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Tickets ticketed for extinction

batmagadanleadoff Dec 05 2014 09:19 AM

I'm surprised the bankrupt and thus penny-pinching Mets haven't phased out hard tickets yet. ______________________________________________________________ [fimg=644]http://mar10.hugginsandscott.com/pl/19220_1969_mets_psa.jpg[/fimg] Sports teams are phasing out hard tickets; why? Jared Hopkins 8:49 a.m. CST, December 5, 2014 Fans who buy 2015 White Sox season tickets will get their choice of the best available seats, a special pin and hat, a media guide, the option to buy postseason games, parking discounts and invitations to special events. What they won't get are the tickets. "I just called them and expressed my displeasure," season ticket holder Merrill O'Ryan, 49, said. "If I don't have that paper ticket anymore ... I won't be able to save it in a scrap book." The Sox will require season ticket holders to print tickets off a computer or use smartphones for scanning. (They can pay an additional $20 for hard tickets to be mailed). Three other MLB teams also have dropped hard tickets. More and more major sports franchises are dropping hard tickets. The Bulls, for instance, eliminated hard tickets entirely before this season. Next year the 49ers will do away with hard tickets in favor of a mobile app or printing tickets. Sports franchises pitch digital entry as a convenience to fans and see it as a way to expand their electronic footprint. But to many, those tickets are more than just rectangular pieces of cardboard. They are valuable souvenirs and tangible mementos of great games or special outings. So it isn't surprising that going digital has drawn ire from traditionalists, online message-board users and sports memorabilia collectors. Brian Schwartz, co-owner of Schwartz Sports Memorabilia in Morton Grove, said a hard game ticket provides an unexpected collector's item. "Besides opening day or a playoff game, you never know when history is going to be made," he said. "Wrigley Field was empty when Kerry Wood struck out 20 guys." "Tickets are not manufactured collectibles. Baseball cards, football cards — those are manufactured collectibles," said Joe Orlando, president of Professional Sports Authenticator. "They're like tiny time capsules and you can relive those moments again." Teams and industry experts said everyday life is headed toward paperless. They also say the decision is intended to ease the transfering of tickets with fewer complications and to curb fraud or counterfeit tickets. "You can manage your tickets significantly better," said Brooks Boyer, Sox senior vice president of sales and marketing. "It gives people the option to use mobile ticketing where they don't have to use a ticket at all." MLB Advanced Media, the league's media arm, owns Tickets.com, which manages ticket services for the league's 30 teams. Last season, 80 percent of single-game tickets were delivered digitally, an increase from 2011 when that number was 50 percent, according to MLB Advanced Media. Bulls fans access tickets using the team's mobile app or by printing them. Like other teams, the Bulls plan to launch a rewards program, with perks based on attendance and purchases at the United Center. A spokeswoman said the digital change has been positive. She said single-game Bulls tickets may still be hard tickets, depending on where they purchased. (Unlike the Sox, there is no option to receive hard season tickets). The Blackhawks and Bears mail hard-copy tickets to their season ticket holders. Spokesmen for both teams said the teams offer digital options for season ticket holders and are monitoring the situation to see what's best for fans. A Cubs spokesman said the team plans to mail hard season tickets to fans for 2015, although it will continue a pilot program that allows some fans to use digital tickets. Experts said the move is a natural progression as consumers increasingly incorporate technology into their lives and as teams seek a marketing edge. The data gleaned from fans is not unlike what has long been practiced by airlines, supermarkets and online retailers. "It allows them to see what people are buying," said Irving Rein, who teaches at the Northwestern University School of Communication and recently co-wrote "The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry." "They're trying to have a better customer experience and it gives them access to material and information they never had before." Bernard Mullin, CEO of The Aspire Group, an Atlanta-based sports-marketing firm, said when ticket are shared electronically — bar-car codes and other secure information is sent — the team learns about the person transferring it as well as where it's sent. That's because teams and their ticket brokers — such as Ticketmaster — require registration information. That data can lead to emails or texts about events or merchandise, which Mullin said is not spam but fans hearing directly. "We're constantly trying to find the contact information of anybody who has the interest so we can communicate with them," Mullin said.... read the rest at http://www.redeyechicago.com/sports/ct- ... 1631.story

seawolf17 Dec 05 2014 09:22 AM Re: Tickets ticketed for extinction

I lament the death of physical tickets; I've saved almost all my stubs through the years. I use the duplicates as bookmarks. Back when CDs were a thing, I would put the ticket stub inside the back of the CD case of the concerts I went to.

Ceetar Dec 05 2014 10:00 AM Re: Tickets ticketed for extinction

we're in the inbetween phase of needing hard tickets and streamlining the process of being able to easily request/save one as purely a souvenir.

A Boy Named Seo Dec 05 2014 11:22 AM Re: Tickets ticketed for extinction

I still have all of mine from concerts and games and stuff. I went to an Arsenal match this year and the 'season tickets' are just a single pass issued to the ticket holder. So the guy who 'had an extra' gave me the pass outside the gate, then I scanned it and handed it back to him. Surprised cheap-ass US sports teams don't already do something like this. Pros: -print and issue only 1 thing -cracks down on scalping Cons: -cracks down on scalping -fans think you're a cheap-ass

Mets Guy in Michigan Dec 05 2014 02:20 PM Re: Tickets ticketed for extinction Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 05 2014 02:36 PM

Pros: -print and issue only 1 thing -cracks down on scalping Cons: -cracks down on scalping -fans think you're a cheap-ass I'd add to the pros that having digital or cloud access is easier in some ways. I had a friend who left his tickets at home once. If there's cloud access, that's no longer an issue. I treasure my ticket stub from Tom Seaver's 300th win, and proudly asked him to sign it. I also really, really liked newspapers -- but even as someone in the field I realized there was technological advances that change the way we do things.

sharpie Dec 05 2014 02:23 PM Re: Tickets ticketed for extinction

Hard tickets are so much more pleasing aethetically. I like having them in my wallet and taking them out right before I enter an event. Print-at-home tickets are ugly, take more effort to actually print the things and use up printer ink. As far as phone tickets, at least for airlines they seem to be a hassle - the screen goes dark at the wrong moment or they sometimes just don't work, making the airline people have to go back to the desk and holidng up the line. What I really hate, however, is the way they make you scan your tickets at Citifield. I always seem to get stuck behind people who can't seem to figure out how to do it. Why can't they use hand-held scanners like everyone else?

Ceetar Dec 06 2014 08:00 AM Re: Tickets ticketed for extinction

sharpie wrote: Hard tickets are so much more pleasing aethetically. I like having them in my wallet and taking them out right before I enter an event. Print-at-home tickets are ugly, take more effort to actually print the things and use up printer ink. As far as phone tickets, at least for airlines they seem to be a hassle - the screen goes dark at the wrong moment or they sometimes just don't work, making the airline people have to go back to the desk and holidng up the line. What I really hate, however, is the way they make you scan your tickets at Citifield. I always seem to get stuck behind people who can't seem to figure out how to do it. Why can't they use hand-held scanners like everyone else? I think because unfolding the ticket and handing it to someone to fumble with is annoying. I hate when they take my ticket to scan it for me. By the time I hand it to them I'd already have been through if you let me do it myself. We're sorta still in flux, as I said. For one, the phone thing like you said. Most smartphones have NFC now that Apple caught up, so it's only a matter of time before the turnstile should be able to recognize you without you even having to do anything. This is very big brother of course, but you don't need turnstiles. just big gates and everyone walks in. Your phone will talk to various receivers in the building confirming your right to be there. If you don't, it'll be fairly easy to isolate who's not allowed, and the "must present your ticket' caveat means security can walk up to you and verify. On one hand that means they can kind of prescreen you and security check you and all that via databases (but they do this anyway with facial recognition in some places) and they'll be able to tell precisely where you are. But they'll also be able to track other useful things, the paths most people take around the park, and instantaneous appraisal of where lines are long.

Ceetar Dec 19 2014 10:29 AM Re: Tickets ticketed for extinction