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The Paperless Ticket Debate

May 2011

by Nick Giammusso, President & CEO

Paperless ticketing is a headache and takes away the ticket holder’s control of their own investment­.

As the oxymoronic name suggests, paperless tickets aren’t really tickets at all. They’re essentially personal seat reservations, secured electronically. Much as they do with airline tickets, fans buy paperless tickets for an event with a credit card. The buyer must then go to the venue with the same credit card and a photo ID to gain admittance. A swipe of the credit card at the gate produces a slip confirming the location of the reserved seat.
So what’s the big debate?
These paperless tickets are not easily transferable!  You have to wonder why anyone would want to restrict the resale of tickets.  It’s all about controlling the secondary market.
I have been on both sides of the fence. I have worked as a Concert Promoter, ran a box-office at the old Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and currently own and operate VIPTIXs.c­om a national ticket brokerage firm with offices in beautiful Western New York.

Brokers and consumers are on one side of the table and primary ticket sellers such as TicketMaster/LiveNation and sports owners are on the other.

I truly feel that once a consumer purchases that ticket, they should own the right to do with it what they want.  Give consumers the option to choose the method that best suits their opportunities.

I believe that’s where the government should step in.

Let’s not try to portray it as some noble attempt to protect consumers.  It is far from that.

So to regulate or not regulate?  That is the question.  While the rest of the country watched, New York State have recently sided with consumers and implemented legislation to restrict the use of paperless tickets.

 

You have to wonder why any individual or organizati­on would want to take away the liberty of being able to transfer or sell event tickets. In my opinion, team owners and players exist because of regular Fans that shell out big bucks for tickets.  Shouldn’t these same Fans have the option to sell for profit or be able to transfer their seats to anyone they please with ease?

Give me a break! These same sports owners and players can’t even agree on how to split billions of dollars of revenue and now they want 100% control of the ticket resale market too??”
View The Paperless Ticket Debate