In Missouri, whenever you resell a ticket to a sporting event for
more than its face value, it is considered ticket scalping.
So the answer is yes, it would be a misdemeanor.
For a first offense you could face a fine of up to $300 or 15 days
in the county jail.
The law mentions sporting events. But how about concerts or
other events, is it against the law to make a profit on tickets for
those events?
Missouri law only deals with sporting events.
It does not deal with concerts or cultural events.
It is also interesting to note, that in Illinois and Kansas, scalping
sports tickets is not against the law.
So fans looking for tickets to a sold out game in St. Louis or Kansas
City , just go across the state line and buy tickets at an inflated
price.
Why regulate scalping at all? Why shouldn't we just let market
forces of supply and demand dictate ticket prices?
Scalping laws are intended to level the playing field and also provide
fans access to the game, regardless of the size of their bank accounts.
A majority of sports arenas are funded by taxpayer money or by tax
credits.
If tickets are over-priced, a lot of fans will be excluded just because
of the cost.
Let's say that I had two tickets to the Super Bowl and I want
to sell them to you right now but I also want to comply with the
law, could you maybe pay me face value for the tickets and then as
a condition of the sale pay a large fee for the purchase of a disposable
camera?
The cost of the camera has to be sold at a fair market value. If it
is grossly inflated, you would still be in violation of the law.
The law protects fans access to the game, and levels the playing
field.
