Rotten Ticket Policy

[FairView]

Given the many issues my wife and I now have in our lives, we can't get to nearly as many games as we'd like -- so the games we can get to live are special treats. Today we were finally able to make some scheduling decisions and buy a mini plan for the XL Center. We picked the Baylor game and got pretty decent seats, considering we're buying on December 9: 203 Row N. The other two games we can make -- Villanova and Pittsburgh, are considerably worse seats ... Section 219 for both, Row N and Row J. If I go to Ticketmaster, however, I can get much better seats for Villanova and Pittsburgh by buying two tickets to each game individually.

It stinks that in order to see the Baylor game, I am forced to get crappier seats to two other games. Is that any way to reward someone who commits to three games? Is this a strategy to fill the less than desirable seats, knowing there is a better chance of selling individual game tickets with the better seats? Why not the best available for all games?

When we used to buy season tickets to the Civic Center, we got crappy seats behind the basket and we were happy. We knew we had no points, so no clout, and we were happy to be part of the action. And if we ever get to the point where we can buy season tix again, we'll feel the same way. But pushing crappier seats in the plan, when you're assigned different seats for each game anyway, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Okay, now that I vented, I feel a little better. But I still think it sucks. Can I say sucks or do I need to say stinks?

 

[ju6381]

Given the many issues my wife and I now have in our lives, we can't get to nearly as many games as we'd like -- so the games we can get to live are special treats. Today we were finally able to make some scheduling decisions and buy a mini plan for the XL Center. We picked the Baylor game and got pretty decent seats, considering we're buying on December 9: 203 Row N. The other two games we can make -- Villanova and Pittsburgh, are considerably worse seats ... Section 219 for both, Row N and Row J. If I go to Ticketmaster, however, I can get much better seats for Villanova and Pittsburgh by buying two tickets to each game individually.

It stinks that in order to see the Baylor game, I am forced to get crappier seats to two other games. Is that any way to reward someone who commits to three games? Is this a strategy to fill the less than desirable seats, knowing there is a better chance of selling individual game tickets with the better seats? Why not the best available for all games?

When we used to buy season tickets to the Civic Center, we got crappy seats behind the basket and we were happy. We knew we had no points, so no clout, and we were happy to be part of the action. And if we ever get to the point where we can buy season tix again, we'll feel the same way. But pushing crappier seats in the plan, when you're assigned different seats for each game anyway, just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Okay, now that I vented, I feel a little better. But I still think it sucks. Can I say sucks or do I need to say stinks?

That freakin' sucks!!!

 

[hoopsdiva]

I have had the same experience, and I totally agree. This year is the first and last time I'll ever go with the mini plan.

 

[Sargassoc]

The whole ticket thing is a farce. For the tenth year, I have bought the entire season tickets at the XL Center. In the day, I agree-- you'd take what you got because the place was sold out. Now, so many empty seats. . . . perhaps they're sold corporate seats, but I'm not convinced.

So far, though, I have just been moving down into empty seats. Obviously this won't work for Baylor-- but at least you could try it for the other two. No one has stopped me yet (though I still get nervous).

 

[cabbie191]

Living in Wisconsin, I have to content myself with seeing the Huskies when they are at Marquette. Most, but not all years, I do not have an option to just buy tickets only for the UConn game if I want to buy well in advance and make sure I can get a seat - I need to also buy tickets for other games. That might not be so bad if I lived near Milwaukee but I'm clear on the other side of the state, an almost 5 hour drive if the weather is good.

This year I'm holding out - if a single game ticket isn't available, I be listening via my computer!

 

[semper]

I sometimes go over to the gym late in the game and watch a bit of the end from out in the hall. ND women's games sell out completely, and way early in the season, and as a UConn fan, there is only one game I REALLY want to see, and there is not a snowball's chance of getting a ticket. When there is a women's game, you can't get near the place; all the streets are clogged, etc.

 

[freekimchee]

Living in Wisconsin, I have to content myself with seeing the Huskies when they are at Marquette. Most, but not all years, I do not have an option to just buy tickets only for the UConn game if I want to buy well in advance and make sure I can get a seat - I need to also buy tickets for other games. That might not be so bad if I lived near Milwaukee but I'm clear on the other side of the state, an almost 5 hour drive if the weather is good.

This year I'm holding out - if a single game ticket isn't available, I be listening via my computer!

I was told that single game ticket for the Huskies at Marquette game on Jan 12th will be available for purchase Dec 10th. I just checked their site and it's still not up...

 

[Sargassoc]

I was told that single game ticket for the Huskies at Marquette game on Jan 12th will be available for purchase Dec 10th. I just checked their site and it's still not up...

TicketNetwork has Marquette tickets.

And, for the sake of musing: I wonder if it's just not more expedient (but also riskier, I get that) to go to Stubhub (which I do not like) or TicketsNow (which I like) or TicketNetwork to get the single tickets people want.

(In my next life, I will be a ticket broker/reseller. I'll bet mileage to all venues is a qualified business expense! And maybe even tickets losses are deductible. . . )

 

[Sonny44]

And they wonder why attendance is poor!

 

[cabbie191]

Free: Thanks for the tip!

The first games I went to at Marquette about half the seats were filled. Last year they were close to a sell out. But as I've posted here previously, tickets at Marquette even when priced higher for top teams like UConn are still a fraction of what Connecticut charges.

 

[sarals24]

I had a pretty bad experience with tickets at A&M....on their website they have "ticketless" tickets, where you can supposedly present the credit card you paid with, they scan it and give you your tickets. I even called the ticket office to make sure I didn't have to bring tickets, and they told me no. In fact, there wasn't even a confirmation page to print out, just a screen with the confirmation that I had paid. (no seat numbers, etc)


So I drive the three plus hours from Dallas to get there an hour before tip-off, because I wanted to see the warmups, etc. I get there about 45 minutes before the games, and no joke, there were lines out the door. The "ticketing" system of course wasn't working, so everyone who had used it had to wait in line to get tickets printed at will call. This took almost 30 minutes in line. Then I had to wait in line for another 5-10 minutes to get my tickets scanned, because apparently the scanners at the doors were broken. So I missed all the warmups and made it in time for intros and tip off.

Good news? I moved down about 20 rows so I was really close to the UConn huddle. Bad news? The announcer that shouted "AGGIES BALL" every five seconds and the couple next to me who tried to get me to stand up for the Aggie fight song despite my UConn tshirt. Oh Aggies.