As some of you may know, we’ve had multiple incidents this year involving people in the River End who bought tickets on StubHub or other third-party ticket marketplaces. Often these people either bought the tickets because they’re cheap and are upset when they find out it’s a standing, singing section. Worse, some of them want to be in the River End because they think they can get away with disruptive or even racist behavior.

We understand that season tickets are expensive, and that not every fan can make every game. With that in mind, we want to clarify the rules on StubHub and similar services.

1) We strongly encourage fans with extra tickets to try to sell them to a fellow SoB first. There is a thread for this purpose on BigSoccer and we are planning to implement a ticket-matching feature on our website for the 2012 season if possible.

2) If you sell your tickets to non-SoBs, you must tell them that the seats are in the supporters’ section and what that means: no opposing colors, no racism, no violence, no complaining if the fans in front of them are standing up and the fans behind them are singing an off-color song. If you sell to non-SoBs, you will be held responsible for Code of Conduct violations by those using your seats.

3) Selling River End tickets to strangers without informing them of the rules and requirements for standing in the supporters’ section is a violation of Rule 3 of the Code of Conduct, whether in person or on the internet. It is not fair to those buying the tickets, and it is not fair to those sharing the section with them. Anyone who does so will be subject to penalties that may include losing their Sons of Ben membership.