Dawn Dresden, 23, spent $3,000 on Cubs tickets last summer, mostly through eBay and brokers, but she’d prefer not to do it again.
“It’s definitely the toughest ticket in town,” she said.
Dresden was one of hundreds of people lined up Wednesday morning at Wrigley Field to pick up a numbered wristband in the hope of getting a good shot at Cubs tickets, which go on sale Friday. Wristbands are available through Thursday.
Whether it’s baseball, March Madness games, concerts or Loop theater, scoring in-demand tickets requires diligence, patience and a little insider knowledge to beat the odds and avoid the scalpers.
Scott Mangum, 32, stopped by Wrigley even though he knew it didn’t matter which wristband he got–the starting number to determine the order of ticket sales will be drawn randomly Friday.
“I have other friends who are stopping by tomorrow,” he said. “It’s a multi-prong attack.”
Dana MacMillan’s friends aren’t leaving this to chance either.
Each of her team of 12 (including her husband) will pick up a wristband at Wrigley. When the opening number is announced, they’ll determine the two who have the best shot at tickets and send them off to the box office to buy the maximum order, 42 tickets.
“If you don’t get tickets this way,” she said, “it’s so painful because the scalpers charge ridiculous amounts. It’s a joke.”
Don’t want to be taken by the scalpers this year? RedEye rounded up some of the best strategies for finding the hottest tickets.
Insider tips
Snagging a pair of hot tickets is hard enough, let alone finding them at a reasonable price. Here’s how some ticket masters outmaneuver Ticketmaster to nail the seats every time:
Know the theater or venue. In some places the balcony overhangs the main floor or the first row sits well behind an orchestra pit, so what sounds like a bad seat is actually a good get.
Buy early, stay late. Multiplexes often show the same movie in multiple theaters at short intervals, so for a good seat, buy a ticket to one show, but go sit down early for the next screening instead.
Be a fan. Many music artists host fan clubs that come with special ticket privileges. Although U2’s early ticket sales for members hit a snafu, other bands have had success with this strategy. Sometimes there’s an added performance bonus–a tip on where the group plans to play for a postconcert show or an invitation to the sound check.
Love your Craigslist. Or other community sites where people post tickets daily. People sell, buy, trade and dump tickets of all kinds. Recent listings on the Chicago site included tickets for free and less than face value.
Keep checking. Even if Ticketmaster sells out everything in three minutes, check back later. They may have released more seats or added a show. Check in the next day, too, because some of the orders won’t process properly (credit card declined, etc.), and the tickets will be re-released.
Work it on show day. Blocks of tickets held for producers, family and friends typically are released the day of the show or event–sometimes just before showtime. Contact the box office or, better yet, stop by.
Make the brokers sweat. The closer to the show, the more anxious ticket brokers get. Hours before the show starts, they may be happy just to break even. Or wait until the third inning or so before you strike a deal with a Cubs scalper.
— Alison Neumer
The online market
Brokers: There are two basic types. Premium ticket sites such as tickets now.com allow multiple brokers to list their inventories, so there’s a wider selection of seat types for buyers. Kansas-based ticketsolutions.com is similar to a conventional broker–they acquire the tickets, you buy them.
Exchanges: Stubhub.com and razorgator.com don’t sell tickets themselves, they serve as an online marketplace to match up buyers and sellers. If you have extra seats to the U2 concert or “Spam-a-lot,” hawk ’em here. Sellers determine price, so buyers can find a fair deal.
Futures/options: This model allows you to purchase the right to buy a ticket at face value. It’s like stock options for tickets. Chicago-based The Ticket Reserve (theticketreserve.com) deals exclusively in sporting events. As of Wednesday, the price per future to see Illinois in the NCAA Final Four: $400. Actual ticket–if they make it–is a separate cost.
Auctions: All kinds of tickets are sold on eBay, and established vendors like Ticketmaster occasionally set up auctions too. It doesn’t mean the seats will be cheap, though–consumers keep bidding higher for in-demand tickets–and it could end up costing more than a broker.
— Alison Neumer
Hoop it up
Tickets for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament are notoriously a tough get. Not a student, still a fan–where to turn for March Madness?
Many alumni try to order tickets through their alumni organizations, but only small quantities are available. The NCAA allots each school a limited number of tickets–some are for students only, while the rest are assigned to players’ families, coaches and administration, leaving only a portion for alumni.
At the University of Illinois, alumni donors to the athletic department get the first crack at tickets, said Terri Lane, president of the Chicago Illini Club.
Lane says she knows a dozen fans who plan to simply hop on eBay or get in their cars and drive to St. Louis, where the finals will be played
In the end, it can pay to just show up. You might find tickets from scalpers or just those with extra tickets, but here’s another way: As teams lose, their disappointed fans are usually happy to offload the rest of their tickets, sometimes at face value.
For the Big Ten tournament, which will be played at the United Center starting March 10, swing by after the first session of games is over and hit up fans from the losing teams.
— Alison Neumer
Suite deals
U2 tickets are gone, but if you’re prepared to pay big, big bucks for a concert anyway, why not get a little more than just a seat?
For select concerts and events–think last summer’s Madonna show, U2 or the upcoming Big Ten basketball tournament–the United Center offers two types of party packages in the stadium’s VIP areas that include parking, food and drinks, as well as a face-value ticket. Even better, they’re available before tickets go on sale to the general public.
But remember, it’s going to cost you–anywhere from around $200 to $500
“With these shows it’s a pretty healthy ticket price, and there’s an audience of people who want to do it first-class.” said Jim Bare, director of ticket operations at the United Center. “For an Avril Lavigne show, a 13-year-old isn’t going to spend that.”
Here’s your choice:
– Rent a top-floor suite for 20, 40 or 80 people.
We gulped at the price tag ($4,250 for a 20-person suite), but divvy it up per person ($212.50) and it compares favorably to buying a high-end ticket plus added expenses. You can pay the same to a broker, but he isn’t going to feed you or include free parking
– Buy a “VIP hospitality package.”
It costs $390 and includes a $165 ticket, a lounge party with dinner and drinks, and a parking pass. (The U2 package is sold out already for all four nights).
Suites are available through Adam Collopy at the United Center. E-mail him at acollopy@chicagoblackhawks.com.
— Alison Neumer
Super Bowl bound
The Super Bowl is over, but it’s already time to start thinking about tickets for next year.
The NFL awards around 1,000 tickets, or 500 pairs, through a lottery. The deadline is June 1 to enter the drawing, which will be held in September. For more details, go to superbowl.com.
If you’re willing to pay a scalper, know that a good chunk of the tickets won’t become available until after the two teams are determined–two weeks before the game.
Also, improve your chances by nailing down a hotel room in the host city early on. Many people sell their tickets when they can’t find a place to stay. You win.
— Alison Neumer
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Tough, but not impossible
These upcoming concerts are officially “sold out,” but expect savvy ticket-hunters to turn up a few seats. Beat them to it!
Ani Di Franco
Auditorium Theater, Saturday
Jeff Tweedy Vic Theater, March 4
Jill Scott, Chicago Theater, March 19
Widespread Panic, Chicago Theater, April 7-9
Elton John, Allstate Arena, April 23
Erasure, Chicago Theater, April 29
U2, United Center, May 7, 9, 10, 12
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Check out metromix.com daily or pick up a copy of RedEye every Wednesday to find out when local concert tickets go on sale.
