Democrats: Repeal of anti-scalping law benefits Matt Blunt's brother

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Repealing a state law against ticket scalping would be a "giveaway" to Gov. Matt Blunt's brother, angry Democrats said.

Andy Blunt, brother of the Republican governor, is the Missouri lobbyist for Ticketmaster, which supports repeal of the law that forbids the resale of tickets above their face value.

The issue is on the agenda for this week's special session of the legislature. It is contained in proposed legislation dealing with tax credits and economic development.

A statement issued Friday by the Missouri Democratic Party said repeal of the scalping law "will directly benefit [the governor[']s] lobbyist brother, Andy Blunt, whose client Ticketmaster wants to resell tickets on the Internet."

Joe Freeman, a Ticketmaster vice president, called the Democrats' charge "below-the-belt politics."

Freeman said second-market ticket brokers, such as eBay, support repeal of the current law, as do the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams, baseball's St. Louis Cardinals and the NHL's St. Louis Blues.

"What we are looking to do is provide a secure -- and above all legal -- resale channel through our clients," Freeman said.

Freeman also said that Andy Blunt does not deal with the executive branch of state government, only with lawmakers.

Jessica Robinson, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Andy Blunt did not play a role in getting the scalping repeal on the agenda. Gov. Blunt included the proposal, she said, because of widespread support from sports teams, performance venues and legislators.

The inaugural event at Kansas City's Sprint Center, an October concert by Elton John, sold out almost instantly. But while buyers were limited to eight tickets, hundreds of tickets -- at prices as high as $855 -- were offered the next day on brokers' internet sites.

Those brokers typically buy from consumers, who purchase the maximum number of tickets allowable and then sell them to the brokers.

Supporters of repeal say getting rid of the scalping prohibition would allow consumers to deal directly with each other, keeping costs down.

In states where it is legal, Ticketmaster offers an online exchange channel to concert venues, promoters and sports teams. They and Ticketmaster receive a service fee on ticket transactions between individual buyers, who can sell to each other without bidding against other buyers.