EBay bans Paterno memorial service ticket sales

Mourners pray at Penn State football coach Joe Paterno's public viewing at Penn State University January 24, 2012.

(Reuters) - EBay Inc will not allow the sale of tickets on its site to Joe Paterno's memorial service, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday, even as at least one ticket was listed for auction on the site with a recent bid in excess of $66,000.

"EBay's event ticket resale policy does not allow the sale of tickets to events in which all tickets are free to the public. In accordance with the policy, eBay will not allow the sale of tickets to Joe Paterno's memorial service," an eBay spokeswoman told Reuters in an email.

The public memorial service for Paterno, the legendary former Penn State University football coach who died on Sunday, is scheduled for Thursday in State College, Pennsylvania. The university was issuing tickets for "A Memorial to Joe" for free with a two-ticket per person limit. All tickets have been distributed.

Reuters found a posting for one ticket on eBay on Tuesday afternoon. Three bids had been submitted, the most recent listed as $66,766.66, according to the webpage on the site.

Paterno's family revealed in November that he was suffering from lung cancer, just days after he was fired by the Penn State Board of Trustees for failing to intervene more forcefully when former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was accused of molesting young boys.

(Reporting By Alistair Barr and Dan Burns; editing by Paul Thomasch)