I haven't dealt with this situation at this level before. I am familiar with examples in sports law, where you can be restricted from bringing video equipment to a sporting event, regardless of how much you pay to attend and regardless of who you know participating in the event.
The business rationale is that the event organizers have the opportunity to generate revenue with this practice and allowing others to make recording subverts their efforts. At smaller events, where family dominates attendees, people with video cameras tend to believe they have license to obstruct the view of others and occupy restricted areas to make their recording, disrupting the enjoyment of the event.
The legal right comes from the event coordinator controlling access to the event. If they can control your ability to be there (e.g., ticket, asking people to leave, etc), they can place reasonable restrictions on those to whom they grant access, including prohibiting event recordings.
Answered on Sep 30th, 2013 at 8:47 AM