Scalpers turn visit into money-making event
PHILADELPHIA — The rosary beads cost $175. Sounds a bit pricey, except the Craigslist ad says it comes with tickets to see Pope Francis. Same with the $10 train passes marked up to $85 in another listing.
With the pontiff’s U.S. tour shifting to New York tonight and Philadelphia for the weekend, ticket scalpers are getting creative to make sure their listings don’t get deleted or lost among dozens of ticket offers pouring in daily.
The same tickets that papal visit organizers doled out for free through parishes and online giveaways weeks ago are available on the online gray market with hefty price tags.
Want a chance to see Pope Francis roll through New York’s Central Park on Friday? That’ll be $100. Or maybe you want to see him on stage alongside Mark Wahlberg, Aretha Franklin and Sister Sledge. Tickets to the Festival of Families in Philadelphia Saturday are going for as low as $25.
Church and civic leaders denounced the sales and asked websites to remove the listings. The auction site eBay has complied, saying the sales violated its terms of service. Posts have continued to appear on Craigslist. The website did not respond to a message Wednesday.
“It’s disgusting that anyone would take a free ticket for someone to see His Holiness and decide to resell it,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
Organizers made 80,000 tickets available to the public for the Central Park procession and 30,000 for the pope’s three outdoor events in Philadelphia.
Scalpers started turning them for profit almost immediately, prompting an angry response from one Craigslist user who said they had ruined a “once in a lifetime chance” to see Pope Francis.
