WASHINGTON, DC (CelebrittyAccess MediaWire) — The National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) has urged New York Governor Eliot Spitzer to support a free, secondary market for ticket re-sales and reject any limits on re-selling tickets when New York's current anti-scalping law expires in June. In the March 19 New York Post, Governor Spitzer stated "The reason the laws don't work is it's the only product I know where we are regulating the secondary market, but we don't set a price for the primary market. It makes no sense."
"NATB concurs with the Governor's statement, the current New York law makes no sense. Governor Spitzer has an opportunity to further develop a free market in New York by rejecting the state's current legislation that places limits on reselling tickets for sport and entertainment events," said Russ Lindmark, president, National Association of Ticket Brokers. "NATB also applauds the League of American Theatres and Producers decision to support the removal of any caps on reselling tickets. New York's current legislation not only negatively impacts the state's free market economy but severely limits consumer options for purchasing sports and entertainment tickets."
In a statement to New York State's Consumer Protection Board, the League of American Theatres and Producers recommended, "the present law should be allowed to expire and a new statute should be enacted in its place." The League of American Theatres and Producers also suggested "licensing all ticket resellers and requiring appropriate display of the license to give consumers the protection of buying from an authorized reseller" and "a provision requiring the reseller to have the responsibility to [guarantee] full refunds in the event of cancellations or if the consumer was denied access to the event because the ticket was fraudulent."
NATB members are required to be licensed and offer consumers a 200 percent refund guarantee if tickets purchased were not delivered as promised.
–Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
