Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

11/25/2010 at 10:27pm

These tickets are for sale on EBay, but you can also find them on Stubhub and Craigslist.

Arkansas' Saturday game versus LSU was already a hot ticket at the beginning of the season, but now that the Razorbacks are hot and bowl assignments are on the line, it's become the game of the year, and tickets are in even higher demand.

Got tickets? You're lucky. Plenty of people don't, and they're making frantic phone calls and, of course, scouring the Web, where you'll most likely pay much higher than face value:

• Ticketing warehouse Stubhub's got a bunch, the most expensive right now going for $725 a pop in the Main Sideline 28 section.
• EBay has 'em, too. You can buy four right now in Section 8, Row 40 for $2,000. Others are going for anywhere north of $265 each.
• And of course there's Craigslist, which has them here and probably other places, depending on how you search. Here are four seats together on the 50-yard line.

Sure, you might just be willing to pay that much for what could be an historic game. But isn't that scalping? Isn't  that illegal?

In the video below, Jim DePriest, Deputy Arkansas Attorney General, says "yes" and "yes," although buyers aren't breaking the law. They're just paying more than they should.

What The Law Says

Arkansas law is pretty clear about re-selling tickets for school, athletic or music entertainment events: You can't sell your tickets for more than face value. If you do, you're breaking the law. (You can see the applicable section of Arkansas code at the bottom of this post.)

That applies to the folks you'll see standing outside War Memorial Stadium this Saturday, trying to sell tickets (although you're most likely see more people searching for tickets to buy). They can sell them all day long for what they paid for them -- even less -- but asking more than face value could get them in trouble.

But what about folks selling them on the Internet, brazenly asking for hundreds of dollars per ticket and well beyond face value?

It's the AG office's position that those people are also breaking the law if the tickets are for an Arkansas school athletic or music entertainment event. But it's a separate question as to whether prosecutors choose to enforce that law. As you can probably guess, they've usually got other cases to handle.

Protect Yourself

So what if you decide you're going buy second-hand tickets online? Again, the AG's office says buyers aren't breaking the law by doing so. But you do run other risks, including getting ripped off by counterfeiters or scam artists. How can you protect yourself?

In the video above, DePriest says you should avoid any website or seller that asks you to wire money anywhere, particularly out of the country or overseas. If you get ripped off, it can be tough to track down the thief and get your money back.

And you should stick with reputable sites that offer some form of consumer protection, like refunds. Even though you won't get your tickets, you'll at least get your money back.

Arkansas Code Regarding Ticket Sales

5-63-201. Tickets to school athletic events or music entertainment events - Sale in excess of regular price.

(a)(1) It is unlawful for any person, corporation, firm, or partnership to sell or offer for sale any ticket to:

(A) A high school or college athletic event or to an athletic or other event held for the benefit of charity at a greater price than that printed on the ticket; or

(B) Any music entertainment event at a greater price than that printed on the ticket or the box office sale price plus any reasonable charge for handling or credit card use, whichever is the greater.

(2) This subsection shall not apply to an institution of higher education that receives funds per ticket above the face value of that ticket.

(b)(1) Any person, corporation, firm, or partnership violating any provision of this section is guilty of a violation and upon conviction shall be fined in any sum not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500).

(2) Every sale or offer for sale is a separate offense.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, LSU Tigers, Stubhub, eBay, Craigslist, scalping, Arkansas-LSU game, tickets