Professional ticket brokers would have to file for a license and anyone ''scalping'' tickets would be banned from doing so within 1,500 feet of the venue for the event. The bill passed by a vote of 162-6 and now goes to the Senate for consideration. Powell and other supporters said the bill would let the government oversee a trade in which dealers far too often sell fake tickets or misrepresent seat locations to customers. Innocent people sometimes get caught by the current law, they said. In a letter read before the House, a Georgia man told of being thrown to the ground by an undercover officer after trying to give away an extra ticket to a football game.
Brokers advertise on the Internet and local newspapers.
Most, though, are reluctant to talk for fear they will risk losing business from large corporations who regularly order tickets for ball games and especially the Masters Tournament. The annual golf tourney at the exclusive Augusta National Golf Club is considered the most difficult ticket to get. Tournament badges haven't been available for sale since 1972, and the waiting list for badges was cut off in 1978. That makes Masters badges a plum for scalpers. One committed suicide three years ago when Masters' prices on the street soared beyond his budget.