Scalping On Thin Ice

Officials in Boston are balking over free tickets for ice skating at Fenway Park being offered on the secondary market at outrageous prices.

Fenway has been turned into a winter wonderland for the upcoming NHL Winter Classic featuring the hometown Bruins against the Philadelphia Flyers, and the city announced Dec. 14 that 3,000 free tickets would be handed out to residents for open skates at the park Jan. 3 and Jan. 10.

But almost as soon as the announcement was made, skate tickets began popping up on several Internet marketplaces for thousands, according to the Boston Globe.

“These are free tickets that were arranged to be given to the city of Boston residents to skate free at Fenway Park. They weren’t meant for people to make money off of,” a spokeswoman for the city told the paper. “It was really the mayor making sure the residents of this city get something back, especially young people, who, given this is Fenway, it might be their only chance to be there.”

Several listings for the tickets were fairly blunt, the Globe reported, including one posting that read, “I have 12 tickets total, will sell all for $4,000, 4 tickets for just $1,800. Once in a lifetime opportunity! No sob stories please, prices are firm.”

Sun Life Financial, which partnered with the city to set up the free skating events, told the paper the company was disappointed by the scalping of the tickets.

“We’re extremely disappointed that some people are choosing to resell the tickets and deprive Boston families of this opportunity,” a spokesman said. “We do not condone these actions and want to stress these tickets should not be offered for sale.”