College sports ticket scalping has evolved from shady guys clutching money rolls outside the stadium to brokers with 1-800 numbers to slick Internet sites. The teams whose tickets changed hands, of course, didn't see a dime.

But with the proliferation of ticket-resale services, some university athletic departments are adopting a new strategy: If you can't beat 'em, promote 'em.

Colleges increasingly are partnering with ticket-sales businesses or setting up their own resale programs. The shift in philosophy provides athletic departments with a piece of the huge secondary market, helps combat ticket cheats and ensures that more fans will be in the stands.

Although the spread of ticket-buying options makes it easy for sports fans to comparison shop, free-market forces also can drive up prices.

This month, Oregon State agreed to a sponsorship deal with StubHub, an online service that connects secondary ticket buyers and sellers. OSU is one of seven athletic departments partnered with StubHub, based in San Francisco, and the fourth in the Pacific-10 Conference -- the others being USC, Stanford and California.

"We still want Beaver fans to buy their tickets through us directly, because that directly affects us," said Mark Massari, general manager of Beaver Sports Properties, which handles OSU sports sponsorships. "But as long as these guys were out there and they were going to market their services, we figured, why not spend some money with us?"

Security breeds growth

StubHub, and a handful of similar Web sites, acts like other sites that sell goods online -- eBay and craigstlist, for instance. But unlike those sites, StubHub and other ticket-specialty sites guarantee the authenticity and timely arrival of the tickets they help people buy and sell.

The deal works like this: People with tickets post information on the site, naming whatever price they think someone will pay. Prospective buyers can compare the options for an event.

When a transaction is made, the seller pays StubHub a 15 percent surcharge on the sale price -- $115 for a ticket priced at $100, for instance. The buyer of the same ticket pays StubHub a 10 percent surcharge.

StubHub then sends the seller a FedEx envelope with the buyer's address on it. If for some reason the buyer doesn't get what he paid for, or get it on time, the company promises to provide similar or better tickets, or refund the buyer's money. Sources>>>

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