Green Bay Packers fans may find it more difficult to resell their football tickets if the city’s police department can convince local leaders to adopt stiffer anti-scalping legislation.
In a move designed to crack down on the influx of counterfeit tickets on game days for one of the National Football League’s most popular teams, Green Bay, WI police are seeking the creation of a ticket scalper zone, near fabled Lambeau Field, and a broker licensing requirement for resellers. Officials announced their proposal earlier this week, according to published reports.
Currently, ticket reselling is legal in Green Bay for Packers games, but police said that last season the number of fans cheated by counterfeiters, and the subsequent arrests of many of them, were exorbitant. Green Bay Police Lt. Michael Nick, who is pushing for the new legislation, did not return a message seeking comment. But, he told WBAY-TV that the new laws could improve accountability and save fans from falling victim to scammers.
“We weren’t able to control who those people are or even know who’s doing this, so this would limit the number of people coming up here,” he recently told the TV station.
Police are looking to create a zone, or “scalper’s row,” across the street from the stadium where ticket brokers and resellers could congregate, similar to a recent proposal made in Cleveland, OH. In addition, the police want brokers to register with the city, submit to a background check and pay an $800 licensing fee plus insurance costs.
City officials first heard the proposal Wednesday night and are considering it. However, the new requirements pose a potentially stiff roadblock to regular fans who simply want to unload extra tickets to one or two specific games. They would either have to resell them well before the game, which could difficult if they found out at the last moment that they can’t make it to a game; or resell them for no more than face value; or pony up for the license and background check, which is not only very expensive but also very time-consuming.
Some city officials had the same concerns, and also worried that prices could rise for resold tickets. “It inflates prices if you can only really buy from a select group in a certain area, whereas before you could walk around the stadium and say, ‘Hey, got an extra one? How much?'” Alderman Chris Wery told WBAY.
City officials are expected to continue discussing the proposal within the next few weeks, in order to try to have a plan in place by the beginning of the NFL season.
