Sunday Discussion: Red Sox Ticket Policy

by BrendanOToole on Jan 29, 2012 10:00 AM EST in Open Thread

As we continue to expand our content here at Over the Monster, one goal is to make the site a fun place for discussion on the weekend. So in addition to Saturday morning recaps, I'm going to be writing short posts with the goal of getting a conversation started. Once the season gets going, they'll probably be up a few hours before game time, to get everyone in a baseball mood. I'll be writing the pieces, but mostly it'll be about you folks and where you want to take the discussion. So if something happens during a given week that you think the community should talk about, send me an email or a tweet, and I'll take a look.

Odds are pretty good that everyone (myself included) spent a couple hours yesterday watching the Red Sox "virtual waiting room" reload. Because we are nutcases. And because that simulated ticket line graphic was oddly mesmerizing. Regardless, the smell of Red Sox tickets is in the air. Of course, with ticket sales come ticket policies, and this new one you may not have noticed.

Short form: upper bleacher seats, the most affordable actual seats in the park, for high-demand games (basically Yankee games plus a few interleague matchups), will be digital-only. If you want to get into the park with those tickets, you'll need the credit card that was used to buy them. On the one hand, this means they're almost impossible to scalp, so you won't wind up on the corner of Brookline and Landsdowne paying some guy named Fitzy $60 for a seat in Row ZZZ. On the other, it means you can't give your tickets to anyone, either as a gift or because something came up and you have to skip the game.

What do we think, commenters of OTM? Is this actually going to discourage scalpers? Why start with the cheap seats? Is this simply one more hurdle in the already-tricky process of buying tickets to see the team we love? Chat it up.

Poll

Is this "Digital Ticket Initiative" a good call?

Yes, it'll cut down on scalping.

77 votes

No, it's just one more aggravation for ticket-buyers.

105 votes

I don't care. Is there baseball yet? Can I go to a game now?

65 votes

247 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Fitzy’s a good guy. He’s always given me good seats.

Winging It In Motown, Over the Monster, Liberty Ballers, and Buffalo Rumblings!

by Scott Kenny on Jan 29, 2012 10:13 AM EST reply actions

Considering I bought 25 games worth of $12 seats last year

I generally think it’s a good thing. If you look at the Celtics, it’s nearly impossible to get the $10 tickets from the team itself. If this will guarantee that more people get to go, even better.

If I were still going to buy tickets, I’d certain be ok with this.

Also, it’s worth noting that they have also made Gate C a No Scalp Zone, where you can sell your tickets for face. That would’ve been hugely useful to me on multiple occasions last year.

Everything Must Go.

by Sean O on Jan 29, 2012 10:52 AM EST reply actions

Your perspective is an interesting one to me...

… since you had so many tickets, and had to give some away last year. This would prevent you from doing that at all, right? Unless you also gave them your credit card for the night.

For me, this is less of an issue… I always have my tickets in hand before I fly all the way to Boston… no sense taking chance with the inventory available to scalpers for the few games I’m in town for.

I thought we’d never win it all. And then we went down 0-3 to the Yankees in 2004, and I thought it was the end of the world.

Wait ’til THIS year!

by AlohaSox on Jan 30, 2012 3:29 PM EST up reply actions

In the end, I would rather have $12 tickets available

for non-scalper use than not have them. Even though I had to sell many.

Also, I would’ve been glad for the non-scalp zone so I just didn’t lose money when I was there trying to sell.

Everything Must Go.

by Sean O on Jan 30, 2012 8:03 PM EST up reply actions

I'll probably only be attending two Red Sox games all year

luckily for me, they’re Opening Weekend.

"There's something out there, beyond the horizon in the corner of your eye. I'm going to find out what it is."
-Thomas Solomon, Gentleman Adventurer.

by TheLoneDavid on Jan 29, 2012 10:53 AM EST reply actions

Hey, they'll be in contention at that point.

I still remember coming in 2006 for the game on my birthday, sitting in the drizzling rain for my first game ever on the Green Monster… yeah, not the best experience with the team already eliminated.

However, I do love Boston in the Fall… so hard to imagine what I do this year. I think it’s more likely I’ll be in the area late June or early July, pending resolution with the latest organizational restructuring for my company.

I thought we’d never win it all. And then we went down 0-3 to the Yankees in 2004, and I thought it was the end of the world.

Wait ’til THIS year!

by AlohaSox on Jan 30, 2012 3:31 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, I can't really manage the trip to Boston.

But I’ll be going to a lot of Tigers games this year.

"There's something out there, beyond the horizon in the corner of your eye. I'm going to find out what it is."
-Thomas Solomon, Gentleman Adventurer.

by TheLoneDavid on Jan 30, 2012 4:45 PM EST up reply actions

Wait until they're 10-12 on May 1st.

…you can get the tickets through Stubhub for a damn goood deal.

by Dale Sams on Jan 29, 2012 1:56 PM EST reply actions

While I can see wanting to cut down on scalping

it’s bullshit that you can’t give your tickets away.

Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.

@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
OTM | Silver Seven

by Bloggy on Jan 29, 2012 7:51 PM EST reply actions

Especially when you consider the ticket officially sanctioned ticket resellers.

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USG

by Ben Buchanan on Jan 29, 2012 10:50 PM EST up reply actions

And this is the rumor I found interesting, from my friend at the Boston Herald.

This won’t actually reduce scalping, but simply ensure that this inventory ends up in the hands of the sanctioned resellers instead.

I thought we’d never win it all. And then we went down 0-3 to the Yankees in 2004, and I thought it was the end of the world.

Wait ’til THIS year!

by AlohaSox on Jan 30, 2012 3:31 PM EST up reply actions

Not surprised

I believe the team gets a kickback of the mark-up from at least some of the resellers and sell promotional space inside the park to others.

by The Name is Dalton on Jan 30, 2012 4:39 PM EST up reply actions

Right... so this is actually of no benefit to the actual fans.

And does prevent folks from giving those tickets away last minute.

At least, that’s the response I’ve heard so far… via the coconut wireless anyway…

I thought we’d never win it all. And then we went down 0-3 to the Yankees in 2004, and I thought it was the end of the world.

Wait ’til THIS year!

by AlohaSox on Jan 30, 2012 6:56 PM EST up reply actions

So the solution is for the

Sox to figure a safe way to give the tickets away, perhaps validating the gift thru a remote reader, and verifying its not being scalped thru some kind of code that the scalpers, for $12 seats wouldng want to spend alot of time trying to manipulate??

by GerryT on Jan 29, 2012 9:27 PM EST reply actions