Bill Before Legislature Would End State Scalping Prohibition

Massachusetts Legislators To Vote On Scraping Antiscalping Law

The Massachusetts state Legislature's Consumer Affairs & Professional Licensure Committee proposed a bill that would "scrap the existing antiscalping law and allow tickets to be resold at any price," according to Bruce Mohl of the BOSTON GLOBE. The state House is expected to vote this week on the bill, which would “require anyone reselling or facilitating the resale of tickets above face value to pay $1,000 for a license, post a $100,000 bond, and guarantee a refund" if a ticket is counterfeit or the event is canceled. Additionally, the bill "would allow original ticket sellers ... to profit from ticket resales above face value by their customers." Mohl notes the law "would bring Massachusetts in line with the rest of the country and make the state the newest battleground in a fast-growing business." Massachusetts is one of just five states that still restricts the resale prices of tickets. The law is "rarely enforced except against street scalpers," but recently a Quincy (MA) District Court judge ruled in a lawsuit filed by a consumer advocate that Admit One Ticket Agency "had violated the law by offering to sell an $85 Red Sox-Yankees ticket" in '05 for $500. A section of the proposed bill "bars original ticket sellers who are engaged in the resale of tickets above face value from revoking the season tickets of fans who resell their tickets through other outlets" (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/25).