The Jazz are working with STR Marketplace, a Houston-based company that provides a similar ticket transfer system to five NFL and three Major League Baseball teams, as well as three raceways. Utah is the first NBA team to employ the system.
A season-ticket holder who no longer wants to retain a seat, whether at the end, middle or end of a season, can create a listing on a Jazz Web site -- http://jazz.strmarketplace.com-- to sell "location rights" to the highest bidder.
Location rights do not include the costs of the tickets, just the right to the seat or seats being offered.
Sellers set an expected price. Buyers make offers, which sellers are free to reject. But if one is accepted, the purchase is processed through the Web site and all further invoices and correspondence from the team go to the buyer.
The team collects a percentage of the sale of "location rights" from both buyer and seller, said Jazz spokeswoman Linda Luchetti.
But more than a financial gain, she said, the club benefits from giving season-ticket holders "more value. Anytime we find something that benefits them, we're interested."
Jim Olson, Jazz senior vice president of sales and marketing, said the system provides existing ticket holders and people looking to become one – or improve their seats -- with a "safe and easy" medium for making the transfer.
Luchetti said if someone tries to sell the location rights to their seats but no one is interested, the would-be seller still can return their rights to the club without compensation. Then the team would sell them as before.
On Monday, there were 10 listings for tickets, ranging in price from $750 for two seats in an upper corner to $9,500 for four seats along the lower baseline.
Football teams using the system are the Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans and St. Louis Rams. In baseball, STR is working with the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres, while the racetracks are Talladega Superspeedway, Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.
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