Ticket buying options Concerts/NBA/MLB

[GemParty]

I remember not too long ago, a concert seat for $150 was reasonable. My wife was looking at Taylor Swift tickets and couldn’t believe what her girlfriends paid a few months ago.

Looked at Boston Celtics tickets yesterday and was pretty shocked. Weeknights, uppers $300. Vs Ave teams.

What apps or places do you find the best results?

Ticketmaster- seams to be the primary source
SeatGeek
Stubhub
Ace
TickPick- has no fees, I guess Sellers don’t make as much, which inturn helps buyers.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

I’ve used Vivid Seats for parking at the Wells Fargo Center and it was pretty competitive. Not sure how it is for actual games.

I also have Gametime downloaded but haven’t used it.

 

[GemParty]

My friends have used Gametime for last minute seats, and had decent luck, which would be great if you lived near an arena, but coming from CT is a little more planned.

 

[Minicoop69]

Taylor Swift tickets aren't unreasonable if you can snag them from her actual sale. The cost is through the roof for resold tickets.

When I went to be final four and champ game in Houston we drove there from Indiana. Swift was in Dallas at ATT stadium that same day. I was able to get tickets there for my wife, daughter, and 2 sister in laws. Tickets were $65 a piece and I bought them on Thursday, 2 days before the actual concert. They weren't the best seats, but for that little it was awesome for them.


Honestly it is really the darn fees from Ticketmaster that throw the price of tickets through the roof.

 

[ctkaiser]

I’ve used Vivid Seats for parking at the Wells Fargo Center and it was pretty competitive. Not sure how it is for actual games.

I also have Gametime downloaded but haven’t used it.

For parking I've used Parkwiz for years. Works well especially for baseball. If game is rained out full refund.

 

[Kathy]

For parking I've used Parkwiz for years. Works well especially for baseball. If game is rained out full refund.

Used it in NYC and Philly for concerts, sporting events. Works great

 

[upstater]

Well, you can see Cat Power opening for Modest Mouse opening for the Pixies for $25 on a beautiful gorge overlooking the Niagara River, so it all depends.

 

[XLCenterFan]

I buy and sell tickets. I only use stub hub and eBay because I don’t feel like I have time to use/monitor many more sites, and it’s what I’ve always used. They get the job done. And you’re talking about Swift tickets. Those are the hottest tickets ever and I’m surprised the cost wasn’t more.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

A concert seat for $150 doesn't seem that reasonable unless we are talking rolling stones or Springsteen or something of that level. Last few shows I was eyeing had presale going for $125 which just seems nuts. This was for the strokes. I could see resell going to this and beyond but for the venue to start prices at that seems wild.

 

[GemParty]

What’s an average Bruins ticket go for these days?

 

[superjohn]

A concert seat for $150 doesn't seem that reasonable unless we are talking rolling stones or Springsteen or something of that level. Last few shows I was eyeing had presale going for $125 which just seems nuts. This was for the strokes. I could see resell going to this and beyond but for the venue to start prices at that seems wild.

Saw Springsteen for $85, GNR is coming up for $45, Flickerstick coming up for $20.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Saw Springsteen for $85, GNR is coming up for $45, Flickerstick coming up for $20.

That's very good. I've seen U2 for $80 and Radiohead for $70. There wasn't anything cheaper than $200+ to go see the strokes do 15 songs. Another guy I like Tyler Childers had all his tickets going for $200+ at radio City a few weeks ago. Saw the guy 4 years ago for like $25

 

[gampelcrazies]

Just curious, where did you see Springsteen for $80? Was that on this tour?

They will be giving them away next week in Foxboro if you are looking to go. Half the stadium is unsold for both shows.

 

[CTBasketball]

That's very good. I've seen U2 for $80 and Radiohead for $70. There wasn't anything cheaper than $200+ to go see the strokes do 15 songs. Another guy I like Tyler Childers had all his tickets going for $200+ at radio City a few weeks ago. Saw the guy 4 years ago for like $25

For some reason country music sales are going thru the roof. I was in the same boat, I saw Luke Combs, Childers, and Zach Bryan a while ago in run-down country bars and paid like $20.

Some music is meant not to be performed at a large arena or football stadium IMO.

 

[August_West]

I miss the old days, How about 18.50 for Bob Dylan in a 700 person capacity club. No service fees either I paid with a 20 and got a buck .50 in change.

 

[August_West]

This one really broke the bank

 

[polycom]

Supply and demand. The only place to by tickets is first hand if you are getting them on the resale market I wish you the best. Between Drake and Beyonce this year I could cover a mortgage payment, not to mention TSwift get in the building price was 4 figures.

 

[alexd]

This one really broke the bank


View attachment 90862

Ha!!! My first Dead show!!!

 

[alexd]

They will be giving them away next week in Foxboro if you are looking to go. Half the stadium is unsold for both shows.

Yep... you can get 300 level seats for $60, 200 for $120 and 100 level for $150 right now.

 

[yungdowork]

For some reason country music sales are going thru the roof. I was in the same boat, I saw Luke Combs, Childers, and Zach Bryan a while ago in run-down country bars and paid like $20.

Some music is meant not to be performed at a large arena or football stadium IMO.

I think the appeal is the huge tailgate atmosphere before/during the show but I've never been a huge country music fan

I miss the old days, How about 18.50 for Bob Dylan in a 700 person capacity club. No service fees either I paid with a 20 and got a buck .50 in change.

View attachment 90860

To be fair, Toad's Place still seems like it has a lot of pretty cheap concerts. You're just not going to see Taylor Swift there

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Supply and demand. The only place to by tickets is first hand if you are getting them on the resale market I wish you the best. Between Drake and Beyonce this year I could cover a mortgage payment, not to mention TSwift get in the building price was 4 figures.

Easier said then done though. There are so many bots that scoop up tickets to popular artists right when they go on sale, just so they can be resold for multiple times their value. I also think the ticket master fee of whatever obnoxiously high percentage of the ticket is absurd as well.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I think the appeal is the huge tailgate atmosphere before/during the show but I've never been a huge country music fan


To be fair, Toad's Place still seems like it has a lot of pretty cheap concerts. You're just not going to see Taylor Swift there

They are cheap because they aren't pulling even the caliber of artists/bands that College Street or Bridgeport Amphitheater or New Haven bowl are getting.

 

[CTBasketball]

Easier said then done though. There are so many bots that scoop up tickets to popular artists right when they go on sale, just so they can be resold for multiple times their value. I also think the ticket master fee of whatever obnoxiously high percentage of the ticket is absurd as well.

Yep.

Sometimes when I’m angry I’ll find a school that has an out of date ticket selling process, project a big game for a weekend, then buy a bunch of cheaper Providence tickets and resell to their idiot fans at 2x the cost. I’m surprised Ticketmaster and all these sites don’t program in protection from bots going in and getting all the cheap tickets at a launch.

 

[Chuck]

One reason that ticket prices have gotten so high is that it's the only way for the artists to actually make money. They make nothing on the music streaming. The concert tix are still somewhat reasonable if you get the tix directly when they go on sale. It's expensive, but these stadium shows cost a fortune to put on. The problem is the secondary market and I'm not sure what the answer is. When Springsteen used dynamic pricing for some of his best tickets, people were outraged. It does suck that you needed to drop $5k for front of stage seating, but at least he and his team made the money. Ticketmaster took their few pounds of flesh also, but they get that on the secondary market for many of the tickets anyway.

I personally don't love stadium tours anymore. I think that's more about the bands that play stadiums than the stadium atmosphere. I saw Green Day and Weezer at Citi Field and liked it a lot. But G&R at Met Life wasn't great. I have no interest in seeing Taylor Swift, Drake, Beyonce....

I've been done with attending pro sports for a while. They're typically boring to attend (especially considering how many NBA/MLB games there are) and are generally better on tv. Especially since I don't have a huge rooting interest anymore. College sports are still much better priced. I got the Empire (UConn/Indiana and Texas/Louisville) seats for $125 per ticket. That doesn't seem unfair for two good games (I'll probably leave after the UConn game). Small theater shows are also still reasonable.

 

[yungdowork]

They are cheap because they aren't pulling even the caliber of artists/bands that College Street or Bridgeport Amphitheater or New Haven bowl are getting.

I would say they're definitely on the same caliber as college street and the other 2 venues hold 8x the amount of people.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

I would say they're definitely on the same caliber as college street and the other 2 venues hold 8x the amount of people.

Just looking at college street, these are the artists appearing in the next few months:

The Roots,
Mars Volta,
Hot Tuna
Explosions in the Sky
Interpol
Violent Femmes,
Bad Religion

the only band that Toad's Place has right now that I'm vaguely familiar with is Shakey Graves.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

One reason that ticket prices have gotten so high is that it's the only way for the artists to actually make money. They make nothing on the music streaming. The concert tix are still somewhat reasonable if you get the tix directly when they go on sale. It's expensive, but these stadium shows cost a fortune to put on. The problem is the secondary market and I'm not sure what the answer is. When Springsteen used dynamic pricing for some of his best tickets, people were outraged. It does suck that you needed to drop $5k for front of stage seating, but at least he and his team made the money. Ticketmaster took their few pounds of flesh also, but they get that on the secondary market for many of the tickets anyway.

I personally don't love stadium tours anymore. I think that's more about the bands that play stadiums than the stadium atmosphere. I saw Green Day and Weezer at Citi Field and liked it a lot. But G&R at Met Life wasn't great. I have no interest in seeing Taylor Swift, Drake, Beyonce....

I've been done with attending pro sports for a while. They're typically boring to attend (especially considering how many NBA/MLB games there are) and are generally better on tv. Especially since I don't have a huge rooting interest anymore. College sports are still much better priced. I got the Empire (UConn/Indiana and Texas/Louisville) seats for $125 per ticket. That doesn't seem unfair for two good games (I'll probably leave after the UConn game). Small theater shows are also still reasonable.

Well the music labels are pushing the cost to fans. They could give a bigger cut to the Artists instead of just giving them for fractions of pennies on the dollar for album sales.

 

[August_West]

I think the appeal is the huge tailgate atmosphere before/during the show but I've never been a huge country music fan


To be fair, Toad's Place still seems like it has a lot of pretty cheap concerts. You're just not going to see Taylor Swift there

Except for the fact that Bob Dylan showing up there in 1990 was akin to Taylor swift

 

[August_West]

Well the music labels are pushing the cost to fans. They could give a bigger cut to the Artists instead of just giving them for fractions of pennies on the dollar for album sales.

I mean you say the right things but you actually have no idea how this works. in 2020's? THE ARTIST AND THEIR MANAGEMENT! also hold back seats for secondary market, that is why everyone gets shut out of on sale dates, it aint (just) bots. And heres the thing. I guess if someone is going to scalp its better the artist scalps their own tickets than a 3rd party.

 

[yungdowork]

Just looking at college street, these are the artists appearing in the next few months:

The Roots,
Mars Volta,
Hot Tuna
Explosions in the Sky
Interpol
Violent Femmes,
Bad Religion

the only band that Toad's Place has right now that I'm vaguely familiar with is Shakey Graves.

Toad’s has several artists with millions of monthly listeners on Spotify playing there in September (Memphis May Fire, Villano Antillano, Zhu) in addition to a few bands that were popular in the early 2000’s that draw pretty well.

They usually have a lot of shows featuring more alternative music than College Street I guess though so it’s not everyone’s scene