The city of Tulsa is looking to pass legislation banning ticket resale within the Oklahoma city. At the heart of the proposed ticket ban is Tulsa councilor Bill Christiansen, who wants residents of Tulsa to be able to buy tickets to high profile events at the city’s newly opened BOK Center.
Citing that city residents are having a difficult time purchasing tickets to such events, Christiansen has proposed a new ticketing ban that would seek to stem ticket resale, including resale on popular ticketing sites such as StubHub and TicketLiquidator.
In an interview with Tulsa’s Fox 23 news channel, Christiansen emphasized that the residents of Tulsa paid for the new BOK Center, and should therefore be able to enjoy concerts and events in the venue for a reasonable price.
The proposed ordinance would ban all types of ticket resale, from on the street reselling to resale over the internet. Christiansen acknowledged to Fox 23 that such a wide sweeping ordinance would be difficult to enforce, but stressed that the most important goal was to send a message that high ticket prices would not be tolerated. Earlier this year, Christiansen introduced a similar ordinance to the Tulsa City Council looking to eliminate all ticket resale other than internet resale from within the city’s limits.
Under the Oklahoma State Constitution, it is up to individual cities within the state to draw up their own ticketing laws. The ordinance would not be the first within the state of Oklahoma to limit ticket resale. The state’s capital, Oklahoma City, currently has stipulations in place that limit the price of a resold ticket to no greater than 50 cents over its face value. Violation of the Oklahoma City ordinance carries a $750 fine.
