 |
Ace founder Jim Holzman said the problem is the result of a paperwork mix-up. |
Ace Ticket sold without licenses, state records show
When the Boston Red Sox last week signed a one-year deal for Ace Ticket to become the team's official "offline" ticket reseller, the team lauded the local business as "one of the oldest and most reliable secondary ticket providers in the New England region."
But according to state records, there was one important detail Ace was missing: a license to resell tickets in Massachusetts. For several months, Ace has hawked tickets at its six locations across the state with expired licenses, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
An online database of the state's licensing records, last updated Wednesday, listed Ace's licenses as expired.
Todd Grossman, deputy general counsel for the Department of Public Safety, confirmed that Ace's licenses had expired but said that new ones were is sued yesterday for the company's locations in Boston, Brookline, Chelmsford, Framingham, and Saugus.
According to the department's website, "all licenses issued, renewed, or otherwise updated by the Department of Public Safety, are posted to the DPS Website within 48 hours of being processed by the Department."
Ace ticket founder Jim Holzman said he believes there is a "misunderstanding of paperwork."
Holzman provided internal company accounting records late yesterday that showed five payments of $250 were made to the Department of Public Safety on Nov. 27. He said he did not know why there was no payment record for the sixth location, Ace's main office on Franklin Street in Boston.
Holzman also said he was unable to provide copies of the renewed licenses because he and other employees had left the office when the Globe contacted him late yesterday afternoon.
A Red Sox spokesman referred all questions to Ace management. The
A Major League Baseball spokesman could not be reached for comment yesterday evening.
Under state law, the penalty for operating without a current license is a fine of up to $500 for the first offense. After the third offense, unlicensed ticket resellers may face additional fines and imprisonment for up to one year.
All licenses to operate as a ticket reseller expire on Dec. 31 of the year they are issued.
The Red Sox deal with Ace came several months after MLB inked an agreement to allow StubHub Inc. to handle all of the league's online ticket resales and restricted clubs that do not participate from cashing in on the resale of tickets online.
Previously, the Sox operated the "Replay" system on redsox.com, which allowed season ticket holders to directly resell their tickets for games they were unable to attend.
The Red Sox are the only MLB team that snubbed StubHub, deciding not to promote the company as its official online ticket reseller, and instead the club signed a deal with Ace.
Red Sox officials say the team will not make money off the resale of tickets, but it will take in funds through the Ace sponsorship that will put the agency's name on a billboard on Fenway Park's right-field fence and a sign on the main scoreboard during three innings each game.
Massachusetts' antiscalping law limits resale ticket prices to $2 above face value, plus some business and service charges.
On Ace's website yesterday, the lowest-priced seat available for an April 8 game at Fenway Park against the Tigers was a lower bleacher seat selling for $259, far above face value.
Phil Cronin, a Red Sox season ticket holder since 2000, said, "The Sox have so much good will in town right now, they could have used some of it and implemented an offline system to benefit both season ticket holders and people who want to go to a game. But obviously that doesn't matter to them."
Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
