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Brokers selling seats - but prices are steep
Patrick Dorsey | South Florida Sun-Sentinel |
You want Finals tickets. So you check Ticketmaster.com.
"There were no tickets available that matched your request," it
replies.
Worried, you call 1-800-4NBA-TIX, but a salesman tells you tickets for
Games 3, 4 and 5 sold out within minutes.
What do you do?
Because no tickets are available through "official" sources, fans who
want a seat for the Heat's series against Dallas must turn to online
ticket brokers, eBay or other Web sites in the secondary ticket
market.
And they'll have to pay.
As of Sunday evening, the lowest listed price on Stubhub.com for a
Heat home ticket was $101.50 for a standing-room-only ticket to
Thurdsay's Game 4. The lowest for a guaranteed seat was $160. The
highest was $34,707 for a Game 4 luxury box seat, though Stubhub
spokesman Sean Pate said many high-end tickets like these never sell.
According to Stubhub, the highest price paid for a Heat home ticket
was $3,294 as of Sunday evening. The average ticket sold for all games
was $548.
Other ticket brokers, both local and national, offered tickets at
similar prices. Bids on eBay had a wider range, but many items still
had more than a day before bidding closed.
Before selling out, Finals tickets on Ticketmaster ranged from $18 for
a standing-room-only ticket to $1,000 for club-level seats.
Florida law prohibits the sale of tickets for more than $1 above face
value, but brokers sidestep this by selling tickets as part of a
transportation package. Gov. Jeb Bush recently signed into law a bill
that legalizes ticket scalping, which will boost the already booming
market when it takes effect July 1 -- two weeks after the last Heat
home game.
Despite the high prices, demand in South Florida has been tepid
compared to Dallas. Tickets for Games 1 and 2 sold on Stubhub for as
much as $4,495. The average for the two games was $639.
Todd Rubin of the Miami-based Todd's Tickets said he expects demand to
go up today, though, with the Heat down 2-0, prices will decrease
before Tuesday's Game 3.
Prices aren't the only problems facing ticket buyers. As the secondary
ticket market expands, so too does the risk of buying fake or
duplicated tickets.
Stubhub, TicketsNow and other national and local brokers offer
guarantees against ticket fraud, resulting in credit, full refund or
replaced tickets. These vary from broker to broker. According to its
standard protection program, eBay only offers reimbursement up to
$200.
"[Fans] should be very concerned about buying their tickets from
anyone but a reputable source," Heat executive vice president and
chief marketing officer Michael McCullough said. "Unfortunately, if
you buy fraudulent tickets, there's nothing we can do on your behalf." |
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Source : http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/custom/business/sfl-heattix12jun12,0,3986590.story?coll=sfla-sports-business |
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