Taylor Swift to play at Intrust Bank Arena

[rjl]

I'm thinking that Sedgwick co residents should be able to access tickets for say 24 hours before anyone else would be able to buy. I'm sure there would be additional problems with such a system but I'm also sure these problems could be solved.

Problem is that it wasn't Sedgwick county residents who payed for the arena. It was all those who spent money in Sedgwick county, and thus paid sales tax, over the 18 month period.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

I don't care how they sell tickets, as long as the big acts sell out.

As each act sells out, we become a more attractive destination for those larger concerts. When that happens we may start seeing 2 shows of some big acts.

[pogo]

I'm thinking that Sedgwick co residents should be able to access tickets for say 24 hours before anyone else would be able to buy. I'm sure there would be additional problems with such a system but I'm also sure these problems could be solved.

Problem is that it wasn't Sedgwick county residents who payed for the arena. It was all those who spent money in Sedgwick county, and thus paid sales tax, over the 18 month period.

Problem is it wasn't everyone else that voted for the tax. It was Sedgwick co residents that voted. If you spent money in Sedgwick co during this time period.....THANK YOU VERY MUCH otherwise not so much.

[Shirley Schmidt]

So Denny, haven't seen you post in a while. Talk to moose if you want to go to the umkc game. I'm driving in the pm and driving back that night.

So you are missing the big Bar B party for Shocker basketball?

[Shocker85]

It's pretty common anymore to sell pre-sale tickets to people who are in the artist's fan-club, used a special credit card, paid attention and saw you had a few-hour early-bird window a few days in advance, etc.

I've bought some good concert tickets over the last few years (Tom Petty, Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem, Ryan Adams, etc.) by doing such, and it didn't take any more than a few minutes and some basic internet research to find it.

From an artist's perspective, it helps insure that the more dedicated fans who might want to make a few more compromises or spend a little time are the ones who get first choice in seating.

If that were all true at face value, I would agree with you.

The problem is that there are A LOT of people who make A LOT of money buying up concert tickets and reselling them at inflated prices - i.e. SCALPING. They don't give a damn about fan clubs, credit cards, etc., they just want to get rich.

People in the area should have a FAIR SHOT at purchasing the tickets at face value the day they go on sale, and not be required to pay double, triple, or even more to see the acts. Hop over to http://www.ebay.com, type "taylor swift tickets wichita kansas" into the find box there and click "Search" and look at the prices of these tickets. There were well over 200 for sale there THE DAY THE TICKETS WENT ON SALE.

I feel sad for the moms and dads who showed-up at IBA on Friday morning hoping to score some tickets for their families for Christmas. It won't happen at the prices the tickets are selling for by the scalpers for most of those folks. Why should some sleazy scalper make money off these tickets? Scalping tickets is right on the borderline of illegal, but it is rarely prosecuted and almost impossible to prove when the brokers are outside the Wichita city limits (i.e. all of them). About the only way to get busted for scalping is to stand outside a venue and try to sell tickets to a cop.

I don't give a hoot about Taylor Swift or most of the other acts already booked at IBA, but 'YES' the people in this area should have a reasonable shot at acquiring tickets at a fair price to events at IBA. It is CLEAR to me that the arena should have been larger, but we've already had that discussion.

--'85.

[vbird53]

A little OT, but the Royals and Chiefs offer season tickets to Jackson County, MO residents prior to opening them all to the public. I'm wondering if IBA could do the same. I don't think it would cause too much of a headache for the ticket operations.

[WuDrWu]

It seems to me a little common sense could be applied here to fix the problem.

If a law needs to be written, or modified, so that tickets for events that take place in the state of Kansas (or whatever jusidiction you define) can't be sold for more than let's say 10% over face value.

That would discourage purchasers from buying up blocks of tickets thereby insuring a more likely availability for local customers.

While we are on the subject, I'd like to add another comment. In today's world of entertainment (sports included) we are throwing away the average fan. If you don't have corporate dollars (ads, big money, sponsorship etc) then you are all but weeded out. When the Atlanta Braves opened their new facility years ago, they had a small strip of seats (granted, they weren't the best seats in the house) that they had at a very low rate (maybe $5-$10) that would be available on a first come first serve basis.

I like the idea of having something like that for our taxpayer sponsored Arena. Always have a couple of hundred seats (or some small amount) to every event on a local first come first serve LOW dollar amount. If the differences have to be made up by the "reserve fund" I imagine that could be done.

There simply is NO reason for money from these events to be allowed to pour out of our economy.

[jazztrane]

'85 and Doc I agree 100%. There's something fundamentally wrong with families having no shot or taking a 2nd mortgage to take their kids to a concert while "broker/scalpers" reap profits from simply being a middleman.

[NCAABound]

If a law needs to be written, or modified, so that tickets for events that take place in the state of Kansas (or whatever jusidiction you define) can't be sold for more than let's say 10% over face value.

There is a law in Wichita (it might be 150% of face value) that addresses this...it just isn't enforced. The ticket has to be sold in the city limits to be considered for the scalping law. Anybody that wants to sell higher than 150% of face value, can apply for a license from the city. Sounds like none have ever been sold.

Don't hold me to the above...I'm just going off memory of a recent article.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

Your memory is correct and the issue fixable, but has loopholes.

There needs to be a state scalping law, and it needs to apply to all tickets originally sold in the State of Kansas for performances in the State of Kansas dictating the amount over face value a ticket can be sold.

Missouri has one which I believe is $3, but people get around it by putting a souvenir with it, and dictating that he amount bid is dollar for dollar the face amount of the ticket and everything over that is for the souvenir.

Now if the law stipulated that it was illegal to package tickets together with souvenirs to artificially inflate the amount of the tickets, then maybe it could be useful.

[wu_shizzle]

There's something fundamentally wrong with families having no shot or taking a 2nd mortgage to take their kids to a concert

If taking kids to a concert is out of your budget, maybe you should just buy them a DVD. It's not unfair that someone can't afford everything they want to do for their kids. I think a lot of these parents want more for their kids than their kids do. Why don't we try and teach the kids to be content with what they have.

...while "broker/scalpers" reap profits from simply being a middleman.

We live in a Capitalistic society (at least for now), If what you're doing isn't illegal than I have no problem with you profiting from providing a service that is in demand.

[Shocker85]

We live in a Capitalistic society (at least for now), If what you're doing isn't illegal than I have no problem with you profiting from providing a service that is in demand.

The problem is that the practice goes beyond capitalism into the realm of profiteering. The same profiteering that we're all now supporting for Lehmann Brothers, Citibank, et. al.

This society isn't capitalistic it is a greedy, "I'll get mine, screw everyone else." one.

I like the idea of state laws regarding scalping, but there are some pretty creative people who seem to find loopholes in everything. In my opinion, part of the solution might include having the arena do the ticket office sales first, and then open these shows up to the Internet buyers. That would allow the locals to trot down there and buy the tickets they want before any Joe Scalper in Los Angeles or India can buy them on-line.

--'85.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

I am a huge fan of selling tickets like "the old days" and I'm referring to late 80's early 90's.

Hey, Aerosmith tickets go on sale at 10 am Saturday morning, we're getting in line and camping out on Thursday.

And screw this Lottery crap. Its a farce and pisses off more than it makes happy. Even those leaving with Taylor Swift tickets said they felt bad for those who were in line first.

Only crybabies who are too lazy or feel entitled will complain to those in line first getting the first tickets. If you want to scalp, you butt better be there in line earning the dollars you are going to try to make.

Limit the number, first come first served, in person, face to face no mistakes or computers, and a bunch of happy fans, minus a few whiners instead of a few happy fans and a bunch of whiners.