NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — A trio of ticket resellers have taken Madison Square Garden to court, claiming that the venue operator has "declared war on ticketing agencies.
According to Courthouse News, the lawsuit comes after a recent change in MSG's ticketing policies imposes an 8 ticket limit on the number of Knicks and Rangers subscriptions that could be "controlled" by any "single customer" and which requires ticket resales to take place through MSG's resale partner, TicketsNow.
Ticket resellers S4K Entertainment Group, Smile For Kids, and J.A.J. Executive Services say that the change in policy flies in the face of MSG's previous promise of renewal rights as well as a 2007 city law that "created a free market for the resale of tickets to sporting and theatrical events."
Larry Hutcher, an attorney for the ticketing companies, told the New York Daily News that the change in policy potentially affects thousands of tickets and will increase prices for resale tickets.
"MSG seeks to destroy ticket resellers by depriving them of inventory. Once the resellers are destroyed, MSG can reclaim inventory and collect additional fees and revenue by steering all ticket resales through its resale partner, TicketsNow.com," Smile For Kids president Ezra Azizo added.
Kimberly Kerns, a spokesperson for MSG, said the lawsuit was "without merit."
"Our ticket policy simply limits the amount of tickets an individual can own or control in order to give many more fans access to Knicks and Rangers games," she wrote in an email to Courthouse News. "There is no restriction on the resale of tickets – any ticket we sell can be resold in any manner a buyer chooses. We do not single out professional sellers — they are able to buy tickets just like anyone else, and have the same ticket limits as everyone else." – Staff Writers
