Tickets for the Denver run of Broadway show "Hamilton" don't exist yet, but some local websites are claiming they can get you a seat if you're willing to pay more than $1,000, according to a review by 9Wants to Know.
“I think a lot of people think they're buying a real secured ticket, and in many cases, they're not,” said John Ekeberg with the Denver Center for Performing Arts.
The DCPA is the only legitimate vendor of "Hamilton" tickets and won't officially start selling the tickets until Jan. 22 Most tickets will officially sell between $75 to $165 on DCPA's website.
The show runs from Feb. 27 to April 1.
However, third-party sites are selling tickets in “zones” and sometimes specific rows at the Buell Theater in an effort to make money even before officials sales begin.
The tactic is known as selling on speculation. Ticket brokers are so confident they can get a ticket in a specific theater zone, once someone places an order, they'll work to “procure” such a seat when tickets officially go on sale.
Ticketproxy.com, a Denver-based ticket broker site, had listings for more than $2,500 per ticket until the owner received a call from 9NEWS.
Ticketproxy owner Nick Casias shut down his website a few hours after taking questions from the author of this article.
Casias blamed another ticket-broker site, Vivid Seats based in Chicago, for listing the tickets at the price on his website. Casias claimed he's just a member of that network and never listed the price himself.
Casias explained how the third-party sales work before he shut down his site.
“It's basically zone listing, which is speculative,” he said over the phone. “We will fill the order if it sells.”
Ticket brokers who sell these tickets will have to wait until official sales begin to buy themselves.
Often, brokers will work together to get access to pre-sale tickets, giveaways and other tickets obtained by insiders who manage to get seats before public sales.
Casias sent 9NEWS an email, claiming he didn't intend to profit off of "Hamilton."
“Ticketproxy Inc, nor Nick Casias have profited or even attempted to profit a single penny from Hamilton in Denver."
The DCPA strongly suggests getting tickets from their official site to avoid getting ripped off or getting a bogus ticket.
Ekeberg also warned that third-party sites may look like they're connected to the official venue through their web address and use of graphics.
'Well. it's risky. I also think it is also in many ways not transparent to the consumer, which is a huge concern of us,” Ekeberg said.
