Not everyone a winner

As some readers may recall, in June 2006 Washington State and the Arena announced a sellout of the upcoming 2007 NCAA men’s subregional basketball tournament that was packaged with the 2008 NCAA women’s tournament.

So, everyone is a winner, right?

WSU and the Arena can proudly announce a sellout, and fans who wanted tickets to both events are happy. But wait, there are losers. The losers are people who only wanted tickets to the men’s event. These fans’ primary alternative is to purchase tickets from ticket resellers such as stubhub.com, razorgator.com, ticko.com, etc. These resellers are charging at least two or three times a ticket’s face value. It is evident the sellout was accomplished by selling many tickets that eventually made their way to resellers.

In the 2007 WSU football season-ticket renewal form’s frequently asked questions, it says: “The ticket office utilizes the tracking ability of FedEx to prosecute any parties who … resell on such sites as Stub Hub.” With luck, these prosecutors are proceeding for tickets presently on ticket resellers’ Web sites.

Sid Houpt

Pullman