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Connecticut to consider changes to its ticket resale laws to better protect consumers
Fri, Feb 19th 2010 6:02 pm EDT
By Alfred Branch Jr.
The Connecticut General Assembly is considering sweeping changes to its existing ticket resale laws that would protect consumers and ensure an open secondary ticket market.
Bill No. 5228, currently before the legislature's General Law Committee, prohibits venues, promoters or other primary ticket sellers from anyway thwarting the resale of tickets on the secondary market, and it calls for them to make available information on the number of tickets that are being released. Ticket resale is legal in Connecticut.
While other states, such as Minnesota, are considering laws to require the disclosure of available tickets, Connecticut is proposing to take the matter a step further by also protecting consumers, brokers and resellers.
The proposed bill states in part:
No person shall apply a term or condition on the original sale of a ticket to an entertainment event, including, but not limited to, a sporting event, concert or theatrical or operatic performance, if such term or condition limits the ticket purchaser's ability to resell such ticket. Such a prohibited term or condition includes, but is not limited to, terms or conditions that: (1) Restrict ticket resale of any part or all of a subscription or season ticket package as a condition of purchase of such package, (2) require compliance with such term or condition to retain a ticket for the duration of a subscription term or season, (3) require a ticket purchaser to comply with such term or condition to retain his or her contractually agreed-upon rights to purchase future subscriptions or season ticket packages, or (4) impose a sanction on the ticket purchaser if the sale of the ticket is not through a reseller approved by the operator of the event.
(b) No person who regulates admission to an entertainment event shall deny access to such event to a person in possession of a validly purchased ticket to the event, regardless of whether the ticket is subject to a subscription or season ticket package agreement, based solely on the ground that such ticket was resold through a reseller that was not approved by the operator of the event.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an operator of an entertainment event from prohibiting the resale of a contractual right in a season ticket package agreement that gives the original purchaser a priority or other preference to enter into a subsequent season ticket package agreement with such operator.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an operator of an entertainment event from maintaining and enforcing policies regarding conduct or behavior at or in connection with such operator's venue. An operator may revoke or restrict a ticket for reasons relating to a violation of written venue policies reasonably related to the protection of the safety of patrons or to address fraud or misconduct in connection with the sale or use of such ticket.
State Sen. Thomas Colapietro and Rep. Jim Shapiro, co-chairs of the General Law Committee, could not be reached for comment.
The proposed bill continues a move toward more transparency in the ticketing industry, which came into focus this week with the settlement between the Federal Trade Commission and Ticketmaster concerning the sale of Bruce Springsteen tickets last year.
Less than a year ago, at a USA Today CEO forum, Ticketmaster board Chairman Barry Diller was quoted supporting more transparency in the ticketing industry.
"The problem with the ticketing business is: It's the essence of non-transparency. And the reason is that everybody has an ax to grind. Artists do not want consumers to know that they have a take of different parts of the ticketing package. People who own venues want to put in service charges. So I think there's going to be legislation which is going to force transparency, and I think that would be great for everybody," Diller said.
The Connecticut proposal goes on to state in part:
Each owner, lessee, operator or manager of a venue for an entertainment event, including, but not limited to, a sporting event, concert or theatrical or operatic performance, and each primary seller of tickets for such entertainment event shall release the following information to the Commissioner of Consumer Protection or such commissioner's duly authorized agent, upon request, for a specified entertainment event: (1) The total number of tickets available for the event, (2) the number and percentage of tickets released by such owner, lessee, operator or manager for sale to the public, (3) the number and percentage of tickets held back for each event, (4) the number and percentage of tickets not available for sale to the general public, (5) the number and percentage of tickets released only through package purchases or fan club purchases for each event, and (6) the number and percentage of tickets for the venue that are unavailable due to stage design or are otherwise unavailable for purchase to the general public due to maintenance or other issues that prevent the use of seats in the venue.
A public hearing on the bill is scheduled for February 25 in the state capitol before the General Law Committee.
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Comments
Comments represent the opinions of users and do not necessarily reflect the views of TicketNews.The provision that would prohibit a primary vendor like Ticketmaster or a pro sports team from restricting the ability consumers have on resale is key. New York state did that when Spitzer opened up resale there, and this is something that needs to be done nationwide to further protect consumers from the newly-formed Ticketmaster/Live Nation monopoly, as well as greedy sports teams who want you to shell out thousands of dollars of tickets, but then want to control how you sell them.
Yeah that's what scalpers want to do. Protect consumers.
Mr. Azoff, is that you?!? 'Scalpers' do a better job of protecting and are far more accountable to consumers than the new Ticketbastard/Lie Nation monopoly ever will be.
To reply to your sarcastic comment, yes brokers do care about the consumers. We do and still have many repeat customers that we have managed to hold onto with the competition of stubhub, tnow and the others who take away customers and make us envelope stuffers.
This is a great bill that has been introduced, and hope other states follow their lead.
Obviously you have dealt with someone shady. Have to admit those types are out there no matter what field. Look at Bernie Madoff.
Agree fully, the name scalper should be dropped, especially in this day, with ticket exchange and tm selling tickets much higher than what brokers list seats. Waiting for the day when they offer special deals on those over priced eagles tickets they are peddling. Tm are scalpers with the prices they list on the exchanges, hiding under FAN on EIBO. Do they think we are really that stupid? Not!!! Where is the transparency???
Most ticket brokers do care about protecting their customers. Contrary to what you may believe, they're no different than any other retail establishment. They want happy customers because it leads to repeat customers and good word of mouth. In addition, most brokers have pride in what they do and the business they've built, and therefore give a crap about their customers' experience.
And time for the word "scalper" to go away. Unless you're going to call anyone who resells something for profit a "scalper". Like the baseball card scalper. And the antique scalper. And the real estate scalper.
To add to 'scalper' frenzy
How many finance 'scalpers' we have seen in last few years that we need to bailout.
Have you heard insurance 'scalper'?
Classic car scalper and fine art scalper. Ohh, and the ever popular holiday scalpers -- Ticket Me Elmo scalper and PS3 scalper.
Of course scalpers want to protect the public
One should never slaughter the goose that lays the golden egg
And of course scalpers don't buy up as many tickets as possible from the primaries, by any means necessary, thus depriving the public of the ability to buy the same tickets at face value
Scalpers are only there to provide a facility for fans to dispose of tickets when they cannot use them!
It is pure coincidence that there are thousands of members of the public who, three minutes after buying tickets, realise they cannot use them and sell them to scalpers
Pure coincidence I tell you!
"And of course scalpers don't buy up as many tickets as possible from the primaries, by any means necessary, thus depriving the public of the ability to buy the same tickets at face value"
The public has plenty ability to buy tickets at face value. Typically, only 5-10% of tickets for a given event end up on the secondary market. And that includes corporate seats, "regular fans" who can't use the ticket an want to sell it, and other groups that are not scalpers. So, if 20,000 total tickets are available, roughly 18,000 - 19,000 are there for the "public". This is not speculation -- it is fact. Just look at the availability for some high-profile events on any ticket selling site and it's plain to see.
Saying that scalpers deprive the public of the ability to buy tickets at face value is a cop-out. The real deal is that certain events, (and a vast minority at that), have demand that far outweigh the supply of tickets. Prices are driven up and Joe Q. Public cries foul, but doesn't say a word when he goes to see Elton John for half-price.
There is no more valid argument against the resale of tickets in a free-market society than there is an argument against the resale of classic cars, real estate, antiques, baseball cards and anything else that is potentially resold for a profit.
you seem to think its easy, why dont you do it. when you sell your house or stocks make sure you dont turn a profit and take advantage of anyone
Ticket reselling is very similar to stock options, the closer to the expiration date, the lower or higher the price gets depending on the demand. And purchasing stock options is perfectly legal or is it Stock Market Scalping ?
its all buying low and trying to sell high.
Oh there's that tired argument again. Reselling tickets is not like selling baseball cards, classic cars or antiques as those things are valuable because they're old. What you guys do is more akin to paying people to stand in line outside a toy store to buy all the Tickle Me Elmo dolls a month before Christmas so the desperate father in line behind you has to buy one off you for five times the price.
No one wants your services except rich people who have money to burn. Not the general public, not the primary seller and not the artists and management. You prevent the general public from seeing concerts at the price the artist intended to charge. That's a fact.
I'm probably wasting my breath though on a "news" website owned and maintained by a ticket broker. So go ahead and say what you will. How about the other stale defense, "I thought this was America?".
:)
what you want is to be able to buy seats for a hot show the day before it happens. how do I stop you from buying tix anyway?
First of all, just because something is old doesn't make it valuable. Those things are valuable because something has happened to make them appreciate in value. It just happens that the timeframe for a ticket to appreciate in value is usually shorter than those other items. But, if a baseball player hit 80 homeruns in his rookie season, his card would appreciate much more quickly than the norm. Regardless, it's not the time that makes these things worth money -- it's the situation. Toyota Prius' were selling for over sticker price before they even hit the lot. Harley-Davidsons sold for over sticker for years, and appreciated in value the minute they left the dealership. Neither one of those things were old and people that didn't want to pay the price simply bought something else.
Secondly, what we do is not akin to paying people to stand in line and buy all the Tickle Me Elmos and sell them at 5 times the price, because we do not have ALL the tickets. We have less than 10%! That's 90%, and usually more like 95%, available to be purchased by the public at the "price the artist intended to charge". We don't prevent the public from anything. In fact, in some cases, we're the only thing that ALLOWS the public to see a show by having access to corporate tickets or season ticket holder seats that people want to sell. And if you think we're always making 5x the ticket price, you're wrong there too. I can't speak for other brokers, but by the time I pay my business expenses, sell some tickets for profit, sell some for loses, and throw some in the trash, I make less than 20% on my investment. I make less than every grocery, drug or mass retailer in the country. But you can't see what they're making off you, so there's no gripe.
You're not wasting your breath because this is a ticket broker website. You're wasting it because you're operating under a great deal of misconceptions. I don't know if you're getting it from the media, or Ticketmaster, or where, but they're wrong.
And one other thing. I can't think of a single customer of mine who is rich with money to burn. My customers are regular people that don't want to sit in a Red Sox virtual waiting room for their entire Saturday just to buy 4 tickets. They're people that want to know the difference between a seat in the Mezzanine and one in the back of the Orchestra, and actually appreciate getting advice from an expert that has researched it. In that regard, you're right -- selling tickets is not like selling baseball cards. It's more like cutting hair. I could do it myself and pay for nothing more than the scissors. Or, I could pay someone for the expertise and convenience so I don't have to mess around with it. And if she charges me $50 an hour, (which is about what a haircut probably equates to), I have the choice to continue going to her or doing it on my own.
And don't tell me you don't have a choice with concerts because we buy all the tickets. Before I was a broker, with all the sporting events and concerts I've gone to in my life, not once have I not been able to get a ticket directly from the primary source -- not once. They are there, they are available, you just have to make the effort. And if someone else decides to make the effort and take the risk that they'll make a buck, they've got every right to do so.
then go take your "tired" butt and move out of this country if you don't like it. Because in "America" we have this thing called freedom and free trade. Just like the stock market and stock options.