There had been some discussion earlier about attempting to attend the Final Four/Championship without a ticket in hand. I did so and have in the past such I will share a summary of that experience for others who try to go to events with difficult-to-get tickets.
I flew to San Antonio Sunday and then Ubered down to the Alamodome for the Championship game. Full disclosure - I've done similar for the Women's championship at different locales with success and also World Series, Men's Final Fours, NBA Finals, Super Bowl such I am used to the routine.
Things are VERY different now in the electronic only ticket era - much harder, especially if you don't want to pay the premium from a Stubhub type secondary seller.
I arrived about 90 minutes prior to the game and walked around for a feel of the market. There were ZERO traditional scalpers/brokers - "need a ticket, sell a ticket" type guys. I saw only 2 other people looking for singles, they were both fairly passive in their approach although the male had a cardboard sign.
My approach is more active wearing a high viz cap, flashing bike light, printed sign and actively walking up/down the lines saying, "Hi folks, any chance you an extra ticket from a no-show?".
This worked fairly quickly as 3 women from Utah saw my sign/light and came over to talk and we quickly agreed for a below face value deal. This is much more complicated than in the paper ticket days as her tickets were in her Google Wallet app on her phone such that I accompanied them through the outside turnstile, where she had to scan her phone for each of us separately, and then again on the inside.
Prior to going in we walked around outside as they wanted me to take souvenir photos of them on their respective phones of the event/venue - which we did for probably 30 minutes. During that time I saw NO other sellers or buyers.
Neither the police nor the Alamodome officials were troubled by myself/others ticket seeking attempts (not true everywhere), although it is VERY important to be polite and say please/thank you and NOT accost anyone in a any way threatening.
The area was VERY safe - as ticket seekers often have a pocket full of cash and at many venues this makes you a target.
The crowd was generally cordial - even the Arizona fans who chided me a bit.
Not a fan of huge venues for basketball viewing and I'm attaching a couple photos to give an idea of the inside. The women I was with said the Dome had limited sales to 17% of capacity - it was nowhere near that, maybe 7-8% as the photos show.
Odd - the next day I flew to Dallas for Opening Day of the Rangers new ballpark, Globe Life Field. Sold out, full house near 50,000 with the drunk guy behind me leaning forward and breathing on my hair. So much for Social Distancing and for uniform attendance policy even within the same state.
All in, it is still possible to get a ticket to stuff (Mohegan is a breeze), but much more difficult in the electronic only ticket era (Rangers were MLB app only and no cash for any concessions). Important to be considerate and stay safe as, depending on where, it can be a dangerous hobby.
P.S. - actually a better memory if your team makes it to the Championship Game.
I flew to San Antonio Sunday and then Ubered down to the Alamodome for the Championship game. Full disclosure - I've done similar for the Women's championship at different locales with success and also World Series, Men's Final Fours, NBA Finals, Super Bowl such I am used to the routine.
Things are VERY different now in the electronic only ticket era - much harder, especially if you don't want to pay the premium from a Stubhub type secondary seller.
I arrived about 90 minutes prior to the game and walked around for a feel of the market. There were ZERO traditional scalpers/brokers - "need a ticket, sell a ticket" type guys. I saw only 2 other people looking for singles, they were both fairly passive in their approach although the male had a cardboard sign.
My approach is more active wearing a high viz cap, flashing bike light, printed sign and actively walking up/down the lines saying, "Hi folks, any chance you an extra ticket from a no-show?".
This worked fairly quickly as 3 women from Utah saw my sign/light and came over to talk and we quickly agreed for a below face value deal. This is much more complicated than in the paper ticket days as her tickets were in her Google Wallet app on her phone such that I accompanied them through the outside turnstile, where she had to scan her phone for each of us separately, and then again on the inside.
Prior to going in we walked around outside as they wanted me to take souvenir photos of them on their respective phones of the event/venue - which we did for probably 30 minutes. During that time I saw NO other sellers or buyers.
Neither the police nor the Alamodome officials were troubled by myself/others ticket seeking attempts (not true everywhere), although it is VERY important to be polite and say please/thank you and NOT accost anyone in a any way threatening.
The area was VERY safe - as ticket seekers often have a pocket full of cash and at many venues this makes you a target.
The crowd was generally cordial - even the Arizona fans who chided me a bit.
Not a fan of huge venues for basketball viewing and I'm attaching a couple photos to give an idea of the inside. The women I was with said the Dome had limited sales to 17% of capacity - it was nowhere near that, maybe 7-8% as the photos show.
Odd - the next day I flew to Dallas for Opening Day of the Rangers new ballpark, Globe Life Field. Sold out, full house near 50,000 with the drunk guy behind me leaning forward and breathing on my hair. So much for Social Distancing and for uniform attendance policy even within the same state.
All in, it is still possible to get a ticket to stuff (Mohegan is a breeze), but much more difficult in the electronic only ticket era (Rangers were MLB app only and no cash for any concessions). Important to be considerate and stay safe as, depending on where, it can be a dangerous hobby.
P.S. - actually a better memory if your team makes it to the Championship Game.
