Thirteen States Have Restrictions or Bans on Ticket Scalping

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson called this season's college football game (played on 11/23/07) between 14th ranked Hawaii (10-0) and 17th ranked Boise State (10-1) the "biggest game in WAC history." The contest, held at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, was a sell-out, prompting a flurry of frenzied attempts to buy and sell tickets.

Local news reports indicated that some individuals were hawking tickets to the game for hundreds of dollars above the face value of $38 (for sideline seats) and $22 (for end zone seats). Selling a ticket above the face value is a practice called "scalping," right? Scalping is illegal, right?

Come to find out, I was misinformed. After doing some digging, I discovered that scalping tickets in the state of Hawaii is legal, except for boxing matches (see Hawaii Revised Statutes 440-17). So what this means is that Joe Q. Fan can sell, or attempt to sell, his $38 BSU vs Hawaii ticket for $500. And it's perfectly legal to do so, at least in the Aloha State.

This prompted me to wonder if scalping is legal elsewhere in the United States. According to a report I read , 27 states have laws on the books that address the act of ticket reselling.

Thirteen states have laws that prohibit ticket scalping. These states are Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. However, I must be clear that the laws are not all cut and dried. That is, some states allow resellers to impose a service charge ranging from a couple bucks to 10 percent of the face value

At least two states, Virginia and Ohio, have laws indicating they have turned over regulatory control of ticket resales to individual municipalities (i.e. city governments). In other words, while state law may be mute on ticket scalping, city ordinances might be on the books prohibiting or regulating the resale of tickets above face value. It might be possible that more states in addition to the 13 anti-scalping states might have turned over similar controls to city governments.

Specific state by state findings:

Alabama requires ticket scalpers to pay a $100 license tax.

Ticket resellers in Arizona must do so more than 200 feet from an event

Arkansas law bars ticket scalping for collegiate, high school sports, and charitable events.

In California, ticket scalpers are banned from selling on the grounds of the event unless given permission.

Connecticut has a ban on scalping tickets but allows resellers to impose a reasonable service charge up to $ 3.

Delaware allows scalping except on the day before and the day of events held at the Bob Carpenter Center of the University of Delaware and NASCAR races held at Dover Downs.

Florida bans scalping but does allow resellers to charge a service fee of a $1.

Georgia has a host of restrictions two of which are that ticket resellers must register with the state, and that face value plus a $3 service charge is all that is allowable, unless the event sponsor okays resales at a higher amount.

Illinois allows ticket resale by registered ticket brokers, Internet auction houses, and Internet websites

Indiana prohibits ticket scalping to boxing matches.

Kentucky bars ticket scalping unless authorization is granted by the original seller.

Louisiana allows ticket scalping only through Internet websites that are authorized by the original seller and venue.

Maryland bans ticket scalping for boxing, wrestling, and kickboxing matches.

Massachusetts requires scalpers to have a license to resell tickets to state-licensed entertainment and athletic events.

Michigan out and out prohibits ticket scalping

Minnesota also prohibits scalping but allows resellers to impose a service charge.

In Mississippi, scalping is banned for collegiate athletic events and to events held on state property.

Missouri prohibits scalping but allows resellers to impose a service charge.

New Jersey requires ticket resellers to register with the state, file a $10,000 bond, and other things.

New Mexico has a scalping ban for collegiate sporting events but does allow resellers to impose a service charge.

New York requires resellers to be licensed and to resell tickets at no more than face value of the ticket plus 45% if the venue seats more than 6,000 or the face value plus 20% if the venue is smaller.

North Carolina has a scalping ban but allows resellers to impose a reasonable service charge of $3.

Ohio authorizes municipalities to regulate scalping

Rhode Island prohibits scalping tickets but allows resellers to impose a reasonable service charge up to the greater of $ 3 or 10% of its face value.

South Carolina has anti-scalping law but allows a $1 service charge.

Virginia authorizes localities to prohibit ticket scalping.

Wisconsin prohibits scalping tickets to the state fair.

Summary: If you plan to sell a ticket for more than the stated price on it, make sure you know what your state allows. And if you're buying a ticket, whether at face value or more, make sure you're getting what you paid for. As for Hawaii versus Boise, I wasn't there in person. But I couldn't lose. Why? I'm an alum of both schools. Hawaii, by the way, won the game 39-27.