“Got extra tickets? Anyone selling?”
“Anybody need four together?”
“Got two tickets!”
The shouts ring out across Kenmore Square. It’s one hour before Game 3 of the American League Division Series: Red Sox vs. White Sox. If Boston loses, there’s no hope for a repeat performance as World Series champions.
It’s also a perfect business day for ticket scalpers.
According to Officer John Boyle of the Boston Police Department, reselling tickets for even one cent over face value is an “arrestable offense.” But at games like these, some ticket scalpers make hundreds of dollars in profit.
Sgt. Thomas Sexton, a spokesman for the BPD who worked during the 2004 World Series, said he saw many people selling their tickets outside Fenway.
Sexton said that his real concern is counterfeit tickets. Some are sold for $500 a ticket, but won’t scan.
“Counterfeit tickets are out there,” he said. “People are getting scammed and being denied access [to the park].” Sexton added that it is impossible to tell the difference between real tickets and counterfeit tickets until you scan it.
“People will be taken for their money, and it’s wrong,” Sexton said.
According to ticket scalpers and Red Sox fans, counterfeit tickets are not much of an issue in Kenmore Square. Ben Thompson, a Red Sox fan from Somerville, said he has not noticed counterfeit tickets.
“You’ve got to be careful though,” he said. “Know what you’re looking for, and if they’re not willing to show you the ticket, don’t buy it.” John, a Kenmore ticket scalper who declined to give his last name for fear of being arrested, said he would never sell counterfeit tickets.
“Nobody really sells them around here,” John said. ” It gives us a bad name.”
John said the business of ticket scalping “depends on the market.”
“If the Sox are up two games, they’ll be worth more,” he said. “When they’re on a losing streak, the market is down.”
John said the market drastically changes when the Red Sox are in the playoffs or are playing their perennial rivals, the New York Yankees. For Game 3 of this Division Series, for example, tickets sold for as much as $375.
“I bought [ALDS] tickets last week for 75 dollars each,” John said. At this scalping location, most tickets were sold for $100. After the game began, the prices went down to $80 a ticket. Scalpers tended to remain in the vicinity for more than an hour after the first pitch.
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Matt Toulme said ticket sales that day varied depending on the location of the scalper.
“I saw tickets being sold down Commonwealth Avenue past Kenmore for 375 dollars,” he said. They probably get cheaper closer to Fenway because it’s closer to the cops.”
In Kenmore Square, Boston Police officers stood 10 feet from ticket sellers but did not question any of them. Scalpers said they were not worried about being caught, despite knowing they could face a fine or even jail.
“If you get caught, you get caught,” John said. “But the cops have other things to worry about right now.”
CAS freshman Claire Burns added that undercover cops pose a threat to scalpers.
Bonnie Poindexter, spokeswoman for Ticketmaster, said access management systems that Ticketmaster offers to their clients deter counterfeiting and fraud.
“We have optical barriers, ticket limits, and ticket scans available to ensure fair and equitable distribution,” Poindexter said. “We work on behalf of our clients.”