warrrreagl

Okay, the basics are clear. Buy a bunch of tickets and re-sell them at a higher price for a profit. That much I've got.

However, I've been to sporting events in several states, and I've got some further basic questions about similar practices I keep seeing:

1) Why do they all hold up signs that say "I Need Tickets" to everybody? No one has a sign that says "I'll buy your tickets," or "Sell me your damn tickets" or anything else. It's always exactly the same wording: "I Need Tickets."

Is there an ordinance regulating the wording of their scalping request? Did they have a national convention and come to a nationwide consensus as to what should be printed on the little signs?

2) Why are the little signs saying "I Need Tickets" always hand-written on torn-off cardboard box flaps. Are they prevented from using paper or poster-board?

3) Is there one main scalper guy who controls all the other little guys out there, or are they all independent business men? Obviously, I'm not talking about the casual fan who needs to unload his wife's extra ticket; I'm talking about the serious scalpers.

4) Why do they keep buying tickets from patrons outside the gate after the event has started? Even if they're only giving $5 for the tickets, what in the hell can they possibly do with a giant stack of unused tickets? Does the "Main Man" pay them back for any unsold tickets?

For the record, I live in Alabama where scalping is perfectly legal. However, these are practices I see no matter where I go.

And I've just always been massively curious about how they all seem to operate in identical fashion no matter where you go.

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