SKINS Sell Tickets Directly to Scalpers

[CloakNNNdagger]

'Skins sold seats directly to scalpers

In what could be merely the first example of a trend that many NFL fans have suspected for the past few years, the Washington Redskins admit that "thousands" of general admission tickets were sold in 2008 directly to brokers, who then resold the tickets on the "secondary market" (which of course is a fancy business school term for "they scalped them")

According to the Washington Post, Redskins general counsel David Donovan said that the sales to brokers were discovered earlier this year, as part of an internal audit of the 2008 ticket contracts. Roughly 15 brokering companies were involved.

Donovan said that the employees responsible for the sales have been disciplined.

"Somebody in the ticket office was doing something they shouldn't have been doing, and when it was discovered, it was all dealt with," Redskins Senior Vice President Karl Swanson told the Post. "If the story is, this is a scandal, uncovered by Redskins, verified by the Post, or whatever, yeah, we're telling you: People got tickets who shouldn't have gotten tickets, and they were dealt with."

Some Redskins ticket office employees also reportedly were selling tickets directly to fans, via StubHub, at higher than face value.

Though it appears that the behavior was not condoned by the team (instead, owner Daniel Snyder reportedly was "livid" when he learned of the activity), the mere fact that it happened will continue to fuel suspicions that other NFL teams are engaged in similar behavior, either deliberately or via rogue employees who are using the secondary market as a way to generate supplemental income.

All too often, we've heard accounts of single-game tickets being sold out the moment that they supposedly became available, with seats simultaneously showing up for sale via the franchise's official "secondary market" partner. Our guess is that more and more investigations into such arrangements are coming, and that not every team will be able to show that the sales occurred without the franchise's knowledge or involvement.

But, of course, we all know, IT COULD NEVER HAPPEN HERE!

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

But, of course, we all know, IT COULD NEVER HAPPEN HERE!

Is that sarcasm or something? I've never seen a scalper at Reliant.

[scourge]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Is that sarcasm or something? I've never seen a scalper at Reliant.

I have seen a few, but that isn't the type of scalper they are talking about. They are talking about ticket brokers like StubHub.

[Specnatz]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Is that sarcasm or something? I've never seen a scalper at Reliant.

Originally Posted by scourge

I have seen a few, but that isn't the type of scalper they are talking about. They are talking about ticket brokers like StubHub.

You do know what a ticket broker is right? I know there is a bunch on Richmond and if memory serves there is one right next to Treasures on Westheimer.

The Texans have ticket brokers who own PSLs and other season tickets which are sold on Stubhub and ebay. There have been threads about this where there has been plenty of heated arguments.

[Dan B.]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Is that sarcasm or something? I've never seen a scalper at Reliant.

I'd guesstimate that more than half of those random guys that come up and ask you if you got any extras are actually scalpers.

[Yankee_In_TX]

LMAO!!!!

Some Redskins ticket office employees also reportedly were selling tickets directly to fans, via StubHub, at higher than face value.

BTW - you want to see actual scalpers - walk down Kirby towards 610 on game day.

I sadly had to buy a ticket one day from them (long story) and almost saw some serious bloodshed between them.

[Texan_Bill]

Originally Posted by Specnatz

You do know what a ticket broker is right? I know there is a bunch on Richmond and if memory serves there is one right next to Treasures on Westheimer.

Yes. Yes there is...

[CloakNNNdagger]

ESPN report that the Skins have actually sued fans that couldn't pay this year because of the economy.............and resold them during the course of the lawsuits. Furthermore, suits have also been filed on fans for the same practice of reselling their tickets or season ticket packages for over face value. Sounds like a win-win for the Skins.

[eriadoc]

Redskins and scalpers in the same sentence makes me chuckle.

[Specnatz]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Redskins and scalpers in the same sentence makes me chuckle.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Who sues the Redskins for selling to scalpers? Here is the precedent WASHINGTON POST article about the lawsuits against fans for inability to pay. I know the law is the law. But obviously the Skins don't mind having it both ways..........paid for their own illegal practices while being paid for fans' so-called "illegal" practices (many of the defaults already covered by reselling of the tickets).

This article is quite long and detailed. Pay special attention to the beginning and end of the article chronicling the 72-year-old grandmother die hard Skins fan who lost her business, could not afford to pay her annual $5500 payment and asked for a 1-2 year waiver of payment of her 10 year contract. The Skins were successful with a $66,000+ judgement, her tickets have been resold, and she has been forced into bankruptcy. The end of the article finalizes this already tragic set of events.

For the entire article including many more examples......CLICK HERE