I mean, if it’s really a non-transferrable license, then there are plenty of those that exist already, and we don’t need special laws to prohibit their transfer. So just saying it’s a license and that’s why we have scalping laws is a false arguments.
I should clarify–you have to be operating out of some sort of fixed business premises–typically a storefront–but not from the venue site itself.
This was already explained - it’s non-transferable for the reasons given in this thread, but enforcement of this solely as a licensing matter is virtually impossible, so additional measures are applied in the form of specific laws.
I gave the example of Man Utd - a profitable business, who have chosen to keep prices within the range of the average punter, even though the market could sustain far higher levels. They don’t want the end price to be inflated, either by themselves or by touts.
Maybe the NBA is mainly about money - but football certainly isn’t (most clubs are constantly struggling to stay afloat).
Eh? The ticket tells you what shirt to wear?
Somewhere in the region of 90% of the ground is for home fans, and you buy them direct from the club. The other 10% is for away fans, and those tickets are distributed by the visiting club - and yes, the ticket will generally identify it as for visiting supporters. So nobody’s in any doubt about what section they’re in.
Sorry, I posted too quickly before seeing the previous responses.
Paul in Saudi, there might be another factor to consider. In the United States, many of these “private” services are backed by public funds. Opera companies, orchestras, and other fine arts have been supported by tax money, at the federal, state, and local levels, for years. And these days, sports team owners (who otherwise jealously guard their private ownership status) routinely blackmail local governments to hand over tax money.
I don’t know how much this factor might have affected past views on scalping and ticket prices, but as a taxpayer I should hope that my funds are going to services that I have some hope of affording.
What kind of restriction? Tell the season ticket holders that if they get sick or can’t attend a playoff game for other reasons, they can’s sell their tickets? The season ticket holders throw away their money, and someone misses the game as the seat sits empty?
Some people take their sports far too seriously. Isn’t going to the game supposed to be fun? When we attend hockey games around here, people have shirts from both teams, and often other teams that aren’t even playing that day. The players may get in fights, but the fans don’t. I think I’ll be studiously avoiding football games when I’m in Europe.
You don’t need to worry about avoiding games - the segregation of the fans is enough to keep things safe. But the vicious insulting and taunting of the opposite fans & team is part of the fun 
To be honest, a majority of matches would probably be fine without it - but a significant minority wouldn’t, and of course there’s bad memories of the days when you really weren’t safe inside the grounds.
In any case, the visiting fans in particular want to be together - a few thousand of them spread throughout the ground wouldn’t be able to make much noise, but when grouped together & they’re winning the match, they’re capable of outdoing the home fans.
Ahem…wrong kinda football…
You mean there’s another kind? :dubious: Impossible!
Solution to scalping-
Have places like Ticketmaster sell tickets to only people who will give a First and Last name to be printed on each ticket and make the tickets non-transferable.
Like airline tickets. Just show your ID with ticket at the event to get in.
Sure, if you get sick and want to give your ticket to a friend your screwed but too bad.
If they made every ticket sale require the name of the attendee at the point of purchase you’d pretty much wipe out scalping.
Same would happen to season ticket holders. Either supply them with the names of the people that will be attending the event or the tickets are no good.
This would stop places like GreenBay where the waiting list for season tickets is something like 15 years. Reason is the people who are season ticket holders don’t even go to all the games nor can they afford it. They make more money buying their season tickets at face value and reselling them for twice as much.
Who would give up their season ticket holder status when they’ve got that easy money every year.
Well sure, but why bother? Are scalpers really worth the trouble to stamp out?
Why would a band charge money for a concert? Because it costs them a crapload to perform it. The crew doesn’t work for free, the electric company isn’t going to donate the electricity, the venue’s employees aren’t there for volunteer work … tours cost a lot of money. In fact, some bands (an example is Skinny Puppy) put on such an elaborate and complicated show that, in the end, they lose money on the tour. But they still tour because they love to perform and their fans love to see them perform.
:rolleyes:
So that’s why the Rolling Stones go on tour! Not to make money (which they would only squander on useless charities anyway) but just to please their loyal fans!
Damn scalpers. How dare they try to profit from human misery.
I stand enlightened.
:rolleyes:
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Grateful Dead were the only big name popular musicicians who made money on tour. Most performers were sent on tour by their record labels basically as a promotional exercise to promote sales of the recordings. I doubt that very many of them were doing it “because they love to perform etc.” For musicians who had no record contracts, live appearances were a source of profit, but they didn’t carry the costs of a major tour.
These days, I’m told, many signed musicians make very little money from record sales and no-frills concerts (meaning, those not performed at Ticketmaster-controlled venues) have become a necessary source of income.
Well, sure. And that’s why I was shocked at the assertion that you’d be turned down at the door for wearing the wrong shirt. At (American) football games, we used to go in crowds, wearing the visiting team shirts. It was a blast.
Really? Do you have a cite for that?
So a group couldn’t share the tickets anymore? That would stink. It’s common for a group of friends to buy season tickets and then divvy them up (“Okay - who’s going to the game on the 9th?”).
My only cite is that during that time, I was a subscriber to Rolling Stone magazine and I remember numerous references to the claim that except for the Grateful Dead, every pop music act routinely lost money on tour. I even remember an article whose specific topic was the Dead’s uncanny ability to run profitable concert tours. Maybe someone has access to 1980s-90s Rolling Stone archives?
Strange – why would so many bands tour so often if each time they do they lose money? Make it up on the volume?
But serially, folks, just because a particular activity by a band loses money doesn’t mean the overall operation does, too. Even if a tour closes in the red, many hangers-on have made money (promoters, venues, etc.) and CD sales and airplay may well increase as a result of the tour. Then the tour would be no different that selling milk in the grocery store as a loss-leader to generate floor traffic.
But I don’t see that as a factor in allowing or prohibiting scalping.