State Lawmakers To Vote On Making Ticket Scalping Legal

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State Lawmakers To Vote On Making Ticket Scalping Legal
05/30/2007 09:10 PM
By: NY1 News

State lawmakers are poised to pass a bill making it easier to resell tickets for concerts and sporting events.

The legislation would effectively make ticket scalping legal.

Thursday, the Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill, which was already passed in the State Assembly.

Lawmakers are easing current restrictions on the practice, hoping that will bring the industry into the open so it can be better regulated.

"There has always been a black market; there have always been scalpers,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer. “There was no way, even before the internet, to successfully regulate and succeed in enforcement. With the internet, with the opportunity to buy and sell online, it became almost a ridiculous effort."

There is a catch. Scalpers now will not be able to sell tickets within 1,500 feet of large venues, like Shea Stadium, or within 500 feet of smaller venues.