Buying tickets to your favorite sporting events used to be as simple as getting in line.
Let’s just say that these days — with digital tickets, presales, dynamic pricing and secondary markets spanning the spectrum of integrity and reliability — the lines have blurred.
Knowing how to score tickets to events big and small can pay big dividends — even if those dividends will promptly be reinvested in concessions and merch. Thus, paying attention to your options, from team websites to fan communities and all manner of brokers in between, can boost your chances of being in the house for the biggest games or snagging rich guy seats at regular guy prices.
General Buying Tips
Tickets aren’t cheap. According to the New York Post, the average NBA ticket price in the 2021-22 season was $109. The average list price for Major League Baseball tickets in 2023 ranges from $69 (the Miami Marlins) to $209 (the Los Angeles Dodgers). Here are a few ways to make sure you’re not overpaying:
Wait
Unless it’s a playoff game, a record chase or a potential clincher, prices tend to decrease as the sporting event gets closer. For the best regular-season prices, buy within a couple of days of the contest.
If you’re going to the secondary market for an event that sold out quickly, you’ll find prices settling down a bit a few days after tickets initially hit the resellers.
Get In on Presales
When planning ahead is necessary, join a team fan club or sign up for a venue or ticket service’s loyalty program. That generally gets you access to presales where you’ll use a special code to access tickets a day or two before they go on sale to the general public.
Visit the Box Office
A lot of venues sell directly to the public during regular hours weeks in advance of an event up to and even past game time. That will save you the markup from a secondary seller or, perhaps, convenience fees for online purchases.
Go to Weekday Events
Major League Baseball teams tend to play “getaway” day games in the middle of the week to make travel easier, and tickets to those contests can be a steal. Generally, going out on a school night will be cheaper. Demand is higher on the weekend, so the prices will match.
Go As a Group
Buying for eight or more people for a single event will usually let you work with a team’s group sales office. That means potential discounts for tickets, food and merchandise, plus other perks (parking, early entry, etc.).
Buying From Brokers
A lot of sports fans subsidize their game-going habit by reselling season tickets. In a perfect world, you’d pay enough for them to recoup their initial investment and a bit more for a third-party entity to ensure a seamless and safe ticket transfer.
Unfortunately, the world isn’t perfect. Scammers are as ubiquitous as outfielders who can’t hit cutoff men and cornerbacks who can’t wrap up when tackling.
When you can’t purchase from the venue or the venue’s official ticket agent (many of which now have reselling options), here are some things to remember:
- Vet your potential brokers through organizations such as the Better Business Bureau or the National Association of Ticket Brokers.
- Read email addresses (scammers will create web addresses similar to legitimate companies).
- Be suspicious of ads that pop up when you search for online tickets.
- Know the refund policy (if the reseller can’t supply those details, along with precise transfer and location information regarding the tickets, keep looking).
- Use protected payment such as a credit card or PayPal so you can get your money back if something goes wrong. Some cash apps, as well as debit cards, wire transactions and cash, make recouping funds all but impossible.
- If you’re suspicious of a ticket you’ve received, check it with the venue. Better to know now you’ve paid for a fake ticket than after you’ve paid for parking.
Buying From a Private Party
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. But maybe that really is a student selling his seat in the student section for your alma mater’s big game with its hated rival, or maybe that fellow fan club member with the misspelled username is totally legit.
Here are ways to minimize your chances of showing up at your event a bogus ticket or otherwise getting burned:
- Get the seller’s info: If the seller wishes to remain anonymous, remain in possession of your money. Check him or her out on social media — if the accounts look new (few posts, fewer followers), don’t do the deal.
- Be suspicious: Wire transfers, prepaid money cards and other odd or untraceable methods of payments should be avoided. Credit card charges for tickets that don’t materialize can be disputed.
- Be cautious: Don’t meet a seller in a parking lot — unless it’s outside the local police station.
- Do your research: Search the seller’s name, email address and phone number, along with words such as “scam,” “fraud,” “fake” and “cheat.” Or, if you’re the glass-half-full type, “satisfied” — either way, if someone regularly resells tickets, there should be customer reviews.
If You’ve Been Scammed
Even the most cautious individuals can end up being the victims of a scam. Some scammers create and sell counterfeit tickets, others sell duplicates of a legitimate ticket many times over, and some are just looking to steal your credit card information.
In the unfortunate event that you find you’ve paid for a ticket and ended up with nothing, at least you can look out for your fellow fans. Here’s what you should do:
- Dispute the charge as soon as possible.
- File a local police report and give every shred of information you have on the seller.
- File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau’s scam tracker.
- Make an online complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
- Contact your state’s consumer protection office.
Ultimately, if you really want to go to an event, you should be able to find tickets — for a price. Just remember to trust your instincts. Don’t let fandom overrule your better judgment. There might still be a scalper with a heart of gold out there somewhere, but dealing with established companies offers protection.
SOURCES:
https://nypost.com/2022/05/10/nba-teams-hike-ticket-prices-as-attendance-drops-internal-docs/
https://blog.ticketiq.com/blog/mlb-tickets-prices-trends
https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/how-to-get-cheap-sports-tickets-and-concert-tickets
https://www.bbb.org/article/news-releases/13986-bbb-tip-buying-tickets
https://theelectrichawk.com/how-to-not-get-scammed-buying-tickets/
https://www.firelakearena.com/how-to-avoid-ticket-scams/
https://www.nytimes.com/guides/sports/buying-sports-tickets-events
https://nypost.com/2022/05/10/nba-teams-hike-ticket-prices-as-attendance-drops-internal-docs/
https://blog.ticketiq.com/blog/mlb-tickets-prices-trends