San Diego
The City of San Diego has no authority to limit extra charges above the face value of tickets for concerts or sporting events, the city attorney’s office ruled Wednesday.
The legal opinion from Deputy City Atty. Nina Deane quashed efforts by Councilwoman Judy McCarty to limit local ticket scalping. McCarty had received constituent complaints that coveted tickets were being resold by ticket agencies for 10 times their value or more. McCarty had suggested that ticket resale prices be limited to 10% or $5 over face value, whichever was greater.
Deane told McCarty that states hold the power to regulate the resale and brokering of tickets, and some, including New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, have chosen to put some limits on scalping or have allowed cities to do so.
California courts, however, have not given that power to the state’s municipalities. McCarty said Wednesday that she will consider further action on the matter, including an attempt to win legislative passage of a statute regulating scalping.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
