Pittsburgh revamps its effort to control ticket scalpers

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The city has gone from a man-to-man coverage to a zone defense in its efforts to control scalpers.
The city council created an area Monday near the Pirates' PNC Park and the Steelers' Heinz Field where people can meet to buy and sell tickets in compliance with Pennsylvania law.
The area is Pittsburgh's latest effort to control scalpers, who some city officials say had cluttered sidewalks and at times sold within a 30-foot zone around the stadiums where they are banned. Baltimore has a similar "scalping area" outside Camden Yards.
For the past two years, the city tried controlling ticket sellers with $250 permits allowing them to do what's already legal -- to a degree.
Pennsylvania law allows the sale of tickets for no more than $5 or 25 percent above face value -- whichever is more. Anyone selling for more would be subject to a $300 fine on the first offense or up to 30 days in jail. A second offense can carry a fine of up to $5,000 or two years in prison.
Officials voted to scrap the latest round of licenses when they expire in January, saying there was little incentive for ticket sellers to buy the licenses. There were also concerns some licensed scalpers might sell counterfeit tickets.
During the two-year licensing experiment, no one with a permit was ticketed for either selling counterfeit tickets or selling above the limit, officials said.