Page 14 Portland Observer, March 11, 1982
Ticket scalping in Rip City
M yc h ea l Tho m p so n moves in to po sitio n to signal K elvin Ransey
fo r his fam o u s d rive w h ile C le v la n d 's d e fe n d e r fin d s h im s e lf h e lp ­
less to stop.
(Photo; V ien ee Easter)
IS
by Ron Sykes
Memorial Coliseum, home o f the
Portland Trailblazers, employs sev­
eral hundred concessionaires, park­
ing lot attendants, custodial w o rk­
ers, ushers, security guards, etc.
These people are visible to the gen­
eral p u b lic . But there are other
workers around who are only visible
to those seeking tickets for Blazer
games and concerts. These workers
are known as scalpers.
O n M a y 5 , 1977, the P o rtla n d
C ity Council passed the follow ing
ordinance:
" . . . Resale o f tickets to events at
m u n icip al fac ilitie s at a prem ium
price p ro h ib ite d . Tickets to all
events at municipally owned facili­
ties shall have printed thereon the
retail price thereof. It shall be un­
lawful for any person to sell or offer
for sale any such ticket at a price
greater than the retail price printed
thereon, exclusive o f fees or service
charges fo r sale o f tickets not ex­
ceeding fifty cents per ticket at regu­
lar ticket outlets.
"Som e o f these guys are so regu­
lar that we know them by s ig h t,"
said one security guard. " W e per­
sonally escort them o f f the prem ­
ises, but they just keep com ing
back, and back, and back."
Th ere are at least ten regular
scalpers who work all o f the games.
Just like in any business, there are
the good ones and the bad ones.
W e arrived early for the Boston
game to get a firs t-h a n d view o f
these young entrepreneurs at work.
W e follow ed Ed Fabian (fictitio us
name for obvious reasons). Ed is a
handsome young Black man o f me-
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mers vacationing in H a w a ii. For
Boston and Philadelphia, I usually
make three hundred or better in a
n ig h t. N o t all nights are good
nights. Sometimes we get burned."
Ed explained to me how scalping
works. "W hen season ticket holders
come down to sell their tickets, it ’s
usually because they have something
else to do. I f they have twelve dollar
scats, I can usually talk them down
to eight. I f 1 buy six tickets. I ’m out
o f forty-eight dollars. I f 1 sell all six
for fifty each, I leave here with three
hundred dollars."
This was a trend that began in
1977 and w ill continue as long as
there is a great ticket demand.
W EN DELL B R O W N
Paul Westphal:
Sonic or Knick?
C alvin N a tt takes it to th e hoop as he uses C le v e la n d 's Jam es
Silas as a stepladder fo r a Blazer tw o -p o in te r.
(Photo: V ian c e Easter)
me, " T h is is going to be a good
night."
T o keep up with the young man
one w ould need ro lle r skates. H e
moved just that fast w o rk in g the
crowd. The amazing thing to me is
that most o f the time these scalpers
arrived at their job site with no tick­
ets. They a rriv e early to bargain
with season ticket holders who for
some reason c an ’ t make it to the
game that night. They are a scalp­
er’s delight.
I asked which games were best for
scalpers. Ed’s eyes lit up and a smile
danced across his face. " I f I had
Boston, Philadelphia and New York
every night, 1 could spend my sum­
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6. Missouri
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15. Arkansas
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18. Kansas State
19. Iowa
20. Indiana
Jäit
dium build, six feet two inches tall
with short curly hair. He grew up in
a broken home and was a product of
the streets from an early age.
" I ’ve always hustled to help my
Mom. There were six o f us kids and
no father around. So someone had
to help put bread on the table," says
Ed. When asked about the City O r­
dinance prohibiting scalping, Ed re­
plied, " I really c an ’ t see it as a
crime. You have a willing buyer and
I ’ m w illin g to sell, so w h a t’ s the
crime?”
About this tim e a young couple
approached w hile Ed was holding
his two tickets in sight. " I ’ ve got
two for fifty ,” Ed said. These were
normally six-fifty seats. The couple
took the tickets w ith o u t asking
where they were located. Ed said to
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