State Scalping Statutes

When it comes to scalping, states have wide interpretations of acceptable resale values, from a couple of bucks above face value to as much as 45 percent.

Tickets to a show, concert or sporting event can be legally resold in all 50 states, but at least 17 states limit how much a seller can charge.

Over the past year, regulations of sales have been relaxed or dropped altogether in Illinois, South Carolina and Florida.

Another state at the tipping point is New York, which began easing its rules last year and now permits reselling tickets at face value plus 45 percent for venues that seat more than 6,000. All other tickets can be sold at face value plus 20 percent.

At the height of a playoff series between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers October 4th, execs from eBay, RazorGator, StubHub, Ticketmaster and the National Association of Ticket Brokers approached the state’s Consumer Protection Board and urged officials to open the market entirely.

But sports franchises in New York and other states have fought scalping for years, as evidenced by the scalping laws in Mississippi, Missouri and New Mexico, where tickets to some sporting events must be sold at face value. No limits are placed on tickets for concerts or shows.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Connecticut allow between $1 and $3 to be tacked onto the face value of a ticket, although some states relax the rules for licensed brokers.

Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan and Minnesota only allow tickets to be resold at face value.