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Fans pay big money for seats at Sweet 16

Posted at 10:17 PM, Mar 23, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-24 08:59:04-04

Kansas City ticket scalpers walked away from the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament with heavy pockets. 

Tickets cost $150 at face value, but sold out long before the games in Kansas City on Thursday. 

Many fans from all four universities, Michigan, Oregon, Purdue and Kansas, paid a hefty price to get a seat inside the Sprint Center. 

"Literally the second after we finished, I got online," said Michigan fan Josh Schechter, after his team upset Louisville. "I had to look for a ticket and I just made it happen, I had to do it."

Schechter paid $1,200 for his ticket. 

Oregon fan Jocie Bogdanoff paid over $250. 

"Money was not important, we wanted to be here," she said. 

KU fan Lesley Friskel and her husband splurged and brought tickets for the whole family. 

"If you are a Jayhawk fan, you kind of can't miss it," she said. "When will it be in KC again?"

Plenty of fans tried to get tickets on the sidewalk outside the arena, but couldn't cut a deal with scalpers. 

Many told 41 Action News the going rate was between $300 and $400 per ticket. 

"We're looking to spend probably $175," said Brady Rockers. “We're big KU fans, but we're not looking to spend more than $200."

Missouri lawmakers are discussing ways to stop this kind of money making. 

The House is in the process of finalizing a bill that would punish people who use computer programs to buy tickets in bulk with the sole purpose of reselling them for a higher price. 

Only a handful of states have a similar law in place.