They also mention that third-party ticket brokers often use illegal bots that allow them to buy thousands of tickets in seconds, and even legal third party sellers like StubHub an TIcketsNow are reselling at an average of 49% above face value.
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Schneiderman’s report cites examples such as a U2 tour past year in which a single bot bought 15,000 tickets in one day and Beyonce’s 2013 concert at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, which sold 520 tickets in 3 minutes. The report on the investigation, entitled “Obstructed View: What’s Blocking New Yorkers from Getting Tickets”, details the middle-men and troubling industry practices that work to keep affordable tickets out of the hands of ordinary New Yorkers.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the results of an industry investigation on Thursday.
Investigators also say ticket-sellers regularly tacked on fees that added more than 21 percent to the face value.
“Some ticket issuers – particularly sports teams, including National Football League teams and the New York Yankees – have put in place price floors [which] are rules created to prevent tickets from being sold at a price below some level, usually the face value of the ticket or something close to it”, Schneiderman’s 44-page report states. (For a given concert, 16% of tickets are typically held for industry insiders and 38% are reserved for pre-sales, the report found.) Schneiderman is also calling on the state legislature to reinstate some version of the 20-40 percent cap on ticket markups that existed until 2007, and end a ban on non-transferrable “paperless tickets”, which require a concertgoer to show the credit card used to purchase the tickets.
As demand for a hot game or show goes up, so will the prices of those tickets.
An NFL spokesman said the NFL Ticket Exchange is just one of many options for ticket holders to buy or sell tickets. “The NFL imposes no restrictions whatsoever on any fan’s ability to buy or resell tickets on other secondary ticketing sites or to do so at any price they choose”.
The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the antitrust investigation.
A spokeswoman for the Yankees said the Yankees Ticket Exchange is “a completely voluntary program” and a small percentage of the market.
The AG’s office said that may be because many brokers don’t wait until they have the tickets to sell them at an inflated price.
An official with knowledge of the investigation said Schneiderman’s office is investigating and wants the price floor removed.
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The settlements with MSMSS LLC and Extra Base Tickets LLC require them to pay $80,000 and $65,000, respectively.
