(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The attorney for a ticket broker convicted of reselling free or deeply discounted White Sox tickets on the secondary market contends his client did the team a favor.
Broker Bruce Lee was convicted of 11 counts of wire fraud last October. Prosecutors said he conspired with two employees in the White Sox box office to get free or deeply discounted tickets using codes that for rainouts or promotions.
Lee faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count. The U.S. Attorney's Office is recommending a sentence of 46 to 57 months in prison, according to a pre-sentencing court filing.
The White Sox contend that the scheme cost the team more than $1 million between 2016 and 2019. The team is seeking restitution from Lee.
Lee's attorney contends its impossible to tell how much the scheme cost, due to dynamic pricing used by the White Sox that was tied to demand.
In the filing, attorney Nishay K. Sanan contends the White Sox might have come out ahead.
After a promising start to the 2016 season, the White Sox skidded to another losing record that prompted team management to embark on a rebuild of the roster.
The White Sox lost 95 games in 2017; 100 games in 2018 and 89 games in 2019. White Sox attendance fell along with the team's fortunes, and Sanan contended that the tickets sold by Sanan on StubHub most likely would have gone unsold at the box office.
Sanan also said that the White Sox may even have made money off the arrangement. He said Lee brought 34,846 fans into Guaranteed Rate Field between 2016 and 2018, and that those fans spent more money on concessions around the ballpark.
The filing cites two studies: one that said the average fan spends more than $200 on food, drinks, and concessions and another study that said White Sox fans drink more than any other team in baseball.
That study said White Sox fans spend an average of $46 on alcohol alone.
In addition, Sanan said the White Sox made $52,269 from Lee's ticket sales on StubHub.
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