Original article published on KITV.com (06/11/18) by Lei Kaholokula
Lawmakers in Hawaii have responded to fans' frustration at being prevented from obtaining tickets online to Bruno Mars' concert in Honolulu. Fans are casting blame on automated bots for scooping up tickets in bulk, noting that while they were trying to score their own tickets via Ticketmaster, many saw prices inflated enormously on third-party resale websites. Sen. Clarence Nishihara (D) on Hawaii's Senate committee for Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health says the panel can look into a legislative remedy. "The people who are scalping and selling it — I guess it's outrageous in terms of cost," he acknowledges. "As an example, buying four tickets at $125 and then reselling those tickets for like $3,000, $5,000. $88 thousand dollars? That's crazy." Ticketmaster issued a statement late Saturday, noting "the extraordinarily high demand for the first [Mars] show" has prompted them to schedule a second Honolulu show on Nov. 11. "We expect similar demand for this second show and will implement the same ticket access restriction for Hawaii residents for the first 48 hours of the onsale," the company said. "Ticketmaster will continue to ensure that Bruno Mars' fans have fair access to tickets for this event."
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