6A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2008
SCALPING (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
legged to do so.. Such person enters or remains therein in defiance of an order not to enter or to leave such premises or property personally communicated to such person by the owner thereof or other authorized person." The law says nothing about ticket sales.
Todd Cohen, director of University Relations, said that in response to complaints from fans about aggressive scaling outside the Fieldhouse, the University began enforcing a KU policy that had been on its books since 1983. It states: "No activity is permitted which involves the regular use of University facilities and results in financial gain or profit to an individual."
Because scalpers reap financial gain by selling tickets, they become trespassers if they are asked to leave and don't, according to Captain Schuyler Bailey of the KU PUBLIC Safety Office.
City Prosecutor Jerry Little said trespassers could be fined $1,000 and sentenced to 180 days in jail.
Scott, who was arrested for criminal trespassing even though he was on public property with tickets for the game, asked: "How is it trespassing if I have a ticket?"
Lawrence defense attorney John Kerns said he could see prosecuting someone for scalping on a public campus only "under extreme circumstances."
"With a scalper, it's not like you are disturbing the peace or anything like that," he said. "It is an individual standing there with tickets. This is America we are talking about. We have a capitalistic society. That is how commerce works in our country. Those individuals are out there working for a buck. For a big brother to say they can't do that, it seems kind of un-American."
The Athletics Department has a long history of unsuccessfully trying to ban scalping by law. Before Perkins came to Lawrence in 2003, Frederick worked with Jeff Boerger, president of the Kansas Speedway, to persuade the Kansas Legislature to criminalize scalping. One bill was shot down in 2000 despite Frederick's testimony in support of the bill.
Boerger said he has "as strong a partnership with Mr. Perkins as we did with Dr. Frederick". Boerger said he has had discussions with Perkins about re-introducing an anti-scalping bill in the future, "but we haven't pursued it aggressively. That is something we need to look at moving forward!
Frederick, athletics director from 1987 to 2001, called scalping distasteful. Those feelings might have been solidified in 1991, the first time Roy Williams led the jayhawks to the Final Four. The first Monday after Kansas won the regional championship, Frederick said he received a call from a ticket broker who said: "If you sell me 20 tickets, I will give you $100,000."
"We don't do business that way"
Frederick told the broker.
THE INTERNET
Individual scalpers like Scott are throwbacks to an era when fans dealt face-to-face in the secondary market for tickets. With the Internet, a new frontier of scaling has emerged.
EBay, Craig's List and Facebook, among others, have areas on their Web sites that allow fans to put their tickets up for auction.
Now there is StubHub — the first Web site devoted solely to reselling tickets. Hardly considered a black-market operation, StubHub is endorsed by 16 schools, including Kansas State, as an official ticket reseller.
The Jayhawks' March 1 home game against the Wildcats has been a big Internet draw, with 158 tickets available currently on Stubbies selling for $175-$883 each. Ebay has a four-ticket package selling for $1,070 that reads, "DONOR SEATS NEAR BASELINE - FOR POPULAR BIG12 GAME!"
StubHub spokesman Sean Pate said "extremely few" schools were still trying to get fans to return unused tickets to the Athletics Department and called the practice "archic."
Roger Hedrick, a KU basketball season ticket holder for five years, said he sometimes sells tickets for games he cannot attend on eBay.
"Fans don't want restrictions. They want to sell for whatever the market will bear," Pate said. "That is their right to do when they have purchased that ticket. If the team doesn't win any games, are the teams going to return the money for the tickets purchased? Certainly not. That practice is beyond questionable. You are encouraging people to skirt the system."
"You bought the tickets, they are your tickets, so you should be able to do with them what you want," Hedrick said.
Hal Wagner, owner of Overland Park-based Ace Sports and Nationwide Tickets, said schools should not be concerned about what happens to tickets on the secondary market.
"I think any professional or college institution that doesn't see the advantages of people being able to resell their tickets is being extremely narrow-minded." Wagner said.
Les Wenger, Topeka, attempts to buy basketball tickets in front of Allen Field House before the Iowa State game last night.
Pate said Missouri repealing its anti-scalping law in late November showed that society was beginning to accept a once scorched industry.
"You are fighting the forces of American capitalism," Pate said of KU attempts to restrict ticket resale.
STUDENTS AND STAFF
Sicilian, the economics chairman, said faculty members who get tickets at a subsidized price should lose them if they scalp them.
Susan Twomby, professor of education and chairwoman of the committee that oversees faculty and staff seating policy for men's basketball games, agreed to the electronic tickets, although she said scalping was minimal among faculty.
"I don't see anything wrong with that. If they ask me to agree to the subsidized price, I don't have a problem with not selling." Sicilian said.
The Athletics Department was so concerned about faculty and staff scalping that they replaced paper tickets with electronic cards for this basketball season — becoming the first in the nation to do so. Scalping was the first reason given by Marchiony for the change in a November interview. The Department took the same measure with student basketball tickets two years ago.
Pate, StubHub spokesman, does not like electronic tickets or the precedent they set, saying it puts society closer to an "Orwellian situation" where "everyone is showing identifications to get into a venue."
"I think the Athletics Department is overly focused on the small number that does it," Twombly said of scalpers.
Twomby said that she didn't like the insinuation that many faculty were scalping but that she could understand the Athletics Department's viewpoint.
"If I were them, I wouldn't like scaping at all, either," Twomby said. "They are in the business of making money
so they can field good teams for the fans. But a lot of people don't think because they have the right to talk about scalping because it is legal in Kansas."
Marchiony said of students, faculty and staff. "There is no time where it is acceptable to sell a ticket. That is why that ticket is priced the way it is"
A letter sent in October to faculty and staff announcing the electronic cards said it would make "using, carrying and sharing season tickets easier than ever before."
Berg said requiring donations to the Williams Fund as a prerequisite to buying tickets, "sounds exactly the same, but they cover it up by making it a fund. I could say the same thing — I am taking the extra money and it is going to the Pay for Mady's College Fund."
Mady Berg, an Arlington, Neb,
freshman who sold her student ticket
to the Kansas-Missouri football game
using Facebook, said the policy against
students selling tickets doesn't make
sense if it's legal. "Why bother? It's
like buying a car and reselling it for
more. If someone is willing to buy it,
why not?"
Twomby said the cards have made ticket sharing "very cumbersome." Max Utsler, associate professor of journalism, had to trek to the ticket office and go through three employees to secure a paper ticket replacement after his wife inadvertently went on a trip with the couple's ticket cards in her
Lisa Lipovac/KANSAN
purse. The ticket office manager told Utsler the process would go quicker if he brought his electronic card next time.
PASSING JUDGMENT
Judge Randy McGrath, clad in a black robe and looking regal with his full head of grey hair and white beard, uses a monotone voice to call a progression of the accused to a wooden stand. If they plead not guilty, they are given a court date.
Walter Scott sits in the back of Lawrence Municipal Court wearing the same yellow and grey jacket as when he was busted for scalping tickets a month prior. It is mid-December, and Scott has come to plead not guilty to criminal trespassing.
When he reaches Scott, McGrath announces, "Sir Walter Scott," with a smile and accompanying British accent—a nod to the prolific 18th century Scottish poet.
McGrath reads the trespassing charge and Scott pleads not guilty. McGrath gives Scott his formal court date.
McGrath gives a curt nod, then returns to his list of the accused. Next case. Scott exits the courtroom.
Asked whether the banter with the
"Isn't that something?" Scott says to the judge, shaking his head.
"I don't know anything about the case." McGrath responds.
Scott laughs: "Scalping."
judge meant they knew each other,
Scott looks at the floor, purses his lips,
then says, "I've bought tickets from him."
Interviewed later, McGrath said he is not a Williams Fund member and rarely attends basketball games. However, he did not deny that he sold tickets to Scott.
"Maybe 25 years ago I would have gone to some games and a friend gave me tickets to sell for under face value," McGrath explained.
Scott acknowledges the stakes are high in his upcoming trial for himself, scalpers and other ticket holders. If found innocent, it would be difficult for the University to prosecute further scalpers using the criminal trespassing statute.
Scott declined to say whether he would be outside Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday selling tickets to the Kansas-Nebraska game. However, he vowed to continue selling tickets between now and his April 24 court date. Scott's competitors, meanwhile, were selling their Nebraska tickets to the highest bidders on eBay, with almost 30 tickets available as of Tuesday night. One seller was asking $210 for two tickets near the baseline, advertised as "DONOR SEATS - SATURDAY GAME!!!!!!!"
"This is a hypocritical system in a hypocritical society," Scott said.
Are you a junior?
Are you a Tradition Keeper member?
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Edited by Dianne Smith
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The winner will receive a free ring of their choice. This award is sponsored by the Student Alumni Association, KU Alumni Association and Balfour Rings.
For an application and more information, go to www.kualumni.org/rings. Deadline to apply is February 8. If you are not a current Tradition Keeper member, you may join at the time of application for the just for Juniors ring award.
Just for Juniors is a program that will honor one upperclassmen at KU with a free class ring. The award is for any student that is currently in their third year at KU, with at least 60 KU credit hours, a 3.0 GPA, and is currently a member of Tradition Keepers, the student membership program of the KU Alumni Association.
For questions, contact Jennifer Alderdice at 864-4760 or jalderdice@kualumni.org
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