"Even Genuine Fans Hit Hard"... Scalping Scandal Rocks Pro Baseball

Online Scalping Runs Rampant: Tickets Sold for Multiple Times Face Value on Platforms
Stricter Club Enforcement Leads to Penalties for Well-Meaning Fans
Anti-Scalping Act to Take Effect in August: Need for Clear Criteria to Distinguish Scalpers

"I have never sold scalped tickets, but my account was suspended for two years."

A devoted fan of the Samsung Lions professional baseball team, Mr. Jeong (age 27), was recently hit with a two-year account suspension and the revocation of his Silver membership status by the club. This happened after a ticket he had transferred to another fan at face value ended up being resold at a premium by a third party as a scalped ticket. The club had introduced new terms of service stating that, due to issues with scalped tickets, "even if the buyer was unaware, if a third party resells at a markup, it will be considered misuse and subject to sanctions." Jeong said, "I even lost my hard-earned ticket for the Dalbit Series game overnight, so I filed a civil lawsuit against the person who resold it," adding, "Because of scalpers, even well-intentioned fans are suffering."

On the 13th, a game between KT Wiz and NC Dinos took place at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, during the 2026 professional baseball (KBO) league. Courtesy of the reader

Scalped ticket transactions are undermining the popularity of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) League. As tickets for popular games are being sold for more than double their face value, critics point out that the regulatory standards are unclear. As clubs intensify their own monitoring, there are even cases where fans who transferred tickets at face value are being penalized.

According to the Korea Professional Sports Association on June 22, the number of online reports of scalped tickets has surged nearly 30-fold over the past five years. The number rose steadily from 1,423 cases in 2021 to 7,829 in 2022, 14,728 in 2023, 21,442 in 2024, and 41,292 last year. Including monitoring, the total number of scalped ticket detections or suspected cases increased more than 16-fold over the same period, from 18,422 to 307,508 cases. As the problem worsens, the National Police Agency also began compiling separate statistics on scalped ticket crimes in March of this year, whereas previously such crimes had been included under other categories such as violations of the Information and Communications Network Act.

One key factor behind the surge in scalped ticket transactions is the legitimization of trading channels. Scalped ticket transactions, which once took place around stadiums or between individuals, have now moved onto online platforms. Buying and selling tickets at a premium has become more active. Under current law, only illicit transactions using macros (automated programs) are subject to enforcement as scalped tickets. Transfers at face value or small additional fees between individuals are not targeted. However, a significant number of high-priced transactions on resale platforms escape regulation, which is a major issue.

'Ticket Bay' is cited as a representative resale platform. The company was the focus of questions during last year's National Assembly audit regarding the scalped ticket problem. On this platform, popular tickets are traded for several times their face value. For example, for the game between Hanwha Eagles and Samsung Lions held at Hanwha Life Ballpark in Daejeon on the 21st, first base cheerleading section tickets with a face value of 29,000 won were sold for over six times that amount, at 180,000 won. First base infield designated seat A tickets, originally priced at 25,500 won, were listed at 130,000 won.Similarly, for the June 20 game, central table and central designated seats were traded at 220,000 to 250,000 won, which is more than four times the face value.

As the scalped ticket market has grown, amendments to the Performing Arts Act and National Sports Promotion Act, commonly known as the "Scalper Eradication Law," have been introduced. These amendments ban fraudulent purchases for the purpose of resale, as well as habitual or commercial fraudulent sales, regardless of whether macros are used. Violators may be fined up to 50 times the sale amount. The law is set to take effect on August 28, about ten days before the end of the regular KBO season, so its deterrent effect on this season is expected to be limited.

Baseball fans point out that as long as there is demand from spectators who fail to secure tickets in the booking competition, scalped ticket transactions aiming for a markup will persist. Kim (age 35), a Kiwoom Heroes fan, said, "Even after all those clicks and waiting, the seats are already gone, but then you see them immediately appear on resale platforms, which makes it seem like organized scalping is still rampant." A Kia Tigers fan, Mr. An (age 27), said, "Fans who can't get tickets turn to resale platforms, but there's no way of knowing whether the seller is a scalper or a good-faith ticket holder."

While the legal amendments provide grounds for regulating scalped ticket transactions, there are calls for safeguards to ensure that normal transactions between individuals are not unfairly penalized during enforcement. Professor Gwak Dae-kyung of Dongguk University's Department of Police Administration said, "Attaching a premium to the official price and reselling for extra profit is a crime that exploits unfair gains in the middle," adding, "However, regulatory guidelines must also be established to distinguish between those transferring at face value and professional scalpers, to prevent well-intentioned individuals from being penalized."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.