Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell late Friday signed into law a bill that allows anyone to legally resell event tickets online. The new law became effective immediately.
The Keystone State joins Connecticut and New York as the most recent states to legalize ticket scalping, but requires resellers have a presence in the state.
Under the state’s old law, only licensed brokers could resell tickets, and then for a maximum of 25 percent about face value. The new law removes the cap and requires that the reseller guarantee a full refund if the event is cancelled or the ticket is not valid upon entry. . .
Prior to Rendell, a Democrat, signing the bill, the State Senate unanimously approved the measure, which had been sponsored by Republican State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson. In speaking in favor of the bill before the Senate, Republican State Sen. Ted Erickson said the move was long overdue.
“Pennsylvania must make a change that a number of other states have already made,” he said.
Unlike Connecticut, New York, Minnesota or other states that have recently approved the resale of tickets, Pennsylvania’s law is a bit trickier by requiring resellers have a presence in the state: “A reseller that uses [an] Internet website shall not be required to obtain a license to resell through the Internet website if the operator of the Internet website: Has a business presence and physical street address in this Commonwealth and clearly and conspicuously posts that address on the Internet website, or has a business presence in this Commonwealth and one of the following: a registered agent, a foreign business license or a certificate of authority issued by the Department of State.”
Essentially, this will mean that StubHub, Ticketmaster or other sites would have to set up shop somewhere in the state, a relatively easy proposition.
The bill also requires the reseller to issue a refund if the ticket is incorrectly described at the point of purchase.
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I wonder if this law limits the actions teams can take against season ticket holders, etc. who resell their tickets, the way the NY law does?
I have Penguin season tickets and a guy who sat in my row last season had his tickets revoked for this season because he sold too many games on the internet. The Penguins watch that and if they deam you a "broker" they will not allow you to purchase season tickets.
Governor Rendell, I am a Philadelphia native and have supported you for many years ! I've always saw you as one that was able to find a way to get things done, and done fairly. You've tackled many tough issues facing residents across the great state of Pennsylvania in such a way that almost everyone is happy with the end result. I strongly oppose your signing into law a bill that allows anyone to legally resell event tickets online. Everyone knows that regular ticket prices for major league sporting events are already too high. Most major league teams now cater to those having more than enough money to purchase season tickets at any cost. Hard working middle class families like my own are hard pressed to do this. Most of us are unable to shell out large amounts of cash for these ticket packages, and are pretty much left out in the cold. I've been taking my 10 year old son to Phillies home openers as a tradition since he has been 18 months old. We missed only one home opener in all of those years, the year the Bank opened in 2004. I was lucky enough to find two tickets to the first Phillies game vs Cleveland that year but it just was'nt the same. It was a preseason game and the Phillies organization treated it as such providing thoses fans with not as much as a token of appreciation for coming out to a meaningless preseason game. My point is, this law will further the distance between the haves and have nots. Normal hard working middle class people that want to attend a game are being extorted into paying prices that are not regulated. Here's an idea Mr. Rendell lets be sure to heavely tax those now legal scalpers to make the practice less profitable. Let's now think about creating a sliding scale tax for resellers based on the difference between the actual ticket price and resale price. Example; Actual ticket price $50.00, resale price at $200.00 profit $150.00 a resale tax of 75% of the profit would be $112.50 (to the state) net profit to reseller $37.50. I would hate to have to tell my son that we just can not afford to go to the opener this year. Ed, can you explain it to my son for me?
So if you can not afford it everyone should pay the price?
It's not a point of the rest of us not being able to afford it. If I wanted to rip people off I would go online at the beginning of the season and buy up tickets I wasn't going to use and sell them for the 'market value.' However, some of us have morals. The point of this ridiculous situation is that if the team sets the price for level E seats at the Penguin arena for Round 3 at $90 then you should only have to play $90 for the item.
If you bought something at a retail store and then tried to sell the item at more than retail you are in danger of being reprimanded by the law (and yeah I know people do it and do not get caught). Why are tickets different?
I agree that there should be a cap on the price tickets are allowed to resell for. The fact that it is a business to make tickets scarce and then sell them off at outrageous prices is appalling. There is a big difference between needing to offload tickets you can't use and preventing normal people from being able to afford the ticket price. I'm trying to get tickets to a concerts that sold out in a matter of minutes. About the same time, I see tickets being posted on brokers' websites for six and a half times the ticket price ($35 to $225). I counter offered $70 a ticket, twice what the artist will benefit from, and the broker responded, "$70 isn't even in the ballpark, I don't wake up for $70, $200 or nothing, I'd rather not sell them than lose that much money on the sale." How is that LOSING? I don't know. I'm frustrated and wish we still had the protection of our government. Such is life.
I have to further the disgust on this issue since I was not able to get online today to try to get on of the few tickets available for the Pens next home playoff game coming up on Sunday. I checked ticket exchange and the cheapest ticket (it has to be a $90 ticket because it's in the cheap section) is being resold for $207/ticket. Thanks Ren dumb 'you know what' I have been to at least one Pens game since Mario got stopped by Bill Ranford on a penalty shot in 1992. This year I will probably not make it :( Thanks again Ed Spendell.
I was trying to find the bill to reference but I have not found it yet. If someone else has reference to it please provide a link (I will if I find it).
Here is the website to the bill: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=...
I sell cars. Why should a consumer walk into my dealership and ask for a discount. There is a printed price on the window label but noone wants to pay it! Why because there is another one like it at another dealership so you don't have to. That's why you have to pay more for tickets to big events. Noone wants to sell them for the price they paid because there are 50 other people you are willing to pay more. I am sure if you just wanted to go to a regular season Penguins game during the middle of the week against a last place team you would buy the tickets for LESS than face value and never feel guilty that someone lost money so you could go. Then why should you be upset when you have to pay more for an event that everyone wants to go to. It is simply supply and demand. Have you checked energy prices lately-same thing.
I am glad to have brokers. That way I can pick the events I want to go to w/o investing lots of money in season ticket plans.
What most people don't understand is the best way to get the "important tickets" is to invest in a season package. Yes everybody wants to go see the Penguins in the playoffs for face value or see the Phillies clinch the NL east on the last day of the season for face value. What most of you don't want to commit to is the other 13 Sunday games that come in a season pkg for the Phillies. All the complainers don't understand about commitment. The Flyers and Penguins both sold playoff strips for the 2008 playoffs. You had to commit at face value to buy 16 games. If you did that and just sold off the other tickets at face value to friend ( or actually use them) you would have gotten them for face value.
The "haves" just simply do what the "have nots" won't do. That's why the owner of the business you work for is the owner. He did what others would not do.
So instead of complaining next year just buy a season ticket package and throw away the tickets you can not use, or you could be glad there are brokers that just ask you to pay for one or two events a year that you really want to go.
I am a season ticket holder NOT a broker. Committ or SHUT UP!!!!