Governor's chief counsel said policy of reserving tickets for officials violates state's ethics code
A sold-out Bon Jovi concert in New Meadowlands Stadium last week.
TRENTON — Elected officials and others with the right connections, who for years have been able to score Bruce Springsteen and other hot concert tickets without going through the box office, will now have to wait in line — just like everyone else.
Gov. Chris Christie today ordered the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and the state's Turnpike Authority to end a long-standing practice of setting aside house seats for friends, commissioners, politicians and other VIPs.
“The public can now be assured of having the same access to those seats, under the same market conditions, as anyone else, no matter who they work for. The prior policy had been in place for many years and set a bad example. And, frankly, it led people to believe that the playing field for tickets was not level. Times have changed, and it was time to end this practice,” said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the governor.
The sports authority operates the Izod Center and the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The turnpike authority owns the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel on the Garden State Parkway. For years, both agencies routinely retained hundreds of tickets to concerts like Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and U2, which would be given away or sold at face value to those who knew the right people to call.
Officials who purchased the tickets said there was nothing wrong with the practice because they were paying full price. But most of those concerts were often quickly sold out, shutting out fans whose only recourse was to buy from scalpers. Or in some cases, the tickets were in prime locations.
Two years ago, an analysis by The Star-Ledger of ticket sales for just one sold-out Springsteen concert at Giants Stadium found more than 1,000 of the best seats were held back from the general public and sold at face value to local sports teams, sponsors and political figures. At least eight prime tickets sold to an employee at a Broadway theater ended up on an internet resale site at five to six times their value.
Of the 160,000 tickets available for the three shows, nearly 2,600 were sold as "house" tickets for $98 each. Two sports authority commissioners purchased about 50 tickets each. Others went to legislators, a former United States attorney and a sitting judge.
The issue of insider tickets has been under review for months, after disclosures that nearly two dozen officials, including the office of then-Gov. Jon Corzine, had been able to buy more than 350 set-aside seats for 15 concerts in 2009, including sold-out shows by Springsteen and U2. Records of those purchases were included in a state lawsuit against ticket websites.
And just last week, Bloomberg News reported the sports authority had spent more than $1 million for seats at the new stadium built by the New York Giants and Jets, paying $854,000 in seat license fees and and another $221,600 for actual tickets to 20 games in the 2010 season. The agency also paid $275,000 for a luxury suite at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Authority officials said the seats were intended for business partners, politicians and others associated with the agency, as well as sponsors of its other facilities and others valuable to its business.
Sports authority spokesman John Samerjan has said the tickets have long been available to policymakers and other business partners and VIPs, including media outlets, as a way to showcase the facilities.
In April, the turnpike authority announced it was suspending its practice of selling house seats, pending review by the governor’s office.
Related video:
| Bon Jovi performs You Give Love a Bad Name at New Meadowlands Stadium |
