MLB tells unlucky Sox fans to try StubHub
Major League Baseball is directing fans who had no luck purchasing Red Sox playoff tickets directly from the team to try StubHub Inc., an online marketplace where tickets are being resold for as much as $20,000 apiece.
The Red Sox policy on scalping prohibits fans from reselling their tickets at big markups while state law currently limits reseller markups to $2 above face value plus certain service charges and business expenses.
But Major League Baseball has no qualms about ticket resales. In e-mails sent to fans who entered a Red Sox lottery for tickets, MLB directs them to StubHub, where a bleacher seat for yesterday's game at Fenway Park was selling for $218 and a field box seat was going for $1,422. Prices for a World Series ticket ranged as high as $20,589. StubHub ads also appear on RedSox.com.
The league signed a five-year deal with StubHub in August making the San Francisco-based subsidiary of
Red Sox officials have declined to comment on the StubHub deal and couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
The Massachusetts House this week passed a bill that would eliminate the current antiscalping law and allow anyone engaged in the business of reselling tickets to sell them at any price. Prior to passage, the bill was changed to exempt websites like StubHub and eBay from state licensing requirements and consumer protections.
Senate leaders say they will probably draft their own ticket resale bill.
BRUCE MOHL
