Legal Question: What is in Those Drawers?

This week’s question is from Julia via the form. I am answering it because it made me laugh. I hope it is based on a real experience.

Julia asks:

Hypothetically, if you attended a Stars or Mavs game and at the end of the night stowed away in one of the large empty drawers in the merch shop (which do appear big enough for a small adult human) what could/would you be charged with? What if the tickets were a gift or work perk that you didn't purchase yourself?

Thanks for asking, Julia!

I have never noticed this myself when visiting the American Airlines Center, but I’m definitely going to check it out the next time I’m there. Whether the drawers are human-size or not, stowing away inside one after hours would be a crime.

You could be charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass. The law is found in Texas Penal Code §30.05. That law states that it is a crime if you “enter or remain” on the property of another person including “a building” without the effective consent of the person – which includes when you receive notice to depart but fail to do so.

I don’t have a Mavs or Stars ticket handy, but I do have an old ticket from seeing Billie Eilish at the American Airlines Center where those teams play. On the back of the ticket, it reads in part:

This ticket is a revocable license and may be taken up and admission refused upon refunding the purchase price.

This is the same for any concert or sporting event. When you buy your ticket, you have purchased a limited revocable license. That means the owner of the property is allowing you to be on a specific portion of their property for a specific reason and for a limited period of time. At the end of the game or show, they herd everybody out into the streets. If you refuse to be herded and instead stow away in a large, empty drawer in the merch shop, that pretty much fits the bill of refusing to leave, making it textbook criminal trespass.

Criminal trespass is a Class B misdemeanor, unless you were carrying a weapon, in which case it’s enhanced to a Class A. Since there are metal detectors at the entry, I can’t imagine you’d be packing heat in your drawer heist. For a Class B misdemeanor, penalties include a fine of no more than $2,000 and/or up to 180 days in a county jail.

Even though you could be charged, would you be charged? That’s a different question. If you didn’t wreck anything while you were in there, you’d probably get a slap on the wrist and maybe go viral if you filmed it. Plus, the owners of the AAC may ask for your help on beefing up security since they would likely wonder how you managed to climb into a drawer and shut yourself in without anyone noticing.

That being said, I wouldn’t recommend it. Drawers are tricky and can sometimes get stuck.

As for whether the ticket was a gift or work perk that you didn’t buy yourself, it doesn’t matter for the purposes of your question. You, as holder of the ticket, were subject to that same limited revocable license. Once the time of the event ends, you’re still required to leave.

There is a whole emerging area of sports law exploring the question of whether a sports ticket is property you’re entitled to resell or whether it is a mere license to attend, meaning the grantor (sports team) can restrict your ability to resell it. People have written extensively on the subject and argued for an expansion of the rights of ticket holders.

[[ Tangentially related, do y’all remember when Creed got sued by concert attendees because their 2003 show in Chicago sucked so bad? It was a Creed concert – what did they expect? ]]

Anyway, since tickets are revocable licenses, courts tend to favor the idea that the grantor of the license (AAC, the Mavs, the concert promoters, etc.) can impose resale restrictions and revoke the license at any time or for any reason. Since your sneaky acts would occur after the license ended, you’d be trespassing whether you bought the ticket yourself or not.

Hope that answers the question! Thanks for asking!

Got a question? Submit it here. They can be legal what-if questions, questions on current events, or questions about the legality of actions in TV shows or movies you’ve seen. I never ever want to answer your personal legal questions, so don't send those. Love you, but I don’t do that.

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This piece first appeared in Sunday Morning Hot Tea. Subscribe so you don’t miss another piece.