Two Long Island companies were among six ticket brokers fined $4.1 million combined for illegally purchasing and reselling hundreds of thousands of tickets to concerts and other events since 2011, authorities said.
Great Neck-based Concert Specials, Inc. and BMC Capital Partners, Inc., which is head in West Islip, state law by using illegal software known as ticket “bots” to purchase large numbers of tickets on websites such as Ticketmaster.com and then selling them for large profits on other websites like StubHub and Vivid Seats, according New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
“Unscrupulous ticket resellers who break the rules and take advantage of ordinary consumers are one of the major reasons why ticketing remains a rigged system,” Schneiderman said. “We will continue to fight to make ticketing a more fair and transparent marketplace, so fans have the opportunity to enjoy their favorite shows and events. Anybody who breaks the law will pay a steep price.”
The AG’s office said Concert Specials was among five companies that illegally sold tickets to events in New York over the last several years without obtaining the required license. Under the settlements, the companies are required to maintain proper ticket reseller licenses, abstain from using bots and pay penalties, the office added. Concert Specials paid $480,000 and BMC Capital paid $95,000.
One of the other companies used a bot to buy more than 1,000 tickets to a U2 concert at Madison Square Garden in one minute.
To date, Schneiderman’s office secured $7.1 million in 15 settlements from companies for similar practices. The investigation in continuing. The settlements involved misconduct committed before stricter state penalties on ticket bot use went into effect in February.
