Legislation targets ticket scalpers

SALT LAKE CITY — Braving a chilly January night, they stood on street corners calling, "tickets, tickets."

Popularly known as "scalpers," they bought, sold and traded tickets, in this case, outside a recent basketball game at the University of Utah.

Ticket scalpers are a well-known fixture outside stadiums, arenas and theaters all over Utah, but they are in the cross hairs of proposed legislation on Capitol Hill.

The 2010 Legislature, which convened Monday, will consider a proposed bill that targets overpriced tickets by limiting the amount scalpers and ticket brokers can charge.

If passed, the law may not eliminate the independent ticket business in Utah, but resellers say the restrictions would have a "very negative effect."

Under HB76, a person may not sell a ticket for more than the ticket's face value plus tax and a "service charge" not to exceed $10, or 15 percent of the price.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Salt Lake City, said the proposal is a result of constituent complaints.

"I just want to keep prices down," he said. "It's important that families can afford to go to these events and not get ripped off."

The proposed law is designed to discourage the practice of buying bulk amounts of tickets to popular concerts and sporting events, and then charging fans exorbitant prices for the limited tickets, Hemingway said.

In business for 15 years, Tickets Today owner Stan Johnsen said concerns about overpriced tickets are exaggerated.

"It's nonsense," he said. "There are many misconceptions about the service that ticket brokers provide."

The amount a ticket is resold for depends on the event and what the ticket market is doing, Johnsen said.

"Brokers almost never buy large amounts of tickets," he said. "It's really not an issue."

New regulation would compound the effects of the economic slump that already has dug deeply into his profits, Johnsen said.

"This has been by far the worst year," he said. "We don't even sell tickets to many events because they're just not worth it."

Current language in the bill does not exempt ticket brokers, but Hemingway said he does not want to hurt those businesses.