Ticket Master and the ALCS

[FlaSoxxJim]

there was alot bigger demand for this series.

think about it, ANYONE could just go online, get lucky and sell them and make a huge profit.

But anything like this is mostly based on luck.

Brokers are getting their hands on more than 4 tickets a transaction. Ask yourself how that happens. The dollar amounts posted above go a long way toward answering that question.

 

You might think that there doesn't seem to be enough of a taste for MLB, compared to the profit the brokers are taking in but that is incorrect. On top of MLB taking a huge chunk of the tix out of the common man's bucket off the top, the fact that the brokers can snag probably 75% of the remainder ensures that "anybody" that wants to get to a championship game can – assuming they are flush enough to pay 10x face for the tix. That way all the rich and well-to-do get to the games regardless of whether they have a corporate connection, an in through MLB, or just coughed up the bucks to a scalper.

 

And us ham-'n-eggers are the ones who get dropped in the grease.

 

And none of the above is intended to in any way begrudge the season ticket holders who absolutely deserve the cut of postseason tix reserved for them.

 

My beef is entirely with the cushy arrangement MLB, Ticketmaster, and th scalpers have come up with.

[C_LEE45]

whats his email address?this is bulls*** the rich f***ers and brokers get to go and us real fans that are with the sox day in day out get f***ed

 

Edited.

 

I know you're pissed, guys, but that's not necessary.

Edited October 7, 2005 by kapkomet

[rangercal]

whats his email address?this is bulls*** the rich f***ers and brokers get to go and us real fans that are with the sox day in day out get f***ed Edited.

DisheartenedFan@hotmail.com

Edited October 7, 2005 by kapkomet

[Lefty Of Love]

I f***in saw the tickets that I was gonna get....i had game 1 box 110 f***in row 10 lined up, and when I tried to continue to pay, I got the proxy error. What a joke....you'd think they have a f***in hamster running on a wheel or something at Ticket master's headquarters.

[FlaSoxxJim]

No, their was something f***ed up with the browser this time around. No way It jumps from 4 minute wait to 15 minute wait to 1 minute wait  back to nothing.  It was as if people(brokers) were cutting me in line.

I don't think anybody is cutting ito the cue there. The wait time is a constantly refreshed estimate based on where you are in the pipeling but ALSO based on how rapidly the orders are being processed and pushed through the pipeline. Each time there was a hiccup and the cue stopped moving that would be reflected in the wait time estimate going up instead of down.

 

Unbelievably frustrating though.

 

Most frustrating for me today though was thay I got in the first time within a minute of the gateway opening up, but I couldn't read the %$@*$# visual confirmation word due to a apparent incompatibility with the safari browser, so by the time I quit safari and got back on with another browser (maybe 3 minutes in) I was toast. :angry:

[SnB]

i guess i didn't hear all of these stories until now.

nothing really crazy happened to us, we just got shut out, now that i'm hearing all about this......i'm getting more angry.

[rangercal]

I don't think anybody is cutting ito the cue there.  The wait time is a constantly refreshed estimate based on where you are in the pipeling but ALSO based on how rapidly the orders are being processed and pushed through the pipeline.  Each time there was a hiccup and the cue stopped moving that would be reflected in the wait time estimate going up instead of down.

 

Unbelievably frustrating though. 

 

Most frustrating for me today though was thay I got in the first time within a minute of the gateway opening up, but I couldn't read the %$@*$# visual confirmation word due to a apparent incompatibility with the safari browser, so by the time I quit safari and got back on with another browser (maybe 3 minutes in) I was toast. :angry:

I'm sure this is one of the many places all of our tickets went to. :headshake

 

http://www.coasttocoasttickets.com/buy/whi...+Sox&pid=299051

 

tix for $3445.00 :headshake

Edited October 7, 2005 by rangercal

[Soxfest]

Ticketmaster was AWFUL today. I already got cheated out of ALDS tickets right at noon last time and it was no different today. I logged on right at 12:00 and after a few minutes of waiting, PROXY ERROR came up and i got placed at the end of the line. I am not happy at all.

 

 

Same for me also they are a joke I hate ticketmaster.

[aboz56]

Don't worry, I'm already prepping my speech for Soxfest to totally rip into the Sox, whoever is on stage at the time, for the way they have handled these ticket situations.

 

This is just awful.

 

The fans, like myself, who attend games regularly during the regular season when I can (I live 5 hrs away) get totally screwed and brokers end up with all of the good seats.

 

They sure will take your money for any series during the season when there's plenty of seats available. But hell, when its on the line and the real FANS want to go, the f***ing tickets aren't available.

 

f***ing bulls*** if you ask me and I am going to let my feelings be known to Brooks or whoever else I need to embarass on stage.

[Whitesoxfan56]

Don't worry, I'm already prepping my speech for Soxfest to totally rip into the Sox, whoever is on stage at the time, for the way they have handled these ticket situations.

 

This is just awful.

 

The fans, like myself, who attend games regularly during the regular season when I can (I live 5 hrs away) get totally screwed and brokers end up with all of the good seats.

 

They sure will take your money for any series during the season when there's plenty of seats available.  But hell, when its on the line and the real FANS want to go, the f***ing tickets aren't available.

 

f***ing bulls*** if you ask me and I am going to let my feelings be known to Brooks or whoever else I need to embarass on stage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hell yea man...you need to lets the rest of us that are going to the fest when your gona b**** them out, because i want to be there when it happens

[ChiSox9]

I'm sure this is one of the many places all of our tickets went to. :headshake

 

http://www.coasttocoasttickets.com/buy/whi...+Sox&pid=299051

 

tix for $3445.00  :headshake

 

Just looking at their website:

 

#1 they are located in Austin TX... i was under the impression that people outside of a 50 mile radius of the event can not order tickets? Either way... AUSTIN TX

 

#2 they site posts a total of 569 tickets ranging in packages from 1 ticket up to 14!!! I though they could only get 4?

 

#3 Looking at my message on my website, Average ticket price is $82.50 (rough due to Lower Box at $100.00 and Upper Deck at $65.00. Their tickets average $687.50/ticket bringing their total revenue to $391,187.50. If they were offered to the general public MLB and TicketMaster would get only $46,942.50 in profits (these are rough numbers) A total profit for a AUSTIN TX brokerage firm at $344,245.00 on CHICAGO White Sox tickets.... makes no sense!!!

[SleepyWhiteSox]

It definitely wasn't fun to hit that button at noon on the dot, watch it stay at "approximately" 15 minutes for a while...then 11...back to 13...then 15 for a while...finally 7...then 4...3...2...back up to 5...7 again...and then my favorite part...AN ERROR PAGE!

[kapkomet]

Don't worry, I'm already prepping my speech for Soxfest to totally rip into the Sox, whoever is on stage at the time, for the way they have handled these ticket situations.

 

This is just awful.

 

The fans, like myself, who attend games regularly during the regular season when I can (I live 5 hrs away) get totally screwed and brokers end up with all of the good seats.

 

They sure will take your money for any series during the season when there's plenty of seats available.  But hell, when its on the line and the real FANS want to go, the f***ing tickets aren't available.

 

f***ing bulls*** if you ask me and I am going to let my feelings be known to Brooks or whoever else I need to embarass on stage.

 

Aboz, this ain't the Sox doing this to you. It's way beyond that. Yes, they can go to other channels to release the tickets, but then again, no they can't. They're in a contract to sell through ticketmaster.

 

So, with all due respect, save yourself the embarassment at soxfest when you're told it wasn't their fault.

[greasywheels121]

From Reifert:

 

http://whitesoxpride.mlblogs.com/inside_th...y_thoughts.html

 

Tickets On Sale

 

Tickets to potential LCS games at U.S. Cellular Field went on sale today at noon.  Demand was intense.  Close to 40,000 tickets were sold to the general public in 48 minutes via on-line and TicketMaster phone lines.  At peak time, 137,000 people were in line on their computers to purchase tickets.  That type of demand is through the roof, but it also means many Sox fans ended up disappointed and without tickets to one of the four possible games.  There were no problem with the system, just incredible demand for tickets.

[Whitesoxfan56]

From Reifert:

 

http://whitesoxpride.mlblogs.com/inside_th...y_thoughts.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

BULLs***.... there wasnt any problems with the system my f***en ass... I love the work Reifert has done, but he is just there to be another mouth-piece for the organization.... this has become a f***en embarrasment, this whole ticket scandal

Edited October 7, 2005 by Whitesoxfan56

[Middle Buffalo]

Demand was intense. There was nothing wrong with the system. Etc, etc, etc. Somehow, there will be a guy outside the stadium with a handfull of tickets before each of the games, though.

[Whitesoxfan56]

Demand was intense.  There was nothing wrong with the system.  Etc, etc, etc.  Somehow, there will be a guy outside the stadium with a handfull of tickets before each of the games, though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Right... they must think we are stupid. nothing wrong with the system my ass. I sent Brooks a nice email regaurding this matter, can he do anything, probley not, but he always has an answer for everything, i want to know what excuse he uses this time

[nitetrain8601]

Don't worry, I'm already prepping my speech for Soxfest to totally rip into the Sox, whoever is on stage at the time, for the way they have handled these ticket situations.

 

This is just awful.

 

The fans, like myself, who attend games regularly during the regular season when I can (I live 5 hrs away) get totally screwed and brokers end up with all of the good seats.

 

They sure will take your money for any series during the season when there's plenty of seats available.  But hell, when its on the line and the real FANS want to go, the f***ing tickets aren't available.

 

f***ing bulls*** if you ask me and I am going to let my feelings be known to Brooks or whoever else I need to embarass on stage.

 

Aboz, I think you should print out this thread and bring it to their attention too. There's some good info on here such as brokers getting way more than the 4 tickets alotted and on how much of a profit is being made.

[ChiSox9]

Close to 40,000 tickets were sold on-line today and looking at 7 ticket brokers websites... 4.509 tickets went to them. That is over 10% of ticket sales. As for demand and the system... I am curious as to how it was in other markets in past years?? Should a company or empire like TicketMaster be prepared for overwhelming ticket demands.. you figure, that is their CORE business outside of passing out Vaseline an hour before ticket sales!

[greasywheels121]

Right... they must think we are stupid.  nothing wrong with the system my ass.  I sent Brooks a nice email regaurding this matter, can he do anything, probley not, but he always has an answer for everything, i want to know what excuse he uses this time

 

Brooks has nothing to do with tickets. I hope you didn't write your e-mail like you just did that post.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Just looking at their website:

 

#1 they are located in Austin TX... i was under the impression that people outside of a 50 mile radius of the event can not order tickets?

 

That is incorrect. Online through the centralized Ticketmaster website anybody could puchase tix regardless of where they were located.

 

Individual Ticketmaster outlets outside of the 50-mile radius were not supposed to be able to pull tickets. But reading the threads today, there are indications that was not always the case. I worked at a record store years ago with a Ticketmaster terminal, and if things haven't changed I know what happened. All the terminals CAN access all events, but the local retailers are supposed to know which events they are prohibited from selling. If a clerk doesn't know he's not supposed to pull tix to a given event then you can get tix from an outlet that was not supposed to sell them.

[ChiSox9]

Per a previous email i had with Brooks (and in his defense) in regards to season ticket holders and options for additional tickets...

 

MLB owns the rights to all of the tickets... a good amount of tickets are given to the organization to support the full and split season ticket holders.

 

Not to quote Brooks but I will post the part of his email in which he explained this all to me. No fault should lie with the Chicago White Sox or their front office... all blame does however fall on MLB and Ticket Master!

[Whitesoxfan56]

Brooks has nothing to do with tickets.  I hope you didn't write your e-mail like you just did that post.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Brooks does have something to do with this. He is part of the group of people that say when the tickets go onsale and how you can buy the tickets. One of the things I wanted from day one was for us to be able to buy tickets at the box office. So yes Brooks does have A LOT to do with this.

[FlaSoxxJim]

From Reifert:

Tickets to potential LCS games at U.S. Cellular Field went on sale today at noon.  Demand was intense.  Close to 40,000 tickets were sold to the general public in 48 minutes via on-line and TicketMaster phone lines.  At peak time, 137,000 people were in line on their computers to purchase tickets.  That type of demand is through the roof, but it also means many Sox fans ended up disappointed and without tickets to one of the four possible games.  There were no problem with the system, just incredible demand for tickets.

 

But the numbers don't seem to jibe with the poor success rates of those of us here, who are all by and large way more tech saavy than the average fan.

 

We can assume "peak time" is the first 15-20 minutes today when a few of us got lucky and te rest of us got reemed. Even if we round that peak demand up to 160K, if we divide that by the 40K tickets sold tthere should be more happy people around here than there are.

 

I agree with those who say the Sox org doesn't have much to do with the situation, and I think even if they had the powere to sell some tickets at the ticket windows it woudl be a token amount of tickets because MLB has a contract with Ticketmaster to distribute the bulk of available tix to the public.

 

In my time working at the record store I learned something else about Ticketmaster. Since a site that wasn't supposed to sell tickets to an event still could access them, an industrous employee could go into the scalping business by pulling tickets rapidly as soon as the event opened in the system. The manager of the store in Champaign where I worked made quite a bit of money by doing unauthorized pulls for big Chicago areas shows, even as us piddling employees were telling customers we couldn't sell that event.

 

That, fellow ham-n-eggers, is where a large amount of those broker tickets come from.

[BabyJesus69]

selling tickets at the box office won't make a damn bit of difference. brokers and scalpers will just pay crack addicts a few bucks to stand in line and wait.

 

the only way to stop this from happening would be to keep dumbasses from buying tickets from the brokers.