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Sports

Judge rules in favor of ticket scalpers

Says unfair to go after street-level scalpers when Mariners do same thing on Web site BASEBALL NOTEBOOK

Associated Press
February 1, 2004

A Seattle city judge has tossed out the conviction of one ticket scalper and dismissed charges against another, ruling that it is unfair to prosecute street-level scalpers while the Seattle Mariners get away with similar conduct on their Web site.

Seattle Municipal Court Judge Jean Rietschel ruled Friday that the selective prosecution "is not rationally related to a legitimate government purpose."

It is illegal in Seattle to sell -- or scalp -- tickets to sporting and entertainment events for more than face value. It is a gross misdemeanor under city ordinance, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

The Mariners pay city police officers to work undercover outside Safeco Field on game days, instructing them where to patrol for scalping.

At the same time, the Mariners benefit from scalping online. On the Ticket Marketplace section of the team's Web site, season-ticket holders since 2001 have been able to sell their tickets above face value. The Mariners charge a 25 percent fee for the service, which it splits with Major League Baseball and LiquidSeats, a California-based ticketing service.

In 2002 alone, the M's received about $100,000 to $120,000 as the team's share of the profits.

The Web site contains a warning that it is illegal to sell tickets for more than face value in Seattle. But the judge noted that the site also allows sellers who live in the city to enter an address outside the city to get around the restriction. The site allows delivery of tickets and payment within the city, the judge found.

Scalper Richard Kosterman was convicted in February 2003, while Mark Charlesworth was awaiting trial on three scalping charges.

A spokeswoman for the Mariners had no comment, saying the team had not seen the ruling. The City Attorney's Office said it may ask the judge to reconsider and, failing that, appeal to Superior Court.

"The judge was flat-out wrong," said Kathryn Harper, an aide to city attorney Tom Carr.

Assistant City Attorney Moses Garcia contended that from a law-enforcement perspective there is little in common between street scalpers and online sales. In street-level crime, scalpers "are physically in Seattle, in public view and are easily identified and investigated," Garcia wrote.

By contrast, the "issues involved in investigating and prosecuting even one Internet sale are confoundingly complex . . . to prove. Simply detecting an `illegal' sale would likely involve half a dozen subpoenas," Garcia maintained.

But in her ruling, the judge noted that Leo Poort, the Seattle Police Department's legal adviser, had stated he found no reason that the department could not find out where such ticket sales originated.

Since 2001, the city has filed 210 scalping cases. It's not clear, however, how many of those cases were tied to Mariners tickets.

Tigers close to landing `Pudge'

The Detroit Tigers and Ivan Rodriguez moved closer to finalizing their $40 million, four-year contract, and the deal could be announced Monday afternoon, reports the Associated Press.

The sides were faxing language Saturday aimed at finishing off the agreement, a baseball source said on the condition of anonymity. The goal was to complete the deal in time for a news conference Monday in Detroit, the source said.

Rodriguez and the Tigers moved to the verge of agreement last Wednesday, and have worked since then at putting the deal in writing. He took a physical for Detroit on Thursday in Dallas.

To spur rebuilding, the Tigers reached agreements with second baseman Fernando Vina ($6 million for two years), outfielder Rondell White ($6 million for two years), right-hander Jason Johnson ($7 million for two years)

Rodriguez had a $10 million, one-year contract with Florida last season and helped lead the Marlins to the World Series title, earning the MVP award in the N.L. championship series win over the Chicago Cubs.