Looking for Spice at any price

Pssst ... still looking for Spice Girls tickets?
 
Well, they're easy enough to find. A few random phone calls to the numbers listed in the newspaper classifieds reveals there is an abundance of lawn tickets still available - all at $150 each. (Their face value is about a quarter of that.) And seats inside the Molson Amphitheatre are going anywhere from $300 apiece (in the 400 section, the back section of the theatre bowl) to $900 for a $55 seat nine rows back, four spots removed from centre stage.
 
When the concert was first announced the local newspapers and radio shows carried stories with quotes condemning ticket speculators/scalpers/brokers who would use the pop group's popularity to make profits soar.
 
And, as the July 11 date draws closer, the numbers will only rise as the demand becomes more urgent and the supply begins to dry up. The media will carry the obligatory last-minute interviews with the hawkers on Lakeshore Blvd. to record the final, final extortion. Everyone will be outraged and fingers will be pointed. In a day or two, all will be forgotten because in the life of a city, the crime of profiteering on ticket speculation (if it should be considered a crime at all) is not a particularly egregious one.
 
If it is a crime, it is one of convenience.
 
The arguments against it will likely be a little louder this time around because most Spice Girls fans are children. Opponents of scalping reason that for every ticket sold on the black market, there is a heartbroken 10-year-old girl who lined up for a wristband in order to obtain a chance at buying the maximum of four tickets. While there's a ring of truth to the logic, a child's disappointment shouldn't be used to dictate public policy.
 
The fact is the black market in sports and concert entertainment is pure capitalism - the value of tickets is dictated solely by the number available versus the number of people who want them. In the case of professional sports teams, many of the tickets you buy from the guy outside the gate come from corporate season ticket holders, who aren't using them for that particular day. Rather than eat the price of the ticket, they sell them for less than face value to the scalper who turns around and sells them to you for more.
 
The complaints from professional franchises about scalping are particularly hollow because they have the power to halt the practice. If they would rescind their no-refund policies (particularly for big events) ticket-holders could get their money back and the ducat could be resold to a member of the paying public. It may be egalitarian in principle but business-wise, it's a disaster.
 
The recent price hikes by the Leafs will make the situation worse, not better.
 
Residents' complaints
 
Less than two years ago, at the urging of Toronto downtown councillor Kyle Rae, city council voted to seek the power to seize tickets on the spot from scalpers. The problem, said Rae, was the complaints from residents near Maple Leaf Gardens over the noise level from those hawking their wares.
 
The power to seize goods would have required special legislation by the province. And while that hasn't happened, police do use other by-laws to get at the worst offenders, says 52 Division Det. Const. Patrick Scriven, who works the plainclothes detail which handles illegal ticket brokers.
 
Sometimes they can use basic trespassing charges to make their point and they have also found some success with charging scalpers under vending bylaw infractions. Some of the fines have been as high as $4,000, says Scriven.
 
As for the newspaper ads, well, that's a different story. They are breaching the Ticket Speculation Act, which carries fines of up to $2,000. While it's legal to resell something for more than its original stated value, there is a limit on the amount you can demand.
 
"If you are a ticket agent, you are allowed to charge more than the face value," says Scriven, adding "it would have to be a reasonable profit."
 
Would $900 on a $55.50 ticket be considered an unreasonable profit? "That would be my call on it," he says.
 
As the concert draws closer and interest increases, it's possible authorities will take a closer look at the black market. But so far, says Scriven, "there's been no direction" for us to investigate what's going on behind the scenes.
 
That's primarily because, so far, nobody has complained. Maybe it's because they really have nothing to complain about.