Free tickets will be given away through a lottery

Organizers of Michael Jackson's Tuesday memorial service said Friday that they will give away 17,500 tickets and will randomly draw names from people who register for the service to determine who will attend. The event will be live-streamed on television and on the Internet, and there will be no funeral procession.

Organizers will draw 8,750 names, and those people will receive two tickets each and wristbands on Monday. People can register for the drawing at Staplescenter.com.

No tickets will be sold to the event, organizers said at a news conference this morning at Staples Center.

City Councilwoman Jan Perry told reporters that fans would be better off staying home and watching the proceedings on television.

No details were released on what the memorial service will entail.

People whose names are drawn for the tickets will be notified between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday and given the location where they should go to pick up their tickets.

"There will be no distribution of tickets at Staples Center and L.A. Live," said Tim Lieweke, president and chief executive officer of AEG, the company that owns and operates Staples Center and was producing Jackson's comeback concerts.

Los Angeles Police Department Asst. Chief Earl Paysinger said, "You must have a ticket to be admitted to the venue. There's no way to get to this venue if you don't have a ticket."

Officials said the services will be live-streamed on the Internet and will not be shown on any of the large screens at the L.A. Live complex adjacent to Staples Center. Those without proper security identification or tickets will not be allowed within a few blocks of the arena.

Ken Sunshine, a spokesman for the Jackson family, and Lieweke emphasized that they do not want anyone to try to scalp tickets.

"Those who would take advantage of this, shame on them," Lieweke said.