In recent years, concert and sporting event tickets have become increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain. Ticket retailers and even some artists and sports teams blame this phenomenon on the ever-expanding "secondary market" for tickets. The secondary market is largely created by ticket "brokers" buying large blocks of tickets and reselling them to consumers for higher, and sometimes exorbitant prices.
Capitalizing on the widespread frustration with ticket prices and unavailability, retailers such as Ticketmaster are offering, and vying for the expanded use of "paperless tickets", akin to those used in the airline industry. As the name suggests, for events offering paperless tickets — which is currently at the discretion of the performer, team or venue — no paper ticket is issued. Upon arrival at the venue, rather than presenting a ticket to gain admission, the consumer must present both a valid government issued I.D. and the credit card with which the ticket was purchased. Proponents claim that paper tickets are consumer friendly, but the reality is the opposite.
Paperless tickets devalue the ticket itself and create unnecessary and unfair restrictions on the consumer. If the consumer is unable to use the ticket, he or she cannot resell it or give it to a friend. This "use it or lose it" issue is particularly apparent with respect to season tickets to sporting events, which are often purchased, both by corporations and individuals, with the intention that they will be shared with clients, children and friends. The use of paperless tickets thus greatly devalues the consumer’s season tickets.
Additionally, paperless tickets create the so-called "Grandma Problem" — Grandma cannot purchase tickets to a concert for her grand kids unless she intends to go to the venue with them on the day of the concert and present her I.D. and credit card for the kids’ admissions. Likewise, if a group plans to attend an event together, and one member of the group purchases all of the tickets, the group will only gain admission to the event if they are present when the ticket-purchaser presents his I.D. and credit card. Group members who arrive at the venue after the purchaser has been admitted will not be admitted. Likewise, if the ticket purchaser does not show up, no one in the group gains admission.
Critics of paperless tickets, including some state legislatures, recognize the harm they pose to consumers. Consumer-friendly bills restricting the use of paperless tickets have been introduced in the United States Congress and in states such as Connecticut, North Carolina and Minnesota.
If you have purchased paperless tickets to an event that you were unable to attend, please contact us to discuss your rights.