Ohio State men’s basketball: Watch for counterfeit tickets, officials warn
Ohio State has seen a marked increase in counterfeit tickets being sold for men’s basketball games in Value City Arena this season, to the point that the athletic department issued a statement yesterday warning fans to purchase the tickets only from “authorized sources.”
“These are very high-quality reproductions of season tickets,” said Brett Scarbrough, the department’s senior director of ticketing. “They are of such a quality that it’s pretty hard for the untrained eye to make the distinction. That’s why we felt it was necessary to get the word out for people to be careful.”
Scarbrough said an average of 30 to 50 counterfeit tickets have been discovered for high-demand home games against Duke, Indiana and Michigan. He said they were in the hands of “unlucky buyers” attempting to enter the arena.
Ohio State police are investigating, but Scarbrough said he knows of no arrests.
Sales of the tickets appear “to be concentrated on Lane Avenue between the Varsity Club and the bridge” over the Olentangy River, Scarbrough said.
The counterfeits are knockoffs of season tickets, which have a different appearance than those sold for single games.
Season tickets are black and white, with the OSU logo and a basketball in full-color. Single-game tickets are red and white and include a hologram, which season tickets do not, Scarbrough said.
“We’ve had this (previously) with football, and periodically in basketball at smaller levels,” athletic director Gene Smith said. “It’s something people try. We just want to encourage people to be careful and try to make sure they buy their tickets through as legitimate (a source) as they can.”
Authorized sellers of Ohio State tickets are the Schottenstein Center ticket office, online at OhioStateBuckeyes.com, or through Ticketmaster outlets in stores, online or via telephone.
The Buckeyes, ranked third nationally this week, have four home games remaining: against Purdue on Tuesday, Michigan State on Feb. 11, Illinois on Feb. 21 and Wisconsin on Feb. 25 or 26.
The games against Michigan State and Wisconsin are sold out. About 2,000 tickets remain available for Purdue and about 1,200 for Illinois, according to the statement. Legitimate tickets for the sold-out games might be available on the Ohio State ticket exchange, the only official resale site that guarantees the tickets are valid.
bbaptist@dispatch.com
