If you wanted World Series tickets Tuesday, you needed determination, creativity–or just luck.
Some White Sox fans set up command centers with multiple computers and phones.
A few tried to outwit the crowds by calling Ticketmaster in Arizona and Alaska.
In the end, many ticket-seeking fans say it came down to karma in scoring Series seats. Other deeply disappointed fans hinted at conspiracy theories.
At noon Tuesday, Sox tickets–from $125 to $185–went on sale through Ticketmaster’s phone lines and Web site.
Just 18 minutes later, the tickets were gone. The Sox released a statement saying fans had snapped up several thousand individual-game tickets to each World Series home game.
Many fans, including RedEye staffers, who started trying at noon, encountered “all circuits are busy” messages or frozen Web pages.
“I had one computer counting down to noon exactly,” said Jason Alfonsi, an Oak Park resident and longtime Sox fan. “I had whitesox.com on my other computer with my fingers ready to click.”
Alfonsi made it past ticketmaster.com’s word verification screen and could practically taste his two tickets for Game 1.
“My computer suddenly just totally froze up and I was afraid to hit ‘back’ or ‘refresh’ because the site warns you not to,” Alfonsi said. “I was pounding my head on the desk. It would have been better if the screen said: ‘You’re screwed; don’t waste your time.’ “
Sox spokeswoman Katie Kirby said she was not aware of any online glitches.
“As far as our conversations with Ticketmaster, they said they have had no technical problems, just problems with volume,” Kirby said.
The system worked for Mike Ramirez who used the same command-center approach as Alfonsi. By alternating between his desktop computer and a laptop, Ramirez scored two tickets for Game 2.
The whole experience took the west suburban Montgomery native two minutes and cost him $278. His method for success: “dumb luck.”
“They are pretty terrible seats,” Ramirez acknowledged. “But I know there are people willing to buy them off me right now. This is too exciting, so they won’t get them.”
No matter how hard they tried for tickets, die-hard Sox fans who talked to RedEye say they won’t go to a broker.
“It’s frustrating because that would be an excessive amount of money for me and a lot of people I know,” said Dawn Camp, who failed to get tickets online.
“The average Joe who has been behind the Sox the whole way will not get to go to the World Series now that the team has finally made it,” said Camp, who lives in suburban Lake Villa. “That’s just not right.”
For those willing to spend big, there are still Series seats available.
Brokers and national ticket services–selling online and by phone–stand ready to answer demand.
StubHub!, a national marketplace for ticket buyers and sellers, was offering tickets ranging from $700 to $10,000 on Tuesday evening. StubHub! sold a pair of seats six rows behind home plate for $15,000.
At Chicago-based Great Tickets, the low price had jumped from $700 to $1,000 in the course of four hours. The company was fielding 150 phone calls an hour for its tickets, according to a spokesman.
“We’re getting a lot more calls than online hits,” said Rich Zasievida, sales manager. “People want the instant gratification of knowing they’ve got that ticket.”
Zasievida says fans can order as far ahead as Game 7. If the Series ends before the game is played, they would get their money back, minus shipping fees. Fans who need to head out of town for the Series can buy tickets for both Houston and St. Louis on justgreattickets.com.
Beverly resident Julie Iverson says dialing up a broker just isn’t an option. She already has made sacrifices to see her beloved Sox, shelling out $1,900 for 2006 season tickets.
The White Sox offered fans eligibility for 2005 Series tickets if they bought packages for next year by 11 a.m. Tuesday.
By Tuesday evening, Iverson hadn’t gotten her confirmation call.
“I’m really nervous,” Iverson said. “I even tried to call Ticketmaster this afternoon as a backup, but I just got bumped and bumped off the phone. I don’t know what else I can do, but wait and hope.”
The White Sox’s Kirby said Iverson shouldn’t panic.
“We sold over 1,000 new season passes as of close of business Monday,” said Kirby, who projected that everything would be straightened out by end of day on Wednesday. “We’re handling those tickets in the order in which we got them. We did receive a lot of requests from our fans.”
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Hot tickets
The Series is just one of many hot tickets Chicagoans went after this year. Remember these?
White Sox vs. Red Sox
A couple of weeks ago, ALCS tickets sold out in less than an hour. If only the Series tickets had lasted that long.
U2
When four May concerts at the United Center sold out in minutes and went mostly to brokers, the band publicly apologized.
Coldplay
Fans were livid after 1,000 tickets to the band’s May 15 concer at Metro sold out in less than a minute.
University of Illinois Basketball
Getting tickets to the Illini’s NCAA Finals appearance in April was nearly impossible, as the 10,000 tickets available to the general public sold out in May 2004, and the school’s 4,500 tickets went mostly to alumni and donors.
Cubs vs. Red Sox
They may be old news now, but back in June, the Cubbies and the Red Sox were the talk of the town. Seats at the series were the first to sell out when Cubs tickets went on sale in February.
