New Yorks new ticketing law

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer has signed legislation ending New York's limits on how much scalpers and brokers can legally add to the face price of tickets they are reselling for events held in the state.

The existing law, which was widely ignored, limited markups to 45 percent for tickets to large venues such as Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden, and 20 percent for facilities with fewer than 6,000 seats, including Broadway theaters.

"Our ticket resale laws have needed reform for many years. This is the only market in which the government does not regulate the primary market, the initial price of a product, but then imposes limits on the secondary market, the resale price of the product," Spitzer said Friday. "This law makes sense because it eliminates resale price controls and lets the free market determine prices."

The earlier law expired at midnight Thursday.

Some old regulations stay in place under the new law, including the ban on scalpers selling tickets within 1,500 feet of the larger arenas and within 500 feet of smaller venues.

Large-volume brokers must now register with the state.

Critics said the new law will lead to higher prices in the secondary market. Supporters said it should make tickets more widely available.