Ticket buyers have many choices, especially online

— -- Frequent business traveler Sergio Frank dodges the monotony of spending more than 250 nights a year in hotel rooms by going to baseball games.

"Getting out to a local event breaks up the boredom of traveling alone every week on the road," says Frank of Algonquin, Ill., who works in the integrated technologies industry.

Business travelers such as Frank have more options than ever for getting tickets to games, concerts and other events. The Internet offers countless alternatives to box offices and hotel concierges for even last-minute tickets and events presumably sold out.

"It's a great marketplace for consumers," says Gary Adler, an attorney for the National Association of Ticket Brokers. "There's so much competition among ticket sellers and so much information available for buyers."

Beyond box offices and other primary sellers such as Ticketmaster and Live Nation, buyers can visit websites where tickets are resold, including popular sites such as StubHub, Craigslist and eBay, or from numerous online brokers.

A tidy profit

Revenue from tickets resold online exceeds $4 billion annually, says Christian Anderson of FanSnap.com, a website that last week listed 19.5 million tickets for more than 71,000 events.

Many states once had anti-scalping laws, but 39 states today have no restrictions on ticket resale prices, according to eBay. Some states impose price restrictions on certain events, but an increasing number have found enforcement difficult.

The National Association of Ticket Brokers represents 220 companies that resell tickets and abide by a code of ethics, including paying customers double the transaction price, under certain circumstances, for undelivered tickets.

The association has a website, www.natb.org, that steers ticket buyers to its 220 members. But there are many more brokers, and today, "anyone with a ticket is a ticket broker," Adler says.

Buyers who don't have time to compare prices and seat locations at various websites can go to FanSnap.com.

Its website, www.fansnap.com, lists prices of more than 50 ticket resellers, including StubHub, and links to the websites of box offices, Ticketmaster and other primary sellers.

Travelers shouldn't be deterred when told an event is sold out, FanSnap's Anderson says.

"Sure, the box office will sell out for hot events," he says, "but today, there is a mature marketplace where fans can virtually always find tickets — sometimes below face value."

Buying tickets at the last minute doesn't necessarily mean paying more or getting a bad seat. Sellers often slash prices right before an event, and box offices may get choice seats returned to them, Anderson says.

Despite the many outlets, there always are hotel concierges.

Frank, for instance, paid a hotel concierge $140 in July for two Red Sox tickets with a face value of $40 each. He says he was satisfied and values concierges' service.

"They are always upfront and provide me with a cost and, to the best of their knowledge, a seat location," Frank says. "As long as I feel I am not getting gouged, I'll pay the extra cost for the convenience and the opportunity to go to the event."

Tips for good seats in five cities

It can pay to have inside information about a venue before buying tickets. Ticket sellers in five cities offer tips: