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Oklahoma City Council may update outdated anti-scalping laws
For the first time since 1981, Oklahoma City is contemplating whether to reform its anti-scalping laws. City Manager Jim Couch wants to raise the maximum price at which tickets can be resold to $20 above face value. Currently, the maximum price is $0.50 above face value. Furthermore, Couch wants to institute a 500-foot anti-scalping zone around venues to discourage resellers.
Chesapeake Energy Arena is home to Oklahoma City's NBA team, the Thunder, Oklahoma City's NBA team, the Thunder and a major site of illegal ticket resale. The Thunder is one of the NBA's youngest teams, formed in 2008 when the Seattle SuperSonics relocated from Washington State and changed their name.
Live Nation using paperless tickets to fight secondary market
Paperless ticketing has become Live Nation Entertainment's latest weapon against the secondary market. Twenty percent of tickets for Bruce Springsteen's performances in New Jersey this April will be paperless, Live Nation announced. Doing so prevents the resale of these tickets on secondary outlets, such as Ebay-owned Stub Hub, or between fans.
Though ticket resale is legal according to U.S. law, individual states have passed legislation restricting the practice. In New York, for instance, tickets cannot be resold for more than $2 above face value. In January, New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell called for increasing government regulations on ticket selling after Ticketmaster's website suffered a malfunction, preventing fans from acquiring tickets through the Live Nation subsidiary. Tickets were available, however, on Stub Hub.
Fan Freedom Project files complaint against Durham Performing Arts Center
The Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) in Durham, North Carolina recently made headlines for taking advantage of a North Carolina state law allowing individual venues to prohibit the resale of tickets to upcoming events so long as the venue properly registers with the North Carolina Secretary of State and pays a fee. In light of this recent announcement, the Fan Freedom Project has filed a complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General and Secretary of State arguing that a complete ban on ticket resale is actually in violation of the current North Carolina law regarding ticket resale.
Under the current North Carolina state law, ticket resale at above face value ticket price is allowed unless a venue, such as the DPAC, takes the appropriate measures to bar it from occurring. However, the Fan Freedom Project argues in its complaint, that the law "does not allow a venue to prohibit resale altogether."
Live Nation Entertainment's ticket resale may violate Ontario anti-scalping law
Event promotions giant Live Nation Entertainment may face steep fines after a possible violation of Ontario's anti-scalping law. On Feb. 13, tickets for Madonna's concert in Ottawa's Scotiabank Park were sold out within 21 minutes of being placed on-sale. On resale websites such as Kijiji.ca, however, tickets remained available. On Live Nation Entertainment's subsidiary site, VIPNation.com, Madonna fans could purchase a concert ticket for $1500 despite its $350 face value. Once the customer presses the button to purchase the tickets, users are rerouted to iloveallacess.com, which has a different URL, but displays VIP Nation in the top banner. There is no information on this page that discloses that VIP Nation is a subsidiary Live Nation Entertainment.
The Ticket Speculation Act of 1990 forbids ticket resale in Ontario for a price above face value. A 2010 amendment sets a maximum $5,000 fine for individual violators and a maximum $50,000 for corporations. Whether the maximum fines are to be implemented per ticket or in total remains unclear because of the bill's vague language and its limited enforcement history.
Police arrest 97 for Olympics-related offenses including ticket resale
Last week the London Metropolitan Police Unit arrested almost 100 individuals in connection to offenses regarding the 2012 Summer Olympics.
British Home Secretary Theresa May reported at British security think tank the Royal United Services Institute that 97 arrests had been made by Operation Podium, a dedicated unit of London's Metropolitan Police. Created in June 2010, the unit's primary focus is to root out ticket companies and others planning to resell their Olympic tickets, as unauthorized resale of Olympics tickets is illegal in the U.K.
North Carolina venue looks to block ticket resale
The Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) recently starting working to take advantage of a North Carolina ticket resale law that allows venues to bar online resale of tickets for their upcoming events.
AAI white paper targets restrictive paperless tickets
The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) has officially joined the fight against paperless ticketing.
On Friday, January 20, the Washington, DC-based advocacy organization presented the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and several state attorneys general with a 71-page white paper authored by James D. Hurwitz.
Live Nation service fee case moves to Maryland federal court
A lawsuit accusing Live Nation of illegally charging exorbitant service fees and giving "kickbacks" to a Baltimore concert hall is winding its way through the Maryland court system.
Andre Bourgeois filed a class action lawsuit against Live Nation accusing its Ticketmaster division of breaking a Baltimore ordinance that prohibits service fees above $0.50 over face value.
Counterfeit Green Bay Packers tickets prompt warnings
Recent instances of counterfeit tickets at Green Bay Packers home games has prompted local officials to caution fans to check the authenticity of tickets for upcoming NFL playoff games.
Police seized about 25 fake tickets at Lambeau Field during the December 25 game against the Chicago Bears, costing buyers thousands of dollars, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Counterfeit tickets also were reportedly discovered at the Packers' December 11 home game against the Oakland Raiders.
viagogo to continue fight over reseller name disclosure
The UK Court of Appeal ruled against ticket resale marketplace viagogo late last month for the company to turn over the names of ticket resellers to the Rugby Football Union (RFU).
The RFU prohibits the resale of its tickets above face value, so the league sought the names of resellers to level disciplinary action against them. But viagogo refused to furnish the names, in part because doing so would breach the company's policy of keeping sellers' identities private.
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