Getting Tickets to Sports Events

[Katie1]

Just wondering if it's as tough to get sports tickets elsewhere in the US as it is in Boston. We have four teams: Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins. If you aren't lucky enough to get Red Sox or Patriots tickets as soon as they go on sale for the season, you are pretty much out of luck. They do sell a limited number of Sox tickets the day of the game but you have to get there super early and wait around. Pretty much the only way I've ever gotten into a Red Sox game is when I've been lucky enough to know someone who won tickets or through friends of friends wth season tickets. I think it is a bit easier to get Celtics or Bruins tickets but I'm not sure.


Does this happen everywhere? I sort of understand with football because they play so few games in a season, but the baseball season is at least five months long and they are playing every single day, seems like there should be enough tickets for everyone. Are you able to buy sports tickets throughout the season in your city, or do they sell out right away?

[IrishEyes]

It depends on the team.

Here in Baltimore, the Orioles (baseball) have had 8 or 9 losing seasons. It's easy to get tickets to a game, unless they're playing the Yankees or Red Sox, because their fans come down and buy up all the tickets.

If you want to see the Ravens (football), who have been pretty successful the past 5 years, the tickets remaining after season tickets and group sales are bought up are next to nil. They sell out in 10 minutes every year and most of the tickets available are only singles.

[Kristy]

I live in Indianapolis, so the only thing people really want to see is the Colts. We have season tickets, but the wait list for them is 2 years +, and they sell out of the few tickets they have available very quickly. A new, bigger stadium is being built to open next year, so it'll be interesting to see how that affects it.

[Katie1]

Thanks bellefior- I didn't know that about the lottery. We are moving out of Mass this fall but I will make sure my parents enter it next year.

The reason this is on my mind today is that DH called and said a friend got tickets at the last minute and he's going to the Sox game tonight. I was jealous b/c I have been wanting to go to a game all season, he doesn't care about baseball at all (grew up in Ireland where they don't play it, and he doesn't even understand the sport), and I can't see myself getting to a game now before we move away.

Anyway, it just started pouring rain and I'm guessing the game will be called off. I am a terrible, terrible person because I'm secretly happy now!

Here's another question for you all: If someone has tickets and gives them away because they can't make it to the game, and then the game is rained out and rescheduled, should the tickets to the rescheduled game be given back to the original person, or does the person who was given them get to keep them anyway?

[SweetRed]

Here's another question for you all: If someone has tickets and gives them away because they can't make it to the game, and then the game is rained out and rescheduled, should the tickets to the rescheduled game be given back to the original person, or does the person who was given them get to keep them anyway?

I'd say if the tickets are given away, they're given away. But then we know there are special rules for Red Sox fans...

I've actually had several people tell me it was cheaper and easier for them to buy airline tickets on Southwest airlines, fly to Baltimore, and watch a Sox game there than it was to buy Sox tickets at Fenway, find and pay for parking, etc. That's crazy!

[kalogrias]

Wow, I had no idea things had gotten so crazy in Boston recently! I used to live there, and I managed to get to about 5 Red Sox games/year. Usually bleacher seats, but that's fine...the only games I ever had trouble with were the Yankees games (where I think you probably have to be a season ticket holder or God to get a seat anyway)...

[nylons73]

I've found that if you are willing to pay, almost any ticket is attainable.

Currently on www.stubhub.com, for tomorrow's Red Sox game (vs. the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) there are 17+ tickets for sale. Some of them are pricey, but like I said, if you are willing to pay, there is always a way to get in. ;)

[JenniferEC]

I live in Cincinnati, home to the Reds and Bengals. Other than Opening Day and the series vs Cleveland, Reds tickets are pretty easy to come by. The Reds haven't had a winning season in a while so there are always seats to buy. The Bengals tickets are tougher to get, but once they blow the season you can get tickets.

[imagirliegirl]

I was also going to recommend stubhub.com. We get a lot of tickets from there.

[Rosebud]

Yeah, getting Red Sox tickets is pretty crazy. Every time we go back to Boston to visit we have to get tickets on eBay for some ridiculous sum. Boy do I miss those $8 bleachers seats in college! When the Sox come west the games are always crazy sold out here as well. I finally gave up on tickets when they played the Padres this year because the prices online were just silly. Sadly, when a team with a fan base like the Sox is hot, you gotta pay through the nose for seats.

You can always get Dodgers tickets. Not a problem at all. (shocking!)

[TerpsFan]

I've actually had several people tell me it was cheaper and easier for them to buy airline tickets on Southwest airlines, fly to Baltimore, and watch a Sox game there than it was to buy Sox tickets at Fenway, find and pay for parking, etc. That's crazy!

Yes, come on down and spend your money in Baltimore!! We'd love to have ya! :D

[karlatta]

We don't have a problem at all getting tickets for Astros or Rockets. We often decide the day of the game that we want to go and we're able to get whatever kind of seats we want.

(I have heard that it's more difficult to get Texans tickets, but we don't do football, so we don't know about that.)

[IrishEyes]

Yes, come on down and spend your money in Baltimore!! We'd love to have ya!

What??? No we don't! We want O's fans in those seats, not Sox fans!

note: I know that O's fans aren't going to games right now because they keep losing, but it does irk me (and lots of people and the team) that during Red Sox and Yankee games @ Baltimore the visiting team has more people rooting for them than the home team.

[taraw]

What??? No we don't! We want O's fans in those seats, not Sox fans!

note: I know that O's fans aren't going to games right now because they keep losing, but it does irk me (and lots of people and the team) that during Red Sox and Yankee games @ Baltimore the visiting team has more people rooting for them than the home team.

I know what you mean, at the Rockies games there are often more fans for the visiting team and it sucks!

Here in Colorado, it is very difficult to get tickets to the Broncos. I have season tickets but I know the waiting list for them is several years. Very few are sold at the box office. Avalanche tickets are easier to come by, but they are usually quite expensive. They do sell out rather quickly, but because they have so many home games in a season, you can get tickets. Rockies tickets are the easiest to get and you can usually even get tickets the day of the game.

[TerpsFan]

What??? No we don't! We want O's fans in those seats, not Sox fans!

note: I know that O's fans aren't going to games right now because they keep losing, but it does irk me (and lots of people and the team) that during Red Sox and Yankee games @ Baltimore the visiting team has more people rooting for them than the home team.

Not going to turn this into an O's bashing thread, but until Angelos decides to spend some money, there will continue to be more Sox and Yankees butts in those seats on those games. As a city, I think it's great with all the $ pouring into our restaurants and hotels from their visits. Also, it makes people WANT to come to Baltimore...wow, what a concept from 20 years ago! I guess I don't really have a problem with the out of town baseball fans since we can still easily get tix when we want them. What really makes my blood boil is Ravens fans who sell their home game tix to Steeler and Bengal fans. Seeing those stupid terrible towels in M&T makes me want to vomit. :mad:

[AlenaCal]

In DC, it's very easy to get tickets to the Nationals (baseball), Wizards (b-ball), and Capitals (hockey). It's just not much of a sporting town... except for the Redskins (football). Those are the toughest tickets around! You have to shell out hundreds of dollars, and wait years for season tickets.

[jesseybell]

Back in the 80s it was impossible to get Celtics tickets - we haven't tried recently - maybe this year will be different. Bruins tickets aren't that hard to get, are they? Though DH always gets them the day they go on sale since he is a Canadians fan and those ones sell out.

We have Patriots season tickets DH's family has had them since the early 90s. We have friends that spend hundreds of dollars to get tickets, and even then they have to buy pre-season tickets too which sucks (we have to buy pre-season tickets too which is a pain). They bought tickets off e-bay once but their tickets were rejected at the door because while theres were legit, there were fake e-bays tickets for that games so they rejected all e-bay tickets. Now that stubhub it the legit way to go, I would try them.

Red Sox are impossible! We manage to get to 1 game a season, from work or someone we know. Back in 2003 I spend 6 hours on line on the day they went on sale to get tickets for an early season game. Never again - I love going, but spending that much time on line just wasn't worth it.

It was great this past weekend during the Orioles game - if we were out of the room and there was a ton of cheering, it was hard to tell if the RS or the Os did something good. I know a lot of people who go down to Baltimore as the only way to see them.

[MrsT]

I think it depends on the team AND the venue. In otherwords, good teams are harder to get tix for (or teams with a good loyal fan base) and also teams that play less or in smaller venues are harder to get tickets for (hockey arenas tend to be smaller, etc.). Also, the location of the venue might have something to do with it. In Boston, at least for the Red Sox, Fenway is in the city and so easy for people to get to. (The one game I've been to we scalped tickets - which you can always do for any game anywhere really!) I know in Denver, Broncos tix are super hard - season tickets are passed down through generations.

I live in the Dallas area and it's hard to get a ticket to a Cowboys game (usually have to get it through another party) We've always been able to get basketball tickets (though as the Mavs got better it's gotten harder - especially when they play a good team - like my Spurs :p) and Rangers tickets are easy (they NEVER sell out their games). I haven't been to a Stars game but know that those tickets are usually harder too. Basically, Texas loves football - so the Cowboys tix will be hard to find. The Mavs are "cool" right now, so tix are harder to come by. The Rangers suck, and the ballpark is in Arlington - far away from the city (too inconvenient), so tickets are easy.

Dallas is a very fair weather fan kind of city (in general) and the worse the team, the easier it is to get tix (with the exception of the Cowboys).

[karlatta]

Basically, Texas loves football - so the Cowboys tix will be hard to find.
I checked earlier tonight and there were still tickets to the Cowboys game in Houston when they play the Texans. I bet for some people, that will be the easiest way for them to see the Cowboys.

[May27JnJ]

I'm trying to find tickets to the Dallas-Carolina game!

[imagirliegirl]

Have you tried Stub Hub? We bought playoff tickets and all sorts of hard to get tickets there. Granted, it's nothing more than online scalping, so it's expensive but worth it if you want them bad enough! :)

[jennylou]

You can always get Dodgers tickets. Not a problem at all. (shocking!)

To be fair, Dodger Stadium is MASSIVE. The newer, smaller parks don't even compare. :)Of course, the newer stadiums are much nicer. ;) I love my boys in blue, even if they do choke year after year after the all star game. :p

As for Cleveland, where I am now, here's the breakdown:

Cavs - harder these days, but only since LeBron James has been around and the Cavs have been playing well. Five years ago? Easy peasy, they were constantly GIVING the seats away.

Indians - they're hot right now, so you can forget about it. That said, despite having a not so hot few seasons, they still sold out every game for years and years. The last few seasons, it's not hard to get tickets.

Browns - These are harder to come by, I think because there are only so many games per season. That said, if they're doing lousy by the end of the season, with no hopes, people get more generous and start offering up their season tickets. I mean, who wants to sit outside when it's snowing and -20 with the windchill for a team who is going to be slaughtered? ;)

[lauren f s]

I've used Stub Hub several times before and have always been very pleased with them.

I live in Dallas and it's HARD to get tickets. Or good tickets, I should say. DH's birthday is today and he really wanted tickets to a Cowboy's game. The best ones I could find were nosebleed seats starting at $100 a ticket on Stub Hub and I'm not paying that much for bad seats. But we lucked out and my dad got two tickets to luxury suite to Sunday's game through work and took DH! I think the same goes with the Mavericks, you can get the cheap seats easy, but you have to pay more for the good ones. Not sure about Stars; I've been to two games but my dad gave DH & I the tickets so they were good and free. Rangers tickets are easy to get and cheap, lol. My entire office went to a game last summer and we were right next to the dugout and paid next to nothing.

[lawyergirl25]

I live in Columbus, home of the NHL's Blue Jackets. So no problem there.

Now, I'm a die-hard Packer fan and have only ever gotten tickets through family connections. I've been in the high 40,000s on the season ticket waiting list forever!

[May27JnJ]

Yeah I want to go the Carolina game so it's not a Dallas home game. Plus we can drive there from VA. *sigh* Maybe not this year.

[MrsBeckyLP]

Now, I'm a die-hard Packer fan and have only ever gotten tickets through family connections. I've been in the high 40,000s on the season ticket waiting list forever!

Go Pack Go! 4-0 Baby! (DH and I have season tickets that were passed down through his family. I tell people that's why I married him. I'm only half kidding.;))

For those who don't know, in Green Bay, tickets never "go on sale." Lambeau Field has actually been sold out on a season ticket basis since 1960. The entire stadium is filled with season ticket holders, and the waiting list for season tickets has over 70,000 people on it. Sure you can buy tickets through events promotions companies or from scalpers on gameday, but they'll usually cost you. I've never had a problem finding tickets (even before I met DH) because we have family friends whose business has a ton, but I've heard that some people have a very difficult time finding them. It's all about who you know, I guess. Needless to say, our child is going on the waiting list as soon as he/she is born!

Now the Brewers and Bucks? That's another story ... tickets aplenty! :rolleyes:

[lawyergirl25]

Now the Brewers and Bucks? That's another story ... tickets aplenty! :rolleyes:
Except when you're in a playoff run! Had to stand through Sunday's Brewers game (only SRO tix left, even though they were out of contention by then).


Go Pack Go! 4-0 Baby!
Shhhhhhhhhhhh! *knocks on wood*

(I'm very superstitious about my Packers. I was out of town opening weekend and missed the game. I haven't actually watched a game or put on my Favre jersey yet this season because I don't want to jinx them. :rolleyes: )

[MrsBeckyLP]

Shhhhhhhhhhhh! *knocks on wood*

(I'm very superstitious about my Packers. I was out of town opening weekend and missed the game. I haven't actually watched a game or put on my Favre jersey yet this season because I don't want to jinx them. :rolleyes: )

Oh, you better keep "not watching" then! And don't put on that jersey either!

(And I love how you call them "my Packers." I call Donald Driver "my Donald." :rolleyes: LOVE him!