Here's the end quote from an online broker: "If someone has purchased a ticket they should have the right to do whatever they want with it. . . . No one has to buy a seat."
But you _do_ have to buy a seat, it's part of the contract of the ticket. Just like I can't smoke in Fenway Park. The tickets aren't stock certificates. Supply and Demand, the price the market will bear, yadda, yadda, it's still a violation of the terms of the ticket.
Posted by G lib on 2004-09-22 16:01:51 +0000
Have a look at the ad they have that goes along with the article on
'scalping'.
Posted by rladew on 2004-09-22 16:07:27 +0000
Scalping is definitely bad karma, but if the Red Sox have already gotten their $$$, I don't see how they can regulate that....
Posted by tgl on 2004-09-22 16:19:19 +0000
The ticket is part of the Red Sox product. You are buying an experience at Fenway Park. Part of the fine print of the ticket is that you will not resell it above face value. The RS want to control how their product is used in the marketplace, just like any other company. Scalping tickets and the subsequent raised prices reduce fan involvement in the game. I've all the games I've been to this year have been sold-out, while there has always been a fair number of empty seats. It also creates a negative image about the product they are trying to sell.
Here's another analogy: When I buy a lift ticket to a ski area, I'm agreeing to ski inbounds. I may not, but I could forfeit my ticket if caught outside the boundaries. Do ski areas strenuously enforce this? No. Would they be within their right, according to the terms of the contract? Yes.
Posted by rladew on 2004-09-22 16:42:13 +0000
so how do you suggest the Red Sox institute this "fairness" Terry?
I happen to agree with you that scalping is pretty low, but you cant MAKE people behave by forcing more rules on them...
I suppose Im more in favor of a Laissez Faire style of governing things...
Posted by frame609 on 2004-09-22 17:28:46 +0000
I'm pissed because I can't buy extra playoff tickets and scalp 'em. Seriously. That would have been easy money in the bank. Dammit!
Posted by tgl on 2004-09-22 18:52:38 +0000
I didn't use the word fairness in describing why scalping is bad for RS business. It's not about fair, it's about policing the use of a corporations product.
I think the policy they have now of purchasing scalped tickets and denying sales to repeat offenders, while possibly allowing for "no-scalping" areas at the ball park is sufficient. There aren't any new rules here, I'm merely applauding the enforcement of existing rules.
Posted by frame609 on 2004-09-22 18:56:22 +0000
If you take a look over at Dirt Dogs today, you'll find some scathing commentary to the effect that the Sox are all talk when it comes to scalping enforcement.
Posted by tgl on 2004-09-22 19:21:14 +0000
I'm wondering now that I've come out as being such a staunch supporter of a corporation's rights to their product image, I'm a hypocrite if I defend to the last breath the "fair use" of copyrighted sounds by bands by Negativland.