NY Times Op Ed Calls for Investigation of Restrictive Tickets

01/20/2012

A compelling op-ed appears in The New York Times today, calling for the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, consumer protection agencies and legislators to investigate what we have long known as the growing threat of restrictive paperless ticketing practices.

The piece is written by American Antitrust Institute (AAI) President Albert Foer and cites a recently completed 71-page AAI white paper on the ticket market.  The paper concludes:

We urge reform of these ticketing practices. Specifically, we call on the Federal Trade Commission, along with state attorneys general, consumer-protection agencies and legislators, to investigate the growing threat of restrictive paperless-ticketing practices for live events. Perhaps the threat of an investigation will spur the industry to reform itself.

These practices undermine a free, fair, informed and competitive market. Consumers should be enabled to transact with others.

Harsh words for those who have been pushing these restrictive tickets in the name of fan “convenience” – namely Ticketmaster and other big ticketing agencies. But they’re words we have long believed officials need to hear, again and again.

The truth is there’s a lot at stake:

Restrictive paperless tickets not only pose a huge inconvenience for fans, they take away our basic rights to do with our tickets what we choose.  They also have a huge impact on the competitive marketplace for event tickets and will ultimately lead to higher prices for all.

We’re glad the AAI has taken on the task of painstakingly documenting the extent of this very serious problem, calling on officials to take action, and that a paper as well-read and well-respected as The New York Times has seen fit to publish their view.

Let’s hope officials at the Federal Trade Commission and in the state houses respond to this urgent call.

For more information about how restrictive tickets hurt fans and the free market, check out our video.