Take a look at Item #5 on the city council meeting agenda for tomorrow night. (Sponsored by the Mayor & Finance Department);
Sale of tickets at more than face value prohibited.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally resell or offer to resell a ticket of admission to any sporting event, theatre, music hall, or other place of public entertainment, amusement, or instruction (collectively the “eventâ€) to which tickets of admission are offered for sale to the general public at a price greater than that charged at the place of admission or printed on the ticket, unless authorized in subsections (b) or (c) below. For purposes of this section, “resell†or “attempt to resell†shall mean to solicit for resale and shall include any sale or attempted sale subsequent to the initial offer to the public.
I am on the fence on this one. First off, I didn’t realize this was a ‘problem’ in Sioux Falls. I am also curious why the mayor is pushing this. I am curious if this has anything to do with the new EC, and contracts with SMG or Ovation? It may also be a suggestion by Legends. Not sure, hopefully we will get more details tomorrow.
The reason I am on the fence about this, because, believe it or not, I am all for the FREE market. If I buy a used car for $1000, fix it up for another $200 then sell it for $1600, am I considered a ‘car scalper’? If someone buys a ticket, or several tickets to a popular show that they know will sell out, what is the problem with profiting from re-selling those tickets for more? All we need to do is look at check cashing places, credit card companies and VL casinos in this state. They all make HUGE profits on ‘re-selling’ something at an enormous rate.
It will be interesting to hear Turbak’s explanation on this one. Hopefully he will let the council ask ‘pertinent’ questions that he will answer 🙂