NJ Lawmaker Aims To Give Fans Better Shot At Getting Event Tickets
By Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A North Jersey lawmaker says he may have the answer for frustrated fans who always seem to lose out to scalpers when it comes to the hottest concerts and sporting events.
You know how it goes -- you're on the ticket-seller's website just as seats go on sale -- yet, somehow, the show sells out in the seconds it takes you to figure out what those garbled words spell.
"You may have a venue of 15,000 to 20,000, but you may have only 1,000 or 2,000 tickets available to the general public, and that's not fair," Assemblyman Vincent Prieto said.
Prieto says that's what happened at a recent Justin Bieber concert: the majority of tickets to big shows are held back.
"By the promoter, artist, clubs, some have a contract with credit cards -- I don't belong to any of those," he said.
The Hudson/Bergen County Democrat has introduced a bill -- which emerged from committee and now awaits the Assembly floor -- that might discourage that practice by forcing the ticket issuer to reveal the number of seats reserved for each group of privileged buyers.
And while there's little that can be done to keep resellers from jacking up prices, they would be barred from using software or automated equipment to gobble up tickets.
