Attorney General cracks down on ticket brokers and “bots”

The most infuriating part of the report details the way brokers manage to buy a large quantity of tickets as quickly as possible in order to resell them at higher prices- namely, by using illegal software (so-called “ticket bots”) that nab a dizzying number of tickets before us commoners even have a chance to type in our credit card details.

An investigation by the attorney general’s office uncovered how brokers and ticket sites prevent New Yorkers from getting affordable tickets or getting them at all.

Likewise, tickets to see Pope Francis’ visit to the city resold for thousands of dollars.

The report drew attention to the increasing imposition of resale price floors, which fixes the bottom line for ticket prices.

Ticketmaster said it fully cooperated with Schneiderman’s investigation and that it “looks forward to continuing to work with the Attorney General to ensure that artists can get tickets into the hands of their fans”.

Ticketmaster did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The report also says that excessive service charges for tickets, “may constitute evidence of abuse of monopoly power, especially as they relate to the resale of sports tickets”.

Investigators also say ticket-sellers regularly tacked on fees that added more than 21 percent to the face value.

An official with knowledge of the investigation said Schneiderman’s office is investigating and wants the price floor removed.

In the case of third-party brokers like StubHub and TicketsNow, tickets can go for 49 percent above face-value – sometimes more than 1,000 percent. The tour stops in Albany Feb. 8.

The use of bots to buy tickets remains illegal in NY, though hackers have found ways to routinely circumvent the security measures on sites like TicketMaster.

If a season ticket holder has two tickets priced at $100 each, for example, he may be happy to sell them for $50 each just to get some of the investment back, and the market value of the tickets may have fallen that low.

It’s unclear whether that investigation stems from a larger look at the secondary ticket market in the state that Schneiderman describes as “a fixed game” because of so-called “ticket bots”. “I’ve seen bots manipulate the system, hold tickets and ultimately lock average consumers out of the ticket buying process”.

“The NFL does not require them to use the Ticket Exchange”, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Associated Press.

“It is however the only place where a fan can be guaranteed a safe ticket”, Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion said.