Backstreet Boys Management Seeks Removal Of 700 eBay Ticket Auctions


Web auction giant says it may let the auctions remain and educate users about local ticket laws.

By Mark Lewis

Backstreet Boys' management company The Firm said Friday (12/17) that it plans to ask the online auction site eBay to remove over 700 ticket auctions that have appeared on the site after tickets to the group's early 2000 tour went on sale last Saturday (12/11). EBay's general counsel had not heard from the group's management at press time, but said that any action it might take depends on widely varying local ticket laws.

Private parties began auctioning tickets to shows in numerous cities within hours after tickets to all but four shows went on sale last Saturday (12/11). In one completed auction, four tickets to the Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse show were sold for $4,550.

David Baram, chief operating officer of The Firm, said he hoped that eBay would respond to his request to remove the ticket auctions, since the site had once agreed to remove an auction of an illegal copy of ''Issues,'' a CD by The Firm's client Korn; the auction appeared on the site before the CD's official Nov. 16 release date.

According to eBay's general counsel Mike Jacobson, who had not yet been contacted by The Firm, any action regarding the Backstreet Boys ticket auctions that eBay might take depends on the widely varying local laws governing ticket auctions.

Some localities have no restrictions on the resale and purchasing of tickets. Other jurisdictions have laws limiting buyers to particular locations, and some areas have laws governing the maximum price which a ticket may be purchased for. It might be legal for a seller to list a ticket on eBay, but there might be laws in a buyer's location preventing the purchase of the ticket, or restrictions on how much a person can pay for it, Jacobson said.

''Ultimately, the users have to ensure that they're complying with whatever the restrictions are,''

Jacobson said. Therefore, eBay might not remove the auctions, but educate site users about local laws, he explained. The auction site took that course when sellers began auctioning tickets to the New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox American League Championship last fall. The states of New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey and the city of New York all had their own restrictions governing the resale of tickets. After holding discussions with government officials, eBay decided on a user-education effort.

The issue of online scalping comes on the heels of the Backstreet Boys' latest effort to stifle the business of ticket brokers and other private parties selling tickets at prices above face value. In response to an earlier controversy over House of Blues’ alleged sale of Backstreet Boys tickets to ticket brokers in Denver, The Firm announced that approximately 500 premium seats from many shows for the group's early 2000 tour would be auctioned off on the Tickets.com website. Auctions are now in progress for the following shows: University Park, PA, Albany, Charlotte, Greensboro and East Lansing, MI. Money from the sales, minus service charges, will go to five charities selected by the group.

“The whole industry is now looking at ways to not only benefit charities, but come up with ways to get premium seats to hard-core fans,” Baram said.

He also acknowledged that ''more and more tickets are flowing into the hands of brokers. No one can put their finger on why this is happening. Maybe there's more incentive now because it's a bigger business,'' he said.

The popularity of the Backstreet Boys' tour has created a high-enough demand that individuals who would not normally engage in scalping are buying tickets and selling them off for hundreds of dollars each. Internet auction sites have also centralized private-party ticket sales, making them easy to find. That could mean that ticket scalping has become more visible, but not necessarily more widespread.

One of the problems with both charity and for-profit auctions is that fans compete against each other, driving ticket prices higher. But “if there are a sufficient quantity of tickets that are made part of a charity auction, then the overall premium will be less,” Baram said. In Baram’s view, if there are more tickets available in an auction, fans buying tickets in the auction will pay less than they would from brokers.

Because some premium seats traditionally go to the group (and its management, the promoter and the venue), some have voiced concerns that charity auctions will skim even more tickets from the pool available to the general public. When asked whether a major arena act had any problems getting additional seats for a charity auction, an employee of the act's management firm said, ''You get whatever you ask for.”

According to some venues on the upcoming Backstreet Boys tour, charity seats are being pulled from the premium seats that the group obtains as part of its standard contract with the venue. Other venues said the arrangement was more complicated, but did not disclose details.

An assistant general manager at the New Orleans Arena, which is a venue on the upcoming Korn tour, did not believe that pulling tickets for auctions would mean that fans had less of a chance to get premium seats through the general on-sale process.

“You have a two in 17,000 chance to get a front row seat now. I don’t know if a spectator will get turned off by auctions. It was a pretty long shot to begin with. It’s always been a gambling game.”

For Backstreet Boys’ planned fall 2000 tour, Baram said The Firm will continue to limit the number of tickets an individual can purchase, but he is also considering a system which Bruce Springsteen’s management used on the rock musician’s last tour.

For the Springsteen on-sale, only phone customers could buy tickets in the first 17 rows of the venue, and a limit of two tickets per buyer was set. Concertgoers were not allowed to get the tickets in advance, but could only pick them up at the venue on the night of the show. After presenting two forms of identification, they were escorted to their seats.

The ticket-limit measure was meant to prevent brokers from buying large blocks of premium seats. The escort tactic prevented ticket buyers from picking up their tickets and then selling them at higher prices in venue parking lots.

In addition to Backstreet Boys' tour, Baram said his company was considering the ticket limit and escort method for upcoming tours by Korn and Limp Bizkit.


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