[DomerNKC]

Missouri Senate legalizes ticket scalping



By LUCIE WOLKEN
August 30, 2007 | 1:18 p.m. CST
JEFFERSON CITY — The “regular guy” caught a major break, according to Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee’s Summit, when a bill that included a provision to legalize ticket scalping in Missouri passed by a vote of 25-7 in the Senate late Wednesday night.
The session was called by Gov. Matt Blunt to discuss economic development and bridge safety in the state.
Selling a ticket above face value became legal as a result of the bill, repealing a long-standing law. Previously, Missouri was one of less than a dozen states to prohibit the practice.
While the scalping industry has operated underground successfully, proponents of the provision believe its passage will bring the “regular guy” into the market by decriminalizing his participation.
“We want to make sure the guy out there that has a couple extra tickets and has to resell them is not hauled off to jail,” said Bartle, sponsor of the provision. “It makes no sense that we would turn people into criminals for simply wanting to resell a ticket.”
In Columbia, the effects of repealing the 1989 anti-scalping law might seem minimal to fans who have attended games over the years.
MU Police Capt. Scott Richardson said officers only confronted scalpers “if we received a complaint from athletics or patrons entering the stadium.”
Richardson said that in his 14 years he doesn’t recall a single arrest for scalping.
On the few occasions MU Police have received complaints, the department would ask the scalpers to move off university property, explaining that it was illegal to sell anything on stadium property without a permit, Richardson said.
Football fans that feel hassled by scalpers on the walk to Faurot Field make up the majority of complaints, Richardson said.
Under previous law, scalpers could be fined anywhere from $50 to $1,000 and serve between 15 days and one year in county jail, depending on their number of offenses.
Sports teams will benefit from the passage of this legislation, said Michael Naughton, vice president of finance and ticketing for the St. Louis Rams, because they will now be able to legally become a player in this market.
“It is going on right now, if we sit here and do nothing, we are sitting here with our heads in the sand. It’s going on,” Naughton said. “The only ones who are not able to participate in this huge, mushrooming market are the teams that are willing to abide by the existing state law, so you are excluding your major teams and your existing venues in the state.”
Naughton said new business will now be encouraged in the state, which is missing out on revenue.
“Brokers are sitting on the other side of the river in Illinois and on the other side of the river in Kansas because it is legal for them to do this business outside of the state,” Naughton said.
Naughton said ticket holders will now have a venue to resell their tickets at the true market value.
Representatives for the St. Louis Cardinals, Rams, and Blues as well as the Kansas City Chiefs spoke in support of the measure in a committee session Monday.
Opponents of the ticket-scalping bill argue that organizations such as Ticketmaster stand to gain the most, not the average consumer.
“Why is Ticketmaster so excited to get the legislation passed? I don’t think they are going to leave any money on the table,” Rep. Trent Skaggs, D-Clay, said.
Skaggs referred to a study by the New York attorney general that said scalped tickets sales, on average, were 150 percent to 450 percent higher than face value.
“Obviously, that money is going to come out of somebody’s pocket and that is going to be the taxpayers and the consumers,” Skaggs said.
Some Democrats charge that this provision should not be in the special session because the governor’s brother, Andy Blunt, is a Ticketmaster lobbyist. Blunt said he has removed himself from lobbying in the executive branch.
Sen. John Loudon, R-St. Louis County, is in support of the provision, but he said it is important to ensure that the consumer does not lose out.
“If it’s impossible for Joe Six-pack to take his family to the game because he is priced out, then I will be sorely disappointed in what has happened, and we will have to revisit it,” Loudon said.
But supporters of the provision say that ticket prices could fall as a result of the repeal, as the supply increases and the demand remains constant.
In the last legislative session, Loudon sponsored a different type of amendment to control ticket scalping. He wanted to limit the number of tickets one person could purchase, as a way of minimizing scalping by prohibiting people from buying large numbers of tickets at the same time. The bill passed but was vetoed by the governor.
“We are creating a huge ripple in the marketplace in Missouri,” Loudon said. “I hope nobody gets rolled over.”i wonder why the brother of a ticketmaster lobbyist would veto a bill like this???

[HonestChieffan]

What I hear was they have few seats cause its smaller than Kemper for shows like this, the stage is huge and cut more seats, the demand is incredible.

So its a mini version of econ 101....the law of supply (aint a lot and its fixed) law of demand ( high and is fueled by teen females)

[BigRedChief]

i wonder why the brother of a ticketmaster lobbyist would veto a bill like this???
No chit? He'd better not veto this. I'd like to buy and sell without a frigging broker.