Tickets Thread

[jaysblue]

I still have 3 pairs of Cubs/Blue Jays tickets for Wrigley in August. Looking to sell all three at face value, so if interested just send me a PM.

[West Texas Forever]

Haven't been to a Blue Jays game yet this season, so if I could find someone I'll let you know.

 

Cool, keep me posted.

[Brownie19]

Might be tough getting face value for tickets the rest of this season (possibly until 2019).

[HERPDERP]

Total $ spent on tickets this year: $0

 

Weather + s***** team haven't given me much reason so far

 

Maybe September

[CrackerJack]

maybe the early bird renewal for season tickets will start during the all star break?

[jglicksm]

Think prices will go up 40% again this year?

 

maybe the early bird renewal for season tickets will start during the all star break?

[CrackerJack]

Think prices will go up 40% again this year?

 

if the Blue Jays continue to be disappointing, then the price of next year's season tickets surely will fall as some (many?) of the current STHs fall by the wayside ... right?

[burlingtonbandit]

if the Blue Jays continue to be disappointing, then the price of next year's season tickets surely will fall as some (many?) of the current STHs fall by the wayside ... right?

 

They'll probably do it like last year where renewals are increased by like 1 or 2% but new packages will be closer to 10% more expensive.

[CrackerJack]

They'll probably do it like last year where renewals are increased by like 1 or 2% but new packages will be closer to 10% more expensive.

 

unless the Jays make an exciting playoff push in the "second half," then renewals probably will be down somewhat and so i'd be surprised if there are any price increases.

[burlingtonbandit]

unless the Jays make an exciting playoff push in the "second half," then renewals probably will be down somewhat and so i'd be surprised if there are any price increases.

 

If they're sinking 200M into the dome they aren't keeping prices the same, especially with the min. wage increasing.

[jglicksm]

if the Blue Jays continue to be disappointing, then the price of next year's season tickets surely will fall as some (many?) of the current STHs fall by the wayside ... right?

 

I bet there are teams out there that at some point reduced ticket prices between seasons, but nothing that I can think of or that I could find with google. Usually prices either stay the same or go up. It would take a huge drop in attendance to get them to lower prices, and at least this year the attendance has stayed reasonably high (top in AL for that matter) notwithstanding poor on-field performance. Even when you consider that people will probably think twice about renewing, management won't know the drop is coming for sure until the renewal period opens, and by then the prices are set

[CrackerJack]

I bet there are teams out there that at some point reduced ticket prices between seasons, but nothing that I can think of or that I could find with google. Usually prices either stay the same or go up. It would take a huge drop in attendance to get them to lower prices, and at least this year the attendance has stayed reasonably high (top in AL for that matter) notwithstanding poor on-field performance. Even when you consider that people will probably think twice about renewing, management won't know the drop is coming for sure until the renewal period opens, and by then the prices are set

 

My expectation is that next year's prices will pretty much stay the same (maybe some minor tinkering here or there) if the Jays continue to have a disappointing season ... I wasn't seriously expecting a reduction across the board.

 

Re the bold part: a couple of weeks ago the Jays sent out a survey to its STHs asking them (among other things) whether they were going to renew for next year ... so they'll have a general idea of what to expect.

 

For me, the most interesting question on the survey was whether we wanted Saturday home games to start at 1:07, 4:07 or 7:07 pm. I prefer 4:07. What about you guys?

[ChrisS]

My expectation is that next year's prices will pretty much stay the same (maybe some minor tinkering here or there) if the Jays continue to have a disappointing season ... I wasn't seriously expecting a reduction across the board.

 

Re the bold part: a couple of weeks ago the Jays sent out a survey to its STHs asking them (among other things) whether they were going to renew for next year ... so they'll have a general idea of what to expect.

 

For me, the most interesting question on the survey was whether we wanted Saturday home games to start at 1:07, 4:07 or 7:07 pm. I prefer 4:07. What about you guys?

 

I never got the survey sent out to me..

I doubt I will be renewing next season and I dont think Rogers will raise prices after the season we are having. Ive had to put in a s*** ton of work just to sell 50-60% of my tickets so far (at or below face value)

Home games on Saturday should be 4:07, I hope they change it.

[burlingtonbandit]

Honestly I like the 1:07 start. I think the players would prefer the 4:07 though.

[jglicksm]

My expectation is that next year's prices will pretty much stay the same (maybe some minor tinkering here or there) if the Jays continue to have a disappointing season ... I wasn't seriously expecting a reduction across the board.

 

Re the bold part: a couple of weeks ago the Jays sent out a survey to its STHs asking them (among other things) whether they were going to renew for next year ... so they'll have a general idea of what to expect.

 

For me, the most interesting question on the survey was whether we wanted Saturday home games to start at 1:07, 4:07 or 7:07 pm. I prefer 4:07. What about you guys?

 

Ya, I got the survey too. Surveys like that are tough to read. People that feel strongly are more likely to fill them out. Also, since not anonymous (you had to put your season ticket member ID in) it is hard to know if responses would be biased by that, but your point is taken that they are making an effort. My counter is that you don't really know what you have in any transaction until cash changes hands or a card is swiped. I still think they don't know what's coming, or that they would expect it to be bad enough to lower prices.

 

I know some of my friends that also have seasons would stick around if they lowered them. The truth is that the prices where I sit are up over 65% for me and 80% if I was a non-renewal account vs. when I signed up for my tickets only 2 years ago. My seats are fantastic (row 1, 500 level, right above the broadcast booth), but even for me it's getting to the point where I'm thinking twice about renewing... I have no trouble getting rid of my seats since I have a few people I share with, but at some point they'll wonder if it is worth it-- they pay $14 a ticket on a Wednesday against a meh opponent (which isn't terrible at all), but can get seats 2-3 rows back for $2 on tickpick and not have to plan around games they committed to 4 months prior. They may be better off overpaying for the few "hot" games on the secondary market and then making up for it on the cheap ones, plus have the flexibility to choose games up to a few hours before they start. Furthermore, now I can't share my season ticket privileges like I used to be able to-- the perks are locked to my card and can't go to a season ticket partner. Last year they loved getting my perks.

 

The Jays are making other big mistakes too. I am baffled that they are restricting numbers of STH's that can go to events that used to be open to everyone. If you have seasons in Boston, for example EVERYONE gets to take batting practice on the field. It isn't published in a brochure, but it is offered every single year. They also have cocktail nights with management, again open to EVERYONE, among other things they do for account holders. The Jays on the other hand keep cutting back, saying they have too many STH's to accommodate everyone (even though the Red Sox have a much larger base of season ticket holders and accommodate EVERYONE for more and better events). If you don't give reliable perks to your season ticket holders why pay more for more games?

[burlingtonbandit]

The perks have sucked this year. Got rid of the SOTF, Season Ticket holder autograph signing and the batting practice on the field. They say they're available through the blue jays point thing but that's garbage as they're trying to get you to spend more $ to get more points.

 

Next year I think the STH will be lower as now they can see exactly who is selling tickets, so my guess is they cut a lot of brokers out with the good seats. That's the biggest reason why tickets are cheap on the secondary market, not because of how the team is doing.

[Brownie19]

Ya, I got the survey too. Surveys like that are tough to read. People that feel strongly are more likely to fill them out. Also, since not anonymous (you had to put your season ticket member ID in) it is hard to know if responses would be biased by that, but your point is taken that they are making an effort. My counter is that you don't really know what you have in any transaction until cash changes hands or a card is swiped. I still think they don't know what's coming, or that they would expect it to be bad enough to lower prices.

 

I know some of my friends that also have seasons would stick around if they lowered them. The truth is that the prices where I sit are up over 65% for me and 80% if I was a non-renewal account vs. when I signed up for my tickets only 2 years ago. My seats are fantastic (row 1, 500 level, right above the broadcast booth), but even for me it's getting to the point where I'm thinking twice about renewing... I have no trouble getting rid of my seats since I have a few people I share with, but at some point they'll wonder if it is worth it-- they pay $14 a ticket on a Wednesday against a meh opponent (which isn't terrible at all), but can get seats 2-3 rows back for $2 on tickpick and not have to plan around games they committed to 4 months prior. They may be better off overpaying for the few "hot" games on the secondary market and then making up for it on the cheap ones, plus have the flexibility to choose games up to a few hours before they start. Furthermore, now I can't share my season ticket privileges like I used to be able to-- the perks are locked to my card and can't go to a season ticket partner. Last year they loved getting my perks.

 

The Jays are making other big mistakes too. I am baffled that they are restricting numbers of STH's that can go to events that used to be open to everyone. If you have seasons in Boston, for example EVERYONE gets to take batting practice on the field. It isn't published in a brochure, but it is offered every single year. They also have cocktail nights with management, again open to EVERYONE, among other things they do for account holders. The Jays on the other hand keep cutting back, saying they have too many STH's to accommodate everyone (even though the Red Sox have a much larger base of season ticket holders and accommodate EVERYONE for more and better events). If you don't give reliable perks to your season ticket holders why pay more for more games?

 

Are you saying in Boston that STH get to take batting practice at Fenway (not watch it - but actually step up to the plate and hit)? If so, that's awesome. They should have added that in Fever Pitch!

[jaysblue]

I never got the survey sent out to me..

I doubt I will be renewing next season and I dont think Rogers will raise prices after the season we are having. Ive had to put in a s*** ton of work just to sell 50-60% of my tickets so far (at or below face value)

Home games on Saturday should be 4:07, I hope they change it.

 

That's why I would never get season tickets for the Blue Jays in general. 81 home games is a lot, unless you're splitting it 2-3 ways. Selling that many games isn't worth the headache IMO and especially when it's tough to unload weeknight games.

 

I agree as well. Even Saturday night games at 7 PM some weekends would be nice as well.

[jglicksm]

I think the low price on the secondary market has less to do with brokers and more to do with the average Joe who bought 81 games and figured they could flip 60-70 of them and use the other 10 either because they wanted better seats, season ticket perks (what a joke as alluded to), access to playoff tickets (I am still foolishly hopeful)or the "prestige" of having season tickets. That will take care of itself for all these reasons and those outlined earlier.

 

Remember that every city has brokers. I've travelled to cities where teams have poor attendance and had to pay more than in Toronto tickets are going for this year because they are less desperate people on the secondary market.

 

I know the Jays are tracking Stubhub, but the brokers try to avoid stubhub as much as possible since it eats away so much of their skim. The Jays have other methods to track patterns suggestive of being a broker- credit cards, IP addressses, use of VPN's, ridiculous numbers of seats registered to one person and other account irregularities. I don't think the Stubhub partnership will be what let's them weed out brokers (if they even want to), but rather they will use that data to do a better job pricing their tickets.

[CrackerJack]

Ya, I got the survey too. Surveys like that are tough to read. People that feel strongly are more likely to fill them out. Also, since not anonymous (you had to put your season ticket member ID in) it is hard to know if responses would be biased by that, but your point is taken that they are making an effort. My counter is that you don't really know what you have in any transaction until cash changes hands or a card is swiped. I still think they don't know what's coming, or that they would expect it to be bad enough to lower prices.

 

I know some of my friends that also have seasons would stick around if they lowered them. The truth is that the prices where I sit are up over 65% for me and 80% if I was a non-renewal account vs. when I signed up for my tickets only 2 years ago. My seats are fantastic (row 1, 500 level, right above the broadcast booth), but even for me it's getting to the point where I'm thinking twice about renewing... I have no trouble getting rid of my seats since I have a few people I share with, but at some point they'll wonder if it is worth it-- they pay $14 a ticket on a Wednesday against a meh opponent (which isn't terrible at all), but can get seats 2-3 rows back for $2 on tickpick and not have to plan around games they committed to 4 months prior. They may be better off overpaying for the few "hot" games on the secondary market and then making up for it on the cheap ones, plus have the flexibility to choose games up to a few hours before they start. Furthermore, now I can't share my season ticket privileges like I used to be able to-- the perks are locked to my card and can't go to a season ticket partner. Last year they loved getting my perks.

 

The Jays are making other big mistakes too. I am baffled that they are restricting numbers of STH's that can go to events that used to be open to everyone. If you have seasons in Boston, for example EVERYONE gets to take batting practice on the field. It isn't published in a brochure, but it is offered every single year. They also have cocktail nights with management, again open to EVERYONE, among other things they do for account holders. The Jays on the other hand keep cutting back, saying they have too many STH's to accommodate everyone (even though the Red Sox have a much larger base of season ticket holders and accommodate EVERYONE for more and better events). If you don't give reliable perks to your season ticket holders why pay more for more games?

 

great post.

 

yeah, I would've been more critical in the survey and in the open comments section if my submission was anonymous.

[CrackerJack]

The perks have sucked this year. Got rid of the SOTF, Season Ticket holder autograph signing and the batting practice on the field. They say they're available through the blue jays point thing but that's garbage as they're trying to get you to spend more $ to get more points.

 

Next year I think the STH will be lower as now they can see exactly who is selling tickets, so my guess is they cut a lot of brokers out with the good seats. That's the biggest reason why tickets are cheap on the secondary market, not because of how the team is doing.

 

With the Blue Jays now having an official partnership with StubHub ... and ads for StubHub in Rogers Centre ... and actual encouragement from the Jays to their STHs to sell their unused tickets on StubHub with a simple click from their online Jays account etc. ... the Jays would now hunt down those subscribers who do just that? How many games would one have to sell for them to deem you a scalper?

[jglicksm]

With the Blue Jays now having an official partnership with StubHub ... and ads for StubHub in Rogers Centre ... and actual encouragement from the Jays to their STHs to sell their unused tickets on StubHub with a simple click from their online Jays account etc. ... the Jays would now hunt down those subscribers who do just that? How many games would one have to sell for them to deem you a scalper?

 

Every team does it differently. Some say you need to use (between you and your designated season ticket partners) at least 50% of your games. Some say 30%. Some markets have no rule. Currently there is no rule about this in the contract with the Jays, but expect it to come. It exists in Cleveland and, I could stand corrected but, I believe it was instituted when Shapiro was running the show.

 

That being said it must be really hard to enforce. I give a lot of my games away as PDFs to my friends and family. How can they distinguish that from PDFs I use or for that matter those sold on the corner outside the Rogers Centre? You have to think that the people seeking to "abuse the system" will always be a step or two ahead of the team- it probably isn't worth the cost of proper enforcement.

[jglicksm]

Are you saying in Boston that STH get to take batting practice at Fenway (not watch it - but actually step up to the plate and hit)? If so, that's awesome. They should have added that in Fever Pitch!

 

Yes. I moved to Boston this season. I now have seasons in both cities- but my friends are taking almost all my Toronto games for obvious reasons if I even decide to renew next year.

 

I signed up for seasons in Boston in the end. One of the way the reps convinced me to do it over a game pack was I got to take BP. Legit BP. On the field. Came close to but did no to hit the Green Monster. And on top of that I get to go on the field for batting practice on Wednesday. My rep knows I'm a Jays fan and offered it to me it of the Blue (pun intended). How's that for service?

[Brownie19]

Yes. I moved to Boston this season. I now have seasons in both cities- but my friends are taking almost all my Toronto games for obvious reasons if I even decide to renew next year.

 

I signed up for seasons in Boston in the end. One of the way the reps convinced me to do it over a game pack was I got to take BP. Legit BP. On the field. Came close to but did no to hit the Green Monster. And on top of that I get to go on the field for batting practice on Wednesday. My rep knows I'm a Jays fan and offered it to me it of the Blue (pun intended). How's that for service?

 

That is boner-ific.

[burlingtonbandit]

I think the low price on the secondary market has less to do with brokers and more to do with the average Joe who bought 81 games and figured they could flip 60-70 of them and use the other 10 either because they wanted better seats, season ticket perks (what a joke as alluded to), access to playoff tickets (I am still foolishly hopeful)or the "prestige" of having season tickets. That will take care of itself for all these reasons and those outlined earlier.

 

Remember that every city has brokers. I've travelled to cities where teams have poor attendance and had to pay more than in Toronto tickets are going for this year because they are less desperate people on the secondary market.

 

I know the Jays are tracking Stubhub, but the brokers try to avoid stubhub as much as possible since it eats away so much of their skim. The Jays have other methods to track patterns suggestive of being a broker- credit cards, IP addressses, use of VPN's, ridiculous numbers of seats registered to one person and other account irregularities. I don't think the Stubhub partnership will be what let's them weed out brokers (if they even want to), but rather they will use that data to do a better job pricing their tickets.

 

Well for perspective in 2015 there used to be about 800-1200 tickets on the secondary market for every game. That jumped to about 2000 or a little higher last year and this year its 5000-7000 every game. Some of it is season ticket holders yes but the majority are brokers from not just Toronto but in the States. Its basic supply-demand and that is why tickets are going for so low this year. If there was only 2000 tickets for every game on Stubhub they'd be going for a lot higher even if the Roger's Centre wasn't sold out.

 

There might be 500 tickets that are the average joe trying to sell on Kijiji, really not a big dent to cause a marketplace shift.

[jglicksm]

Well for perspective in 2015 there used to be about 800-1200 tickets on the secondary market for every game. That jumped to about 2000 or a little higher last year and this year its 5000-7000 every game. Some of it is season ticket holders yes but the majority are brokers from not just Toronto but in the States. Its basic supply-demand and that is why tickets are going for so low this year. If there was only 2000 tickets for every game on Stubhub they'd be going for a lot higher even if the Roger's Centre wasn't sold out.

 

There might be 500 tickets that are the average joe trying to sell on Kijiji, really not a big dent to cause a marketplace shift.

 

I agree with you that this is all supply/demand on the secondary market. I think, however, that stubhub has made the average Joe into an everyday scalper. I don't think either of us has the info to make a judgement either way about whether it is being driven by brokers or the general public who bought more tickets than they needed to a team that has underperformed relative to expectations.

 

In general, though, I agree with your premise and hold the same opinion. In markets with less brokers the brokers can charge more than their discounted season ticket cost, but less than the box office (for better seats than what the box has) for lower demand games and rake it in on the high demand games that sell out. In the current secondary market there are so many sellers out there and not enough buyers for the majority of games that the sellers race to the bottom in hopes that their tickets don't go completely unsold.

 

What's interesting is that I thought that in bad years it was better for the team to have brokers because at least the tickets get sold. However, that may not actually be the case. What's happened is the secondary market is so weak that it's cutting into the bottom line for the team as box office prices are so much higher than stubhub (which has "verified tickets" in better locations than the box has, and these tickets were sold by the team at season ticket or game pack discounted prices). It seems that in a bear market and in a bull market the team may actually be worse off and that is why, in my opinion, they will try to remove brokers over time.

[jaysblue]

Yes. I moved to Boston this season. I now have seasons in both cities- but my friends are taking almost all my Toronto games for obvious reasons if I even decide to renew next year.

 

I signed up for seasons in Boston in the end. One of the way the reps convinced me to do it over a game pack was I got to take BP. Legit BP. On the field. Came close to but did no to hit the Green Monster. And on top of that I get to go on the field for batting practice on Wednesday. My rep knows I'm a Jays fan and offered it to me it of the Blue (pun intended). How's that for service?

 

Isn't there a waiting list for season tickets in Boston?

[jglicksm]

Isn't there a waiting list for season tickets in Boston?

 

Depends on the section. They were selling seasons until about a month ago, but at the same time there is a list.

 

This probably helped and may be why they have been so good about the perks offered (Jays should take note):

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/02/27/many-red-sox-ticket-holders-fleeing-now/S2HwrcNSX6D4Iuqa4G8PLN/story.html

Edited July 15, 2017 by jglicksm

[burlingtonbandit]

I agree with you that this is all supply/demand on the secondary market. I think, however, that stubhub has made the average Joe into an everyday scalper. I don't think either of us has the info to make a judgement either way about whether it is being driven by brokers or the general public who bought more tickets than they needed to a team that has underperformed relative to expectations.

 

In general, though, I agree with your premise and hold the same opinion. In markets with less brokers the brokers can charge more than their discounted season ticket cost, but less than the box office (for better seats than what the box has) for lower demand games and rake it in on the high demand games that sell out. In the current secondary market there are so many sellers out there and not enough buyers for the majority of games that the sellers race to the bottom in hopes that their tickets don't go completely unsold.

 

What's interesting is that I thought that in bad years it was better for the team to have brokers because at least the tickets get sold. However, that may not actually be the case. What's happened is the secondary market is so weak that it's cutting into the bottom line for the team as box office prices are so much higher than stubhub (which has "verified tickets" in better locations than the box has, and these tickets were sold by the team at season ticket or game pack discounted prices). It seems that in a bear market and in a bull market the team may actually be worse off and that is why, in my opinion, they will try to remove brokers over time.

 

It is mostly brokers though because if you go on the other marketplaces not as big as stubhub there are still 4K tickets available so its about 65% of the tickets on stubhub. The big reason for the ticket jump is because when a team makes the playoffs a lot of people will buy season tickets next year to get the playoff tickets.

 

Teams are already getting smarter about cutting out the middleman and charging market rates for tickets.

[CrackerJack]

Approximately how many STHs do you think there currently are?

 

(the lowest crowds at the Rogers Centre this season have been 29K for 5 games)

 

And how many STHs would you estimate are brokers?