Proposed Nevada Legislation Would Criminalize Some Illegal Sports Ticket Sales On Secondary Market

By Alan Snel

LVSportsBiz.com

 

Ticket brokers in Nevada oppose proposed state legislation being pushed by a coalition of sports and entertainment organizations such as the Vegas Golden Knights, UFC, Raiders, Cirque du Soleil and The Smith Center that would criminalize some illegal activities by ticket brokers.

 

The Nevada Association of Ticket Brokers opposes the ticket bill, SB131, on several fronts.

 

“They are requiring physical possession of the ticket. That creates a whole host of problems,” said David Goldwater, a Las Vegas-based lobbyist representing the ticket brokers group.

 

“Anyone who wants to sell a ticket needs one of two things: possession of the ticket or a contract with the primary rights holder. Or else it’s a crime,” Goldwater told LVSportsBiz.com Monday.

 

The ticket brokers also oppose including a criminality element to the penalties such as jail time.

 

But the Golden Knights, which have spoken out about issues of fraudulent playoff tickets and unauthorized ticket reselling platforms, said they are joining forces with other sports and entertainment providers to combat what they are calling “deceptive url addresses” and “speculative selling.”

 

In a strongly-worded statement released to LVSportsBiz.com Tuesday, the Golden Knights said, ““Along with Cirque du Soleil, UFC, The Smith Center, Ticketmaster/Live Nation and the Raiders, the Vegas Golden Knights support SB 131. We believe SB 131 would help fans by combatting deceptive url addresses, bots, speculative selling and the sale of fraudulent tickets.”

 

The Knights believe the legislation would enhance “consumer protection.”

 

“These are persistent matters that have been problematic for fans and franchises alike and we are confident SB 131 would be effective in curtailing them. The bill will also provide consumer protection and transparency regarding the actual source of the tickets being considered for purchase,” the Golden Knights statement said.

 

SB 131 would drastically change the places where consumers could buy tickets for sports and entertainment. The big change is that the law would allow the primary ticket seller to decide what secondary market seller could sell the ticket. Take a look at a graphic that was part of the ticket brokers group presentation.

 

 

The ticket brokers also raised some questions about SB 131.

 

Sometimes teams try to handle reselling issues in-house. For example, the Golden Knights, which got into a legal tussle with StubHub over ticket sales during the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, took control over their secondary market ticket sales by creating their only authorized platform, VGK Ticket Exchange.

 

SB 131 has passed the Nevada Senate. And it was heard in the Assembly, and it’s pending there.

 

UFC declined to comment Tuesday. “We not offering comment beyond what may already be in the public record from UFC,” UFC spokesman Chris Bellitti said in an email Tuesday.

 

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