Reselling Rangers tickets near stadium could be costly
By MARK AGEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
ARLINGTON — Arlington police will start working undercover to enforce a new city ordinance that bans reselling game tickets, at any price, near Ameriquest Field.
In an effort to make scalping and ticket scams easier to uncover, police will start issuing citations to anyone who tries to sell tickets near the Rangers ballpark, police spokesman Lt. Blake Miller said.
"You can’t sell it, even for a dollar," Miller said. "If you have an extra ticket, you can’t sell in front of the stadium to get your money back."
Scalping tickets — reselling them at higher than face value — has always been illegal. But it had been OK to resell tickets at or below face value.
The City Council passed the reselling ordinance in February; it took effect Thursday. The ordinance also makes it illegal to try and buy tickets outside Ameriquest Field if the buyer is soliciting people in vehicles. This is an effort to prevent traffic tie-ups, police said.
With the Dallas Cowboys joining the Rangers in Arlington, city officials wanted to make Arlington’s policy as strict as those in other major cities, Miller said.
Fort Worth has a similar law that bars any resale of tickets at Texas Motor Speedway.
Arlington made the crime a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500. Each ticket sold is a separate offense, so the cost could be hefty.
The initiative could help clean up several types of crimes, including counterfeit ticket scams and the resale of stolen tickets.
"Those criminals could still make money by selling at face value," Miller said. "We want to eliminate any way for them to profit from their crime."
Texas Rangers team president Jeff Cogen said that ticket scalping has not been a serious problem at the ballpark, but he has no problem with the enforcement effort. The Rangers offer a sanctioned online site for season ticket holders to resell legally.
"We don’t want anyone who comes here to have an unpleasant experience," Cogen said. "You take a certain amount of risk when you enter into that kind of transaction, but if they eliminated that kind of activity it would be a good thing."
By MARK AGEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
ARLINGTON — Arlington police will start working undercover to enforce a new city ordinance that bans reselling game tickets, at any price, near Ameriquest Field.
In an effort to make scalping and ticket scams easier to uncover, police will start issuing citations to anyone who tries to sell tickets near the Rangers ballpark, police spokesman Lt. Blake Miller said.
"You can’t sell it, even for a dollar," Miller said. "If you have an extra ticket, you can’t sell in front of the stadium to get your money back."
Scalping tickets — reselling them at higher than face value — has always been illegal. But it had been OK to resell tickets at or below face value.
The City Council passed the reselling ordinance in February; it took effect Thursday. The ordinance also makes it illegal to try and buy tickets outside Ameriquest Field if the buyer is soliciting people in vehicles. This is an effort to prevent traffic tie-ups, police said.
With the Dallas Cowboys joining the Rangers in Arlington, city officials wanted to make Arlington’s policy as strict as those in other major cities, Miller said.
Fort Worth has a similar law that bars any resale of tickets at Texas Motor Speedway.
Arlington made the crime a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500. Each ticket sold is a separate offense, so the cost could be hefty.
The initiative could help clean up several types of crimes, including counterfeit ticket scams and the resale of stolen tickets.
"Those criminals could still make money by selling at face value," Miller said. "We want to eliminate any way for them to profit from their crime."
Texas Rangers team president Jeff Cogen said that ticket scalping has not been a serious problem at the ballpark, but he has no problem with the enforcement effort. The Rangers offer a sanctioned online site for season ticket holders to resell legally.
"We don’t want anyone who comes here to have an unpleasant experience," Cogen said. "You take a certain amount of risk when you enter into that kind of transaction, but if they eliminated that kind of activity it would be a good thing."
