Scalping Laws Could Change - and soon!

[Craig]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 10:37am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/pulse/

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:01am

Interesting.
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"We believe that ticket prices would probably not skyrocket if the cap placed on the resale of tickets were to be lifted," Gerald Schoenfeld, chairman of the League of American Theatres & Producers, wrote in a recent letter to state officials obtained by The Post.

"An increase in the number of legal resellers (who comply with licensing and other regulations) will increase legal competition in the marketplace and drive prices down," Schoenfeld wrote.
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The theater owners say any new law should further crack down on the bribing of box-office employees who hold back tickets for scalpers.
'GREEN LIGHT' FOR SCALPERS: B'way Drops Opposition

[Fosse76]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:03am

Well, with the premium pricing being successful, now they know people are willing to shell-out hundreds of dollars for a real crappy seat, and if it's legal they can get some of that extra cash. It will not drive prices down. Once again, only the super rich will be able to get "good" seats at concerts and plays.

[Magdalene]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:36am

Hmmm...seems like I won't be able to get tickets to some shows anymore....Well, there's always off-Broadway!

Sounds like Schoenfield is dreaming if he thinks prices will go down---scalpers will buy up all the tickets, and us regular folk won't stand a chance.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 11:36 AM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 11:56am

Scalpers should dissappear, I was actually kinda happy when Julia Roberts' play got panned, so most of them couldn't even sell their tix and wound up losing money, tix should be bought just by theatre-goers, they raise the prices of the tix.
I just want tix to be less expensive.
Luckily most of the shows/plays I want to see aren't sold out, so I get good prices.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 11:56 AM

[kasim]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 12:51pm

Personally i do not think much will change.

If memory serves the cap is only applicable if you are buying in new york. So that never stops people who come from out of state (ie: buying online)

[billynj]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 2:43pm

Gov. Spitzer has it right

And Gov. Spitzer since his days as state attorney general has argued that the free market should drive ticket prices for concerts, plays and sporting events.

"My view has always been that the laws don't work," Spitzer told The Post last week.

"The reason the laws don't work is it's the only product I know where we are regulating the secondary market but we don't set a price for the primary market. It makes no sense."




BESIDE THE THEATERS DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF SCALPING US WITH THE NEW VIP SEATS!

[keen on kean]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 2:57pm

At least the profits from premium seats work to the benefit of the industry - theaters or producers or whatever. Scalpers make money for themselves -

[worrell4077]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 3:11pm

I really hate scalpers, basically cause the only time I see them is when I'm in line to see Jersey Boys and I would rather not have a group of them buy out every single ticket for the show, when I would like to get tickets to the show for me, my mom, and my sister.

Scalpers really shouldn't be allowed to do what they do cause they have nothing to do with the show they are scalping. They are making a profit off of a show that they really have nothing to do with and to me, most of them seem like they are probably lazy people who don't really want to work and want to buy tickets and then resell them for more than they are worth.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 3:52pm

I just avoid shows like Jersey Boys, I remember getting an orch student ticket for $ 30, 5 mins before the show started, before all the Tonys.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 3:58pm

That's really the key. See all shows before the Tonys. Because once people see them on TV, they wake up and all start buying tickets.

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 5:47pm

I got Odd Couple tickets from one of the scalpers out side of the downtown TKTS... They were decently priced, and the show was sold out... So, I don't really have a problem with scalpers... It may be the only way to see a hit show if your not planning your trip around the tickets you bought six months ago...

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 5:54pm

Yeah but the problem regarding scalpers is that they are buying tickets to hit shows and are:

1) making a profit off of it by taking advantage of consumers dersperate to see the show

and

2) taking away the opportunity for others to see the show who can afford box office prices but not scalper prices.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:02pm

Exactly. If a person buys a ticket to a show, they should be either attending the show or giving it to someone as a gift. They should not buy a ticket or multiple tickets for the purpose of re-selling them for a profit.

We, as theatregoers, should be able to go to the box office or go to Telecharge or Ticketmaster and buy tickets to the shows we want to attend. We should not have to pay above what is being charged by the producers to get better seats by dealing with third parties. That only makes attending the theatre a less legit practice, and it takes the fairness and fun out of it. If the producers want to charge premium prices, which they already do, I can understand that, as it cracks down on scalpers and the money from ticket sales goes directly to the production and not to third parties who want to make a buck on their own.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 06:02 PM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:03pm

Double post.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 06:03 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:05pm

We should than see an end to premium seating

Wasn't this the proported reason when Brooks did it for The Producers?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:11pm

Yes. Producers claimed that premium seating was necessary to control the prices charged by ticket scalpers. I'll bet they still continue to sell the premium seats, too.

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:18pm

Gerald Schoenfeld sucks, and not in a good way. And they named a Broadway theatre after this jerk.

[WishingWells]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:33pm

Anyone know what the laws are like in the West End? They have ticket resellers on every corner, selling just about everything playing. And- I have found that thier prices are only 15-20 pounds (30-40 dollars) higher then the theatre selling price for the top shows. Although this is still outrageous, I don't think it is as high as NY scalpers.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/19/07 at 6:42pm

"We should than see an end to premium seating"

At least premium seating prices set out by producers don't benefit any third parties.

Personally, I don't have much of a problem with premium seating. I mean, I hate the high prices of the seats and think they are a waste of money just as much as the next person, but if the producers want to charge premium seating, so be it. I've never really had trouble finding good seats to a show I wanted to see, and I've never bought premium seats.

One time I bought a full-priced Lion King ticket for Row B orchestra, dead center. For the heck of it, I searched premium seating to see what could be better than that. I pulled up Row G center. The way the Ticketmaster is arranged is that it will give you the best seats first, which means the closer the seats are to the stage and the more central they are, the better the seats are (according to an agent I spoke to). So I was confused as to why in this case Row G was better than B. Because even if we know that G is a little better because it is further back, the Ticketmaster system isn't arranged that way. Rather it says the best seats are close to the stage and more central.

People have the misconception that buying premium seats will give them an advantage over other theatergoers who are buying normal price seats in the same area. I really don't see much of a difference. I've sat in the extreme side orchestra before, and I see everything fine from there. So, it's not really worth it to be dead center in the first ten rows for $250 when I can get a seat just as good, perhaps at a different angle (but not making much of a difference) for normal prices.

Despite all this, if producers want to charge premium prices for certain seats, whatever. Either I'll sit somewhere else or wait until I can get a good seat.

Updated On: 3/19/07 at 06:42 PM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 2:56am

Also, how do you know that the tix are real?
I remember this guy selling tix for some hit shows and I thought to myself "What if I spend 100 bucks and then, the ticket isn't good"?

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/20/07 at 9:03am

With premium seats, the producers have replaced the scalpers and have made pleasurable theatre-going much more difficult.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 8:58am

Interesting new article on Playbill.com about the Scalping Laws:
Tickets Gone Wild: Broadway Braces Itself as NY Contemplates Deregulating Scalping

Updated On: 4/19/07 at 08:58 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/19/07 at 12:04pm

"Because even if we know that G is a little better because it is further back, the Ticketmaster system isn't arranged that way."

Yes and no. It depends how the theatre wants Ticketmaster to represent the seating. Ticketmaster manually designates the price points and the seats assigned to each price point (known as "x-zones". The lower the x-zone, the higher the price and more desireable the seat. But Ticketmaster can desgnate anything they want to assign to the x-zone, which is usually assigned by the theatre or production company. For example, X1 could be the 10 most centrally located seats in rows E-K (generally the most desired seats in any theatre). X2 could be the center of L-T or could be the sides of E-K. X1 could also be all rows in the orchestra and X2 is the mezzanine. Or every row could be an individual x-zone. I've seen all kinds of configurations and I've used my Ticketmaster knowledge to the chagrin of many box office employees who assume I know nothing about ticketing. It's fun to watch them squirm when they think they realize they might just have to put in an effort for once.

As for scalping, I think there should absolutely be a cap of 20%. With skyrocketing ticket prices and seats that once were available directly from the box office at a reasonable price now being available to only the wealthy, I think Broadway is in danger of slitting its own throat. There is absolutely no justification as to why a seat just a couple of seats closer to the center would cost over $100 more than the one I purchased. None. And I don't think people should stand for it. "Premium seats" are BS and nothing more. It doesn't deter from scalping, it merely proves that producers embrace the idea of overcharging the public rather than condemn it.

Updated On: 4/19/07 at 12:04 PM