LOS ANGELES — Amid overwhelming demand for tickets to Michael Jackson’s memorial service, officials on Friday warned those who do not win a seat to Tuesday morning’s event to stay away as police planned a massive deployment around the arena.
A total of 17,500 free tickets will be distributed to people selected at random after registering by 6 p.m. today at www.staplescenter.com, the Web site for the Staples Center arena in downtown Los Angeles. So many people tried to register for the lottery that the Web site’s server briefly crashed Friday as the ticketing process was announced. A spokesman for the Jackson family said the site had received 500 million hits within the first hour.
Seeking to discourage throngs, officials stressed that there would be no funeral procession and that no one would be allowed inside a large perimeter unless they had a ticket and a wristband, a media credential, or could prove they live or work there.
“You must have a ticket to be admitted to the venue,” Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger told a news conference outside Staples Center attended by journalists from around the globe. “There’s no way to get to this venue if you don’t have a ticket.”
Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive of AEG, the company that owns and operates Staples Center and was producing Jackson’s comeback concerts in London, emphasized that the service will be carried live on television and the Internet. Further details about the memorial service were being finalized, he said.
Jackson family publicist Ken Sunshine said the event itself — as well as the distribution of tickets — is being orchestrated with the fans in mind. “Everything about the memorial has to do with the fans,” Sunshine said.
Staples Center, site of Jackson’s last rehearsal, can hold as many as 20,000 people, depending on its configuration.
Organizers plan to select 8,750 names at random from the list of people who register on the Staples Center Web site; those selected will be notified between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday and told where to go on Monday to pick up two tickets and wristbands guaranteeing them seats at the event. Of the 17,500 tickets available, 11,000 are for the Staples Center and 6,500 are for Nokia Theatre, located across the street, where the service will be shown on a jumbo screen.
The remainder of the tickets will be given to “family, and friends of the family, for their use,” Sunshine said.
Leiweke and Sunshine emphasized that they do not want anyone to try to scalp tickets.
“We’re hoping people have dignity,” Leiweke said.
“Those who would take advantage of this, shame on them.”
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