Sports Broker Pleads Guilty to Theft
Dec. 11, 2020 – A hospitality agent who fraudulently solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors to buy and sell tickets and amenities to the NFL Super Bowl, the Masters Golf Tournament and other top sporting events pled guilty Thursday to felony theft of property, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.
Defendant Rick Barlow, 53, received a sentence of 20 years on two counts of theft over $60,000. On Jan. 5, he is scheduled to begin serving two years in prison without the possibility for release, while the remaining 18 years will be suspended.
After his release from prison, he will be placed on supervised probation for 24 years, and will be required to make restitution of more than $700,000 to 13 victims.
According to investigators, between June of 2012 and April of 2019 Barlow held himself out as a high-end corporate hospitality agent and sports event broker who purported to buy and sell event packages for a profit, and promised investors a significant return on their investment in addition to the return of the principal invested.
He did business under a variety of names, including Barlow Sports and Entertainment, Game Day Partners, On Demand Hospitality and Geauxforit Hospitality.
On many occasions Barlow signed agreements with investors promising to use their funds for packages that included badges and rental homes for the Masters Golf Tournament, courtside seats and 30-person VIP suites for the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament, and similar packages for golf’s Ryder Cup, NCAA football BCS games, the Rose Bowl, and the Kentucky Derby.
Instead, Barlow used the funds for his personal benefit to pay debts and expenses, including those incurred from gambling trips to Las Vegas. In many instances, he used money from one victim to repay another, often as a means to solicit additional investments from the victims. Investigators concluded that Barlow had solicited some $1.3 million from the victims during his scheme.
The case was handled by Asst. Dist. Atty. Dennis Johnson of the District Attorney’s Public Corruption and Economic Crimes Unit.