ieddyi
02-27-05, 08:32 AM
Greg Couch
By hook or crook, fans scalped
February 27, 2005
BY GREG COUCH SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
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Down in Springfield, it is known as HB 873, a bill sponsored by state Rep. Skip Saviano of Elmwood Park that would allow people to scalp tickets on the Web, on eBay, Stubhub.com or Tickets.com. Basically, it's already happening against state law anyway, and this will provide certain safeguards for consumers.
But not everyone is on board with this.
"The consumer eventually is going to suffer by it. It's going to drive up the prices. I don't think that kind of law, if it passes, is good for the average guy.''
That was a quote Friday in the Daily Herald, and you'll never guess whom it came from: Frank Maloney, the director of ticket operations for the Cubs.
That's right. The Cubs, who own a scalping office called Wrigley Field Premium Tickets, actually have the nerve to try to stop this and say that scalping is bad for the fans. The Cubs were sued by their own fans and produced a report from an economist during the trial that said scalping drives prices down. It was their gift to society.
The Cubs used a law that mirrors this one to get into this dirty business, and they don't want anyone else to compete now that they have theirs? They want a monopoly on screwing the fans.
"If they come to committee to fight this, we'll tear them apart,'' Saviano said. "When they opened their own ticket-brokering service, they opened up their own can of worms. It's kind of a shady business from the get-go, but we're trying to put the best light on it because everyone's doing it.''
Cubs ahead of their time
The Cubs' ticket-scalping scam from two years ago is changing the way ticketing is done in America. Blame the Cubs' greed and lack of regard for the fans. Blame commissioner Bud Selig for not stopping it. Blame Judge Sophia Hall for letting the Cubs get away with it. The Cubs are scalping, fans are doing it on the Internet and even Major League Baseball has its foot in the door.
You remember how the Cubs started this. They took tickets out of their supply and "sold'' them to a dummy scalping company they had set up, Premium. Then Premium sold the tickets at prices way above face value. So when the New York Yankees came to town, the Cubs advertised a top seat at $45, then never allowed Average Joe to buy it at that price. Instead, they sold it to themselves, and Premium put it up for $1,500. It's called bait-and-switch.
All the while, the Cubs pretended they didn't own the thing, even though they were paying Premium's bills, because the law prohibits people from scalping tickets to their own events. In the end, Hall ruled that Tribune Co. owned Premium, the Cubs didn't. You do know who owns the Cubs, right?
Maybe I shouldn't have said, "In the end,'' because Cubs fans soon will have their day in appeals court.
I wrote several columns about this at the time and recall one anonymous team CEO saying that other owners were upset that the Cubs were using this to rip them off on their revenue-sharing responsibilities. They also were upset that they didn't think of it first.
Everybody's doing it
Ha. Guess what? MLB Advanced Media, an arm of Major League Baseball owned by all 30 team owners, is in the process of buying Tickets.com. They have all sorts of plans to help fans buy tickets. But Tickets.com also has a window for premier tickets.
A scalping window, where people sell tickets above face value. So Major League Baseball is getting into the scalping business. Thanks to the Cubs. Thanks to Hall's boneheadedness.
This whole secondary-ticketing market was a business trying to find its way. The Cubs stepped way over the line and got away with it. Now the rest of baseball is following.
"We're not buying Tickets.com because it offers secondary ticketing,'' said Jim Gallagher, a spokesman for MLBAM.
Fine. But will baseball tickets be scalped on the site?
"It's part of the world of ticketing, and Tickets.com provides it,'' Gallagher said. "We don't view the secondary-ticketing market as some sort of evil.''
Like the other Internet ticket sites, Tickets.com doesn't actually do the scalping. It just sets up a forum for others to do it. For a fee. Its site offers a disclaimer about not being responsible "for ensuring that your particular transaction does not violate any applicable local, state, federal and international laws.''
Get your stories straight
Gallagher said that tickets being resold typically come from season-ticket buyers who don't plan to go to all 81 home games. But will any of the teams be putting tickets on the resale site before giving Average Joe the chance to buy them at face value first?
"I don't know anyone who does that,'' Gallagher said.
The Cubs do. During the last few days, thousands of Cubs fans waited in line and hoped for tickets through the team's lottery system. You wonder how many tickets actually got to the "average guy'' Maloney seems to care about. As a means of fighting off scalpers, the Cubs limited the number of tickets any individual could buy.
Just guessing here, but do you think that limit applied to Wrigley Field Premium Tickets?
Meanwhile, Maloney didn't return my calls. And Cubs vice president of community affairs Michael Lufrano, who helped set up Premium in the first place, didn't seem to agree with Maloney.
"The more tickets in the secondary market, the more the price to the fan goes down,'' Lufrano said.
Guys, you're going to have to get your alibis straight.
Letters to our sports columnists appear Sunday. Send e-mail to inbox@suntimes.com. Include your full name, hometown and a daytime phone number.
By hook or crook, fans scalped
February 27, 2005
BY GREG COUCH SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Advertisement
Click Here
Down in Springfield, it is known as HB 873, a bill sponsored by state Rep. Skip Saviano of Elmwood Park that would allow people to scalp tickets on the Web, on eBay, Stubhub.com or Tickets.com. Basically, it's already happening against state law anyway, and this will provide certain safeguards for consumers.
But not everyone is on board with this.
"The consumer eventually is going to suffer by it. It's going to drive up the prices. I don't think that kind of law, if it passes, is good for the average guy.''
That was a quote Friday in the Daily Herald, and you'll never guess whom it came from: Frank Maloney, the director of ticket operations for the Cubs.
That's right. The Cubs, who own a scalping office called Wrigley Field Premium Tickets, actually have the nerve to try to stop this and say that scalping is bad for the fans. The Cubs were sued by their own fans and produced a report from an economist during the trial that said scalping drives prices down. It was their gift to society.
The Cubs used a law that mirrors this one to get into this dirty business, and they don't want anyone else to compete now that they have theirs? They want a monopoly on screwing the fans.
"If they come to committee to fight this, we'll tear them apart,'' Saviano said. "When they opened their own ticket-brokering service, they opened up their own can of worms. It's kind of a shady business from the get-go, but we're trying to put the best light on it because everyone's doing it.''
Cubs ahead of their time
The Cubs' ticket-scalping scam from two years ago is changing the way ticketing is done in America. Blame the Cubs' greed and lack of regard for the fans. Blame commissioner Bud Selig for not stopping it. Blame Judge Sophia Hall for letting the Cubs get away with it. The Cubs are scalping, fans are doing it on the Internet and even Major League Baseball has its foot in the door.
You remember how the Cubs started this. They took tickets out of their supply and "sold'' them to a dummy scalping company they had set up, Premium. Then Premium sold the tickets at prices way above face value. So when the New York Yankees came to town, the Cubs advertised a top seat at $45, then never allowed Average Joe to buy it at that price. Instead, they sold it to themselves, and Premium put it up for $1,500. It's called bait-and-switch.
All the while, the Cubs pretended they didn't own the thing, even though they were paying Premium's bills, because the law prohibits people from scalping tickets to their own events. In the end, Hall ruled that Tribune Co. owned Premium, the Cubs didn't. You do know who owns the Cubs, right?
Maybe I shouldn't have said, "In the end,'' because Cubs fans soon will have their day in appeals court.
I wrote several columns about this at the time and recall one anonymous team CEO saying that other owners were upset that the Cubs were using this to rip them off on their revenue-sharing responsibilities. They also were upset that they didn't think of it first.
Everybody's doing it
Ha. Guess what? MLB Advanced Media, an arm of Major League Baseball owned by all 30 team owners, is in the process of buying Tickets.com. They have all sorts of plans to help fans buy tickets. But Tickets.com also has a window for premier tickets.
A scalping window, where people sell tickets above face value. So Major League Baseball is getting into the scalping business. Thanks to the Cubs. Thanks to Hall's boneheadedness.
This whole secondary-ticketing market was a business trying to find its way. The Cubs stepped way over the line and got away with it. Now the rest of baseball is following.
"We're not buying Tickets.com because it offers secondary ticketing,'' said Jim Gallagher, a spokesman for MLBAM.
Fine. But will baseball tickets be scalped on the site?
"It's part of the world of ticketing, and Tickets.com provides it,'' Gallagher said. "We don't view the secondary-ticketing market as some sort of evil.''
Like the other Internet ticket sites, Tickets.com doesn't actually do the scalping. It just sets up a forum for others to do it. For a fee. Its site offers a disclaimer about not being responsible "for ensuring that your particular transaction does not violate any applicable local, state, federal and international laws.''
Get your stories straight
Gallagher said that tickets being resold typically come from season-ticket buyers who don't plan to go to all 81 home games. But will any of the teams be putting tickets on the resale site before giving Average Joe the chance to buy them at face value first?
"I don't know anyone who does that,'' Gallagher said.
The Cubs do. During the last few days, thousands of Cubs fans waited in line and hoped for tickets through the team's lottery system. You wonder how many tickets actually got to the "average guy'' Maloney seems to care about. As a means of fighting off scalpers, the Cubs limited the number of tickets any individual could buy.
Just guessing here, but do you think that limit applied to Wrigley Field Premium Tickets?
Meanwhile, Maloney didn't return my calls. And Cubs vice president of community affairs Michael Lufrano, who helped set up Premium in the first place, didn't seem to agree with Maloney.
"The more tickets in the secondary market, the more the price to the fan goes down,'' Lufrano said.
Guys, you're going to have to get your alibis straight.
Letters to our sports columnists appear Sunday. Send e-mail to inbox@suntimes.com. Include your full name, hometown and a daytime phone number.