July 16, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TICKETS
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - University of Notre Dame director of athletic ticketing Josh Berlo warns Irish fans to be extremely careful when they consider obtaining Notre Dame football tickets through non-University sources.
"We have received numerous recent reports of fraudulent ticket offerings and scams," Berlo says.
"Based on the record level of demand for this season, con artists are leveraging it to trick people into paying for, or putting deposits on tickets they do not have.
"How do you spot a scam? Is it too good to be true? Were you solicited via a SPAM email or online blog or chat room? Does it involve a wire transfer or money order? Does it involve a foreign country? Is it on an Internet auction Web site? If you answered yes to any of those questions, chances are it is a scam or may involve invalid or stolen tickets."
The Notre Dame ticket office actively monitors and enforces the ticket resale policy (link: http://und.cstv.com/tickets/tickets-resale.html) in an effort to curb resale for profit and ticket fraud. More than 1,700 tickets have been suspended or revoked in the past three years. Enforcement methods include active monitoring of more than 20 Internet ticket resale Web sites, periodic purchasing of tickets from these entities, undercover game day operations, as well as follow-up on all leads provided to the ticket office. Suspected resale violation information can be sent to: seller1@nd.edu.
Those suspecting they have counterfeit tickets in their possession should contact their local law enforcement agency to report this as soon as possible. The investigating law enforcement agency then can contact the Notre Dame Counterfeit Ticket Task force via the Notre Dame Security Police for assistance by calling 574-631-5555.
Clues to counterfeit tickets include fuzzy printing, rough cuts or perforations, mismatched fonts or the absence of an interlocking "ND" three-dimensional hologram. Be sure to review the front and back of the ticket for anything that looks irregular.
The University announced last month that it received a record number of requests for tickets for 2006 home football games through the Notre Dame alumni ticket lottery. Two home games - Sept. 9 vs. Penn State and Sept. 16 vs. Michigan - qualified as the two highest-requested games in the history of the lottery. Four '06 games ranked among the all-time top 10 games for requests. More than $11.7 million in refunds will go to unsuccessful lottery participants (compared to $5.2 million a year ago) - after the lottery experienced a 37 percent increase in overall applications compared to 2005.
If you have any questions, please contact the Notre Dame Ticket Office at 574-631-7356 or visit us at www.und.com.
Edited to include text from UND link.
Notre Dame Athletic Tickets Resale Policy
The Athletic Department does not condone the practice of reselling Notre Dame athletic tickets above face value with the exception of Alumni Association organizations (i.e. clubs) for scholarship funding opportunities, and to a certain extent, charitable organizations that are sanctioned/approved by the University.
The following actions have and will be taken when there is evidence that an individual or group has been found to have sold Notre Dame athletic tickets above face value or when tickets have been sold via a ticket broker/agency:
Season Tickets:
If an individual, faculty/staff member, alumnus, company or other entity is found to have sold their season tickets for an amount greater than the face value of the tickets, or have sold their tickets to a ticket broker/agency who in turn resells the tickets for an amount greater than face value, they will be denied ticket privileges for a minimum period of 5 years. In addition, the individual will not receive the same seat location if/when the privilege is reinstated.
Individual Game Tickets:
If an individual, faculty/staff member, alumnus, company or other entity is found to have sold their tickets to one or more games for an amount greater than the face value, or have sold their tickets to a ticket broker/agency who in turn resells the tickets for an amount greater than face value of the tickets, they will be denied ticket privileges for a minimum period of 2 years.
Repeat offenders will be subject to stricter penalties up to and including permanent revocation.
Please Note:
Based on the aforementioned policies it is important to define the term "face value". Simply stated our definition would be, "the face value of the ticket is the amount printed on the face of the ticket". It would not include any amount paid in order to maintain the option of purchasing the tickets or to receive the right to apply for the tickets (i.e., Building Fund, Annual Fund contributions, etc.)
Also, there is an appeals process for those who believe they were wrongly accused. Therefore, if an individual believes the University has revoked their tickets and/or privileges in error, he/she will have the right to appeal the decision. An Appeals Committee, made up of representatives from throughout campus, will be established to review all appeals. All appeals must be made in writing to the Ticket Office who will take on the responsibility of calling the committee together, on an as needed basis, and will present each case.
Your adherence to this policy is appreciated.