Scalping tickets is nothing new for University students.
Many students sell their tickets simply because they can’t attend the games, and others are just looking to make a quick buck.
While making your money back on a ticket is nice if you can’t attend, making a profit on one University football ticket that is large enough to pay off the entire cost of season tickets — and still having money left over — seems like a pretty good deal. And this deal can come at the cost of only missing one game.
Many students send mass e-mails to large lecture classes, while others post their tickets to Craigslist or Facebook’s marketplace.
Some tickets are posted at more than $200 — equaling at least a $188 profit. Pretty nice, right? It is nice, but therein lies a problem.
Louisiana state law says it is “unlawful to sell tickets for more than the price; total cost of tickets to be printed on each,” which means selling tickets for more than their worth is illegal.
Many students may like to claim ignorance to this law, even though each ticket says “the resale, or attempted resale, of LSU student tickets through means other than those specifically provided by the LSU Ticket Office is expressly prohibited.”
While the ticket doesn’t state exactly what these appropriate means of resale are, it’s basically reiterating the state law — don’t sell the tickets for more than they are worth.
Because these appropriate means aren’t blatantly stated, many University students will attempt to scalp their tickets during big games unaware of the consequences. And the LSU Ticket Office will catch many who try and make extra cash on a big game.
If you get caught, the LSU Ticket Office sends an e-mail to you that says your remaining tickets for the season have been canceled and refunded.
On top of that, they revoke your privilege to attend any University sporting events. Then they send your information to the Dean of Students, where you’ll face more punishment.
The University also requires student violators to complete five to 20 hours of community service, attend an “ethical decision-making workshop” and write an essay, according to a 2009 article by The Daily Reveille.
While it’s possible the punishment may have changed this year, the consequences will probably be similar to the misuse of an LSU ID, which requires an essay and an “ethical decision-making workshop” as well.
The consequences don’t seem to fit the crime. I would guess most students wouldn’t consider scalping their ticket a crime, so there’s only one way to avoid the problem.
Don’t scalp tickets. Also, don’t use loophole strategies by offering to sell a cheap item, like a pen, for $200 along with a “free” ticket.
The LSU Ticket Office obviously upholds its rules, and it does give students the privilege of purchasing football tickets for $12 a piece — a price far cheaper than buying season tickets elsewhere in Tiger Stadium.
For many people, getting a good deal on something means an opportunity to make a profit. But profiting on student tickets is illegal, and the money made on scalping doesn’t measure up to the time it’ll take to deal with the punishment and loss of season tickets.
So students, be forewarned.
Most of us don’t think we’ll get caught, or we think scalping is something law enforcement officials and the University turn their backs to. But they don’t. They enforce their laws, and they’re good at it.
We need to respect the University’s rules on ticket sales, as they respect us by making them overly affordable for us. The punishment is not worth the risk.
Chris Grillot is a 19-year-old mass communication and English major from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_cgrillot.
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Contact Chris Grillot at [email protected]