Relax, kiddies. This is just a form of protection against scalpers reselling the tickets (AND getting) crazy amounts of money for them.
By obtaining the Social Security number, the person who purchased the aforementioned ticket is locked into that ticket -- he can not pass the ticket along EVEN as a gift to a friend, etc. A honest-to-goodness 'background' check is actually illegal IF this is preventing someone from actually purchasing a ticket, etc.
This SSN scenario is common now for popular concerts regarding premium level seating -- only the person who purchased the ticket will be permitted to purchased seat location, thus providing photo ID with name and SSN match, etc. Colored wristbands are no longer the guaranteed form of protection against scalpers anymore.
I think they mean that if the reason for the background check is to prevent certain people from purchasing the ticket (because of criminal background, etc), then it would be discrimination, and hence, illegal.
But I agree with Brody. The reason for the SSN/background check is to ensure that the person who attends is the same one who bought the tickets.
