Many Avril Lavigne fans were disappointed on the weekend.
Despite lining up for hours outside Sudbury Arena many were out of luck.
Due to heavy activity online, tickets were sold out in 15 minutes, said Ray Mensour, Sudbury Arena manager.
"Approximately 85-90 percent of the tickets were sold online. That is the reason why we sold out so quickly on Saturday. People have the option to purchase tickets online, in person or by phone (simultaneously) but based on recent trends, the majority of tickets for major events have been sold online," said Mensour.
It is estimated that 25-30 persons purchased tickets in person at the Arena box office, said Mensour.
When asked about scalpers with sophisticated software that can buy tickets with high resale value, before a human can manually keystroke in a ticket request, Mensour said, "Unfortunately we cannot recognize the people who purchase tickets with the intent of reselling them."
Mensour said any Arena staff with knowledge of those scalping tickets forward the information to police.
Mensour said no Avril Lavigne tickets are being held for councillors or arena staff.
"Until a new ticket policy is determined by Council, tickets will not be held for councillors or arena employees who wish to purchase tickets," he said.
Northern Life talked to a few fans about lining up Friday afternoon and what they thought about the controversy about arena staff and councillors getting easy access to purchasing tickets.
An informal poll done by Northern Life with the first 24 fans lined outside the arena at 5 pm Friday found only three thought arena staff should have prior access. Only one, Frank Taillefer, from New Sudbury, thought city councillors, as well as arena staff, should have preferential access to two tickets each.
"Sure councillors should have prior access to two tickets each that they pay for. It is a perk of the job. You don't see people in Toronto complaining about their councillors getting tickets. Just because these big concerts are a new thing here, they should get it."
Taillefer said Greater Sudbury councillors have a lot of
responsibility.
"The city is getting bigger all the time. They are doing a good
job," he said.
Christine Mullin, from the South End of the city, disagreed.
"There are a lot of people in our society who work longer and harder - doctors, nursing staff to name a few. I resented it when Councillor Janet Gasparini said she did not have five minutes to go on a computer to get tickets like everyone else. Maybe she should reorganize her time like the rest of us do," said Mullin.
Avril Lavigne will perform at the Sudbury Arena August 5.
