Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Buyer beware!

What’s this world coming to when you can’t trust Internet ticket scalpers?

Apparently, the LSU ticket office has issued a warning to fans to be on the lookout for fake tickets. According to the ticket office, “large numbers of stolen and counterfeit tickets” were sold for the LSU-Florida game two weeks back. The tickets were sold by Internet brokers as well as on-site folks — presumably the people you see wandering around every stadium in America, holding up fingers and brandishing signs.

Obviously, fake tickets are a bad thing: Buy one, and you have an awfully good chance of being turned away at the gate, which is exactly what happened to a lot of those folks at the LSU-Florida game.

“Purchasing tickets from other sources,” according to the LSU ticket office, is “at the buyers’ own risk.”

Of course, the LSU ticket office also has a built-in incentive towards scare-mongering against third-party sources of tickets. This is sort of like McDonald’s advertising about Burger King’s unhealthy food: It may be true, but truth may not be the only motive.

But we’re a trusting group here at My Five Cents, so we’ll leave the final word to Brian Broussard, LSU’s assistant athletic director for ticket operations.

“Fans who purchase game tickets on the secondary market are taking a big chance,” Broussard said in a statement issued by the school.