Last month the Yankees and Angels opted-out of the resale arrangement the 28 other teams have with StubHub. This came after years of acrimony between the Yankees and StubHub over what the Yankees perceive to be StubHub undercutting the team by selling tickets lower than the Yankees box office. Never mind that the Yankees had already sold those tickets to whoever was putting them on StubHub and never mind that the market pretty much dictates what people will pay for tickets and the Yankees couldn’t be bothered to listen.
Now the acrimony is higher as Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal reports that the Yankees have sued StubHub over what may or may not be a StubHub retail store near Yankee Stadium. I say “may or may not” because what, exactly, that StubHub storefront near the ballpark is depends on your point of view.
The Yankees say it’s a ticket resale store and that its presence less than 1,500 feet of a sports venue violates New York scalping laws. StubHub counters, saying no, it’s just a place were people on their way to a game can print out and pick up their tickets which were purchased online. Those sets of competing interpretations are the stuff of litigation, my friends.
And, with the caveat of me not knowing a thing about this particular law or the facts giving rise to this dispute, I will offer that courts frequently look askance at efforts to circumvent an existing law with what can only be described as cuteness. And this, however clever, does seem a bit too cute.
But obviously that’s for the courts to decide. And now they’re getting their chance.
