City Considers Action Against Scalpers

The opening of the BOK Center creates a new market for ticket scalpers.  The News On 6's Emory Bryan reports so far, the BOK Center has sold $6.3 million in event tickets, but that's only face value.  Scalpers can charge more because people are willing to pay more to see a sold out concert.

They were the hottest tickets in town and now they're the hottest tickets online.  The $187 tickets to see the Eagles play the BOK Center are priced over $500 online.

That means a substantial amount of money from the concert won't go to the Eagles or to the BOK Center, but to ticket scalpers.  City Councilor Bill Christiansen thinks that's not right.

"The people of the city and the county built this arena and they should be able to come at a fair price," said Tulsa City Councilor Bill Christiansen.

As the BOK Center nears completion and major acts come to Tulsa, there will be more sold out events and more scalpers.  Most of them work online, reselling at a high markup what they were able to buy at face value.  Some even sell tickets they don't really have.

"So what happens is that you have scalpers who speculate they will have tickets so they put ‘I have tickets on the floor' before tickets go on sale," said BOK Center General Manager John Bolton.

The Tulsa City Council is considering a law against scalping, but it would likely only impact people trying to sell tickets outside the arena on the day of an event.

"If an ordinance is passed, it's a good gesture.  It says we don't like this practice, but in the end it's really

hard for a police force to enforce," said BOK Center General Manager John Bolton.

The Eagles will play for a crowd of 14,000 people in Tulsa.  What people will pay to see them ranges from $52 a seat to whatever the market will bear.

The city is proposing a $500 fine for ticket scalping.  It's up for consideration by the council next week and the law could be in place before the BOK Center opens.