Sports arenas/stadiums were never the magnets for economic development many said they would be. Maybe ridding anti-scalping laws from the books is the, um, ticket.
At the corner of Washington and Chicago Avenues near the Metrodome, the whir of power tools and smell of fresh paint signaled today's opening of Ticket King's new storefront ticket brokerage.
Up to eight employees will field phone calls, work computers and handle walk-up sales. A similar storefront is scheduled to open in September a slap shot from Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
"People who didn't feel comfortable using a service like ours in the past now can see it as OK and won't feel like they're doing anything wrong," said Ticket King co-owner Brian Obert, who has operated legally out of scalper-safe Hudson, Wis., for years. The Hudson office closes today.