The City of Denver, which currently prohibits the resale of event tickets, is considering changing its anti-scalping law to allow for an unfettered market which would, according to the legislator pushing for the change, even the playing field between fans and ticket brokers.

While the State of Colorado allows for ticket resale, Denver does not based on Chapter 7, Article XII, 7-291-294 of the city’s ordinances. But, as many municipalities and jurisdictions have found out, trying to enforce anti-scalping laws in the Internet Age is, at best, extremely difficult.

According to published reports, City Councilman Michael Hancock wants to bring Denver in line with other cities and states by eliminating the ban on ticket resale, and in the process make it easier for fans to obtain and/or resell their own tickets.

“We’ve had numerous incidents with major events and concerts taking place here where (ticket) brokers have purchased up the tickets and local folks can’t get to them. They have to go to brokers to get them,” Hancock told the Rocky Mountain News. “So, I think, hopefully, this will level the market a little bit for folks in Denver trying to buy tickets.”

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Over the past year, several states and municipalities have changed their anti-scalping laws to better reflect the realities of the ticket marketplace. Colorado was among the states to alter its ticket laws, moving to better protect fans from counterfeiters or brokers using software bots to snap up large blocks of tickets.

While they look to do away with the anti-scalping law, Hancock and the City Council will try to preserve a buffer zone around stadiums and venues to dissuade street scalping.

“You can go online and buy tickets now from the brokers, and that’s why brokers are snapping up these tickets when they go on sale in Denver,” Hancock told the Rocky Mountain News. “The bottom line is that we are no longer giving them exclusive rights.”

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