Red Sox to launch official ticket resale website

Fans of the Boston Red Sox will have a new platform to buy and sell tickets for the 2016 season.

The club announced Tuesday it's collaborating with tickets.com and Major League Baseball Advanced Media on a service called "Red Sox Replay" that will give the team nearly full control of the secondary market for Fenway Park tickets. The service is scheduled to launch March 1.

Team president Sam Kennedy explained in a press release that the site is designed to offer buyers and sellers a more secure experience, stating Red Sox Replay "guarantees buyers the authenticity of their purchase and allows users to work directly with the Red Sox to resolve any customer service issues, which is not always possible with a third party vendor."

According to the site, buyers will be charged a 15 percent transaction fee plus a five-dollar processing fee per order. Sellers, meanwhile, will be charged a 10 percent transaction fee, but that number is reduced to five percent for season ticket holders and can be applied as a credit towards renewals for the next season.

Tickets will start at a minimum 30 percent of face value, according to Eric Fisher of the SportsBusiness Journal.

Along with safer transactions, the service's digital process also does away with printed paper tickets, an initiative also being implemented by Boston's division rivals, the New York Yankees. In a move aimed at fighting fraud and counterfeit tickets, fans will require physical passes or a mobile barcode to attend Yankee Stadium, according to Fisher.