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Intrust Bank Arena: Misrepresenting Camera Policy Or Incompetent?

No Photography Permitted

Last week, the wife and I went to see Cirque Du Soleil CRYSTAL at Intrust Bank Arena, and the show itself was amazing, but the arena’s actions were not. I booked front row tickets based upon information about the camera policy, small point and shoot, no detachable lenses, no flash, which turned out to be false.

I booked tickets for the show for October 26, 2018, on May 24, 2018, however, before ordering online, I called Intrust Bank Arena to ask if the camera policy on the website was correct, which they verbally confirmed was correct. Furthermore, I was sent an Email with information about the show from the arena via Select-A-Seat on 10/24, which stated the same camera policy, as outlined in the first paragraph.

The camera policy was further confirmed during check in with security at the Arena, the security guy checked my camera to make sure it did not have a detachable lens and he reminded me that flash photography is not allowed. So, this is four separate sources that said my camera was OK to use, the arena website, an arena staff member via telephone, an Email from the arena and finally, arena security.

The wife and I were sat in our $310 front row seats, and I’m taking test shots, to optimize for the lighting conditions with my Sony RX100V, when a male usher came over and told me, along with a few other people that no photography was allowed, not no flash photography, but straight up NO PHOTOGRAPHY. Of course, that pissed me off, I had booked those specific tickets for an unobstructed view for photos.

This experience has left a very sour taste in my mouth. It’s not so much that I was not allowed to take photos, it was that it was not made clear that photography was prohibited. In fact, it was the complete opposite, everyone up to the point of me taking my seat and actually taking photos, said it would be absolutely fine for me to take photos using the Sony RX100V camera I took to Intrust Bank Arena.

I felt like standing up and causing a scene, but I stayed quiet, as I didn’t want to ruin my wife’s or other patrons night due to Intrust’s misinformation, but it tarnished my experience, as all I could think was “that would have been a good shot” throughout the performance. If I was using a flash, I would have no complaints, but I made sure that all external forward facing illumination was off and rear screen dimmed.

This has pissed me off so badly, that after Metallica in March 2019, which I had booked seven months ago, I’d rather travel to Kansas City or Oklahoma City to see shows than give any more of my money to Intrust Bank Arena. Adding subject to change to the camera policy does not apply when an Email two days before the show and event security confirm the camera policy as outlined in the first paragraph.

The only question is; was this willful misinformation about the camera policy by Intrust Bank Arena, or gross incompetence on the part of arena staff, or just an overzealous usher? Regardless of which option was the case, I feel cheated by Intrust Bank Arena, I bought these top price tickets and was not able to use them as I expected to be able to based upon the camera policy at the time of ticket purchase.

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