Scalping law faces scrutiny

Two key Massachusetts lawmakers said yesterday that the state's antiscalping law isn't working and needs to be revamped, possibly by legalizing the scalping of tickets.

The cochairs of the Legislature's Consumer Affairs and Professional Licensure Committee said they expect to hold hearings on the state's ticket resale law early next year and then report out a bill for action by the Legislature.

"The current law, although well intentioned, is virtually unenforceable," said Representative Vincent A. Pedone , a Democrat from Worcester.

"We're going to have to change the law," said Senator Michael W. Morrissey , a Democrat from Quincy.

The current law, passed in 1924, requires anyone in the business of reselling tickets to obtain a license and restricts markups to $2 above face value, plus certain service charges.

The law is widely ignored in Massachusetts, both by people reselling tickets and by law enforcement officials charged with enforcing it. The state Office of Public Safety, which licenses ticket resellers, has never disciplined or audited the books of a single company. Boston police have largely given up enforcing the law around Fenway Park, making only four arrests this year and two last season.

Many states, at the urging of companies like Ticketmaster, eBay, and StubHub, have relaxed or scrapped their scalping laws. Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina did it this year; Illinois and New York did it last year.

Both Pedone and Morrissey said the rise of the Internet has made the existing Massachusetts law obsolete. They said they wanted to craft a bill covering ticket resales that could be enforced and offer refunds to consumers when an event is canceled.

The lawmakers said it may make sense to let ticket holders resell their tickets at whatever price they want. "The difficulty with putting price limits on a sale is that they're virtually unenforceable when you're dealing with the Internet," Pedone said.

Jim Holzman , president of Ace Ticket of Boston, said the current law is flawed. "We're happy to see that people are willing to look at a law that's antiquated and doesn't work," he said.

Colman Herman , a Dorchester consumer activist who has sued a handful of ticket agents and street scalpers for violating the state's antiscalping law, said it may make sense to update the law by increasing but not eliminating the allowable markup, beefing up consumer protections, and requiring ticket resellers to pay taxes on their profits.

Boston's four major sports teams haven't taken a position on whether the existing law should be changed. All of the teams currently allow or soon will allow season ticket holders to resell their tickets on team websites, but sales are limited now because of the existing law's restrictions on markups.

The Boston Celtics and the New England Patriots charge buyers of tickets being resold on their websites 10 percent of the purchase price, while the Red Sox charge 24 percent. Some fans grumble the 24 percent fee -- the equivalent of $20 on an $85 ticket -- violates the state's antiscalping law.

Red Sox officials say the fee is a legitimate service charge, but Tom, a 20-year season ticket holder who asked that his last name not be used for fear of retribution, calls it highway robbery.

"They're no better than the scalpers on the street," he said.

Bruce Mohl can be reached at mohl@globe.com.