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Garth Brooks and Steve Wynn.

By John Katsilometes · October 27, 2009 · 1:08 AM

The Monday List is simply a triple stack of blogettes from a weekend spent in hyper-space. It’s filed late for some lug-nut ratcheting on our computer system. Regardless, like Darren Sproles on a one-shoe sweep against the Chiefs, we’re up and running:

The scalpage

To peel back the very expensive onion that is the Garth Brooks ticketing strife at Encore and Wynn Las Vegas, overriding this entire issue is that it is in fact a misdemeanor in the state of Nevada to buy tickets at face value and resell those tickets at a higher price (in an earlier version of this post, I'd erred in reporting that it is legal in the state to scalp, which is not so upon a review of the Clark County ordinance specifying the misdemeanor). This is in fact illegal activity, which is important to note in the hostile aftermath of Brooks’ sellout Saturday for his first 20 shows at Encore Theater.

Steve Wynn has been adamant (maybe he should have actually booked Adam Ant to open for Brooks, eh?) that all tickets being sold be issued solely to fans of Brooks seeking the rare opportunity to see him perform in a 1,500-seat venue. Tickets, with fees, cost $143 a pop and sold out at that price in five hours Saturday morning and afternoon, according to a hotel news release. You might have seen these numbing numbers: 141,934 phone calls before the theater message system reverted to a busy signal, 5.4 million page views and up to 40,000 fans waiting in an online queue at any moment.

Reports soon surfaced of certain credit card numbers scooping up large ticket orders by repeatedly robo-calling the box office and purchasing the six-ticket minimum. On Saturday afternoon, the hotel news release announced the following:

“Wynn Las Vegas recognizes that unauthorized sellers may now have access to concert tickets. Legal counsel is communicating with suspected known scalpers and private unauthorized sellers with the following message:

It has come to our attention that you are representing yourself as a licensed ticket broker for the purpose of reselling tickets for the Garth Brooks concerts at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas. Please be advised that you have not been authorized as a licensed ticket broker by Wynn Las Vegas, and you are not authorized to resell any Garth Brooks tickets for his concerts at our venue.

Furthermore, please be advised that the terms of our ticket sales includes the following reservation of rights:

Management reserves the right to cancel any ticket and refund the face value of the ticket to the ticket holder, if management determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that such ticket was purchased from a ticket reseller at an amount in excess of face value.

Any ticket you sell in excess of face value ($143) will be subject to cancellation. We would suggest that you advise your potential purchasers of such possibility.”

Aside from a threat by onetime roper Steve Wynn himself to lasso prospective scalpers, it’s about as stern a warning as the hotel can issue. Most properties do have policies in place to prevent scalping onsite by restricting the sale of tickets within a specified distance from the venue. What Wynn has done is greatly minimized access with several conditions attached to purchasing tickets to Brooks’ performances:

The hotel has limited the number of tickets per order per person or per credit card to six. Ticket buyers must pick up the order on the day of the show and have their ID, confirmation number and actual credit card used for payment. Tickets won’t be issued in advance of the day of the show, period. Ticket holders must enter Encore Theater with their entire party, and the person who bought the tickets must be part of that group. The person purchasing the tickets must “pinkie swear” that they will not reissue the tickets for any reason, which is a condition I just made up but could only help ensure the integrity of the process.

Trying to stop these scalpers is really akin to firing away at a county fair shooting gallery, at least if you’re the guy whose name is on the hotel. If you’re a savvy entrepreneur who might not care a flit for the stylings of Garth Brooks, it's free enterprise, pure and simple.

John Katsilometes

Many fans await cabs, but there are scant few cabs.

The stranded among us

The chronic traffic conundrum at Sam Boyd Stadium might well require a summit between stadium officials and representatives of Las Vegas Valley cab companies. As I reported Saturday, thousands of fans waited two hours or more for a ride out of the Sam Boyd after Friday’s U2 show, which drew a record crowd of more than 42,000 to the stadium. The primary complaint from the Sam Boyd crew, led by stadium director Daren Libonati and event services coordinator Kenny Sasaki, was that the request for additional cabs to be dispatched to the site went unheeded until about two hours after the final notes were played on the 360 Degree Tour stage.

However, as was explained to me Monday afternoon by a Nevada Taxicab Authority spokeswoman, the Authority does not have, well, authority to order cabs to a particular location. It does have authority to order additional cabs (or “medallions” in cabby-speak) to be sent into the field for a special event covering multiple days. The annual Consumer Electronics Show is a chief example of such an event, where a couple dozen extra cabs might be assigned to deal with the extra passengers. But rarely, if ever, will the Taxicab Authority dial up an increased number of cabs for a one-night show, even when U2 is playing UNLV's football stadium. Where the cabs are dispatched falls to the cab companies and drivers themselves.

If there is no economic benefit for a cab driver to venture to a far-off locale -- and Sam Boyd Stadium, off Boulder Highway and Russell Road and Tropicana Avenue, is such a locale -- it’s not likely a profit-seeking driver is going to bother with the trip. Drivers hold individual contracts with their companies that the Authority does not oversee; the agreements might or might not require drivers to pay for gas, for example, but that is a stipulation worked out between driver and company (there are at least 15 cab companies serving the Las Vegas area).

Gauging the numbers, it might be a better option -- or at least, a less stressful option -- to hire a limo for high-attendance events at Sam Boyd. Because of the heavy traffic Friday night, taxis were reportedly charging $70 and higher for a fare from the stadium to the Strip. Comparatively, a six-person limousine rate started at $58 per hour; a nine-person could be had for $78. At the risk of turning this item into a middle school word problem, many waiting in that ominous line after the show would have taken the limo rate just to get the hell outta Dodge. As one limo rep related, his company was receiving calls offering $1,000 to pick up people stranded at Sam Boyd Stadium.

It was a great offer, but not an option. By then, the company was out of limos.

London calling for the mayor

Sometimes you just have to applaud the irrepressible human condition. On Sunday, Mayor Oscar Goodman threw back 10 martinis on a single plane trip and afterward said he would have ordered even more, except “I needed to stay sober.” Goodman said this at McCarran International Airport after a 10-hour British Airways flight from London to Vegas, so it was no puddle-jump. But man, 10 martinis. It almost sounds like a good idea.

Goodman said the weeklong junket was the most important in his entire tenure as mayor, given that the partnership between the airline and city will bring in an estimated $96 million annually for the British tourists the airline will bring to town. Goodman continues to play it coy when discussing a possible run for governor -- I poke him about this whenever I see him, and I’m about to bet anyone that he won’t run. I told Goodman I’d seen a prospective opponent, Rory Reid, hanging out with former President Clinton at the U2 concert on Friday night.

“That’s great,” Goodman said, “but I was doing the work of the city. There’s a big difference.”

Still, I say: Not running.

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