Patriots end ticketExchange, go with NFL-wide TicketMaster scheme

[Tunescribe]

Agreed - back when ticketexchange started it was truly a hidden gem. I've been on the WL since 2007 and went to countless games for face value. I spent countless hours over the years constantly refreshing that site for the popular games. Shame it has to end, but now the team can profit from this. Nothing Kraft hates seeing more than others profiting from something he can't get his hands on ( hence their obsession with STH's selling tickets to stubhub).

What hasn't been said here a lot - season tickets holders could make out pretty well with this. Check out some of the prices for these games:

New England Patriots

It's simply astounding the prices on here. This will be really interesting to see how this all shakes out. STH's could make an absolute killing here. Going to see a lot more "pink hats" around Gillette next year.

What the Kraft's have made abundantly clear these past few years is that they show zero loyalty to their "diehard" fans. You saw how they kicked out the first 15 rows of fans for that idiotic club in the endzone. This is more of the same. Nothing anyone can do about it, either. They could fill another stadium with the Wait List. Will be fascinating to see how things go down once the BB/Brady era ends.

I don't get it. How can tickets already be available in this new system when they haven't even been sent out to season ticket holders yet? And there's already a lot of them up for sale. What am I missing here? I can only guess that what's listed for sale is from brokers who own season ticket accounts ... Or maybe from season ticket holders themselves? In either case, they won't be able to transfer anything until tickets actually are distributed by the team, which hasn't happened yet.

 

[XLIX]

I don't get it. How can tickets already be available in this new system when they haven't even been sent out to season ticket holders yet? And there's already a lot of them up for sale. What am I missing here? I can only guess that what's listed for sale is from brokers who own season ticket accounts ... Or maybe from season ticket holders themselves? In either case, they won't be able to transfer anything until tickets actually are distributed by the team, which hasn't happened yet.

There’s really no reason why electronic copies of tickets can’t be distributed or change hands at this point. Once you sell a ticket on TM, the hard copy gets invalidated, so you don’t really need to wait for the hard copy distribution.

The day is rapidly coming where you won’t even get a hard copy in the first place. For many teams that day is already here, albeit not yet in NE.

 

[Tunescribe]

Once you sell a ticket on TM, the hard copy gets invalidated, so you don’t really need to wait for the hard copy distribution.

I understand this.

There’s really no reason why electronic copies of tickets can’t be distributed or change hands at this point.

But don't the tickets have to be distributed before you can even sell an electronic version online?

 

[denverpatsfan]

[QUOTE="The day is rapidly coming where you won’t even get a hard copy in the first place. For many teams that day is already here, albeit not yet in NE.[/QUOTE]

Broncos do not send you hard copies of your tickets. Better have a good cell phone with a charged battery if you want to get into the game. A strong signal is also required.

Fun times in the 21st Century.

 

[Tunescribe]

Broncos do not send you hard copies of your tickets. Better have a good cell phone with a charged battery if you want to get into the game. A strong signal is also required. Fun times in the 21st Century.

Geez, that's awful. Part of the fun of having tickets is collecting them and sometimes displaying them at home. Same thing goes for having a CD/LP collection vs. just streaming or having downloads. All it takes is one wayward electrical zap or cell phone glitch and those living digital lives are SOL.

 

[XLIX]

I understand this.

But don't the tickets have to be distributed before you can even sell an electronic version online?

I don't see why. If a STHer has already paid their invoice (and everyone should have since they were due March 31) then the team can activate their tickets electronically with or without hard copies in hand.

As I noted above, some teams don't even distribute hard copies of tickets at all anymore and I would bet that eventually all teams will move toward that model eventually.

 

[XLIX]

Broncos do not send you hard copies of your tickets. Better have a good cell phone with a charged battery if you want to get into the game. A strong signal is also required.

I didn't know that about the Broncos, but you can add Atlanta and Tampa Bay in that category.

AND the Boston Celtics (at least as far as STHers are concerned, but I do not know about individual sales). It really makes it a pain when you want to just give (or sell) tickets to a buddy or colleague. You have to walk them through downloading the app, registering an account, accepting the transfer, etc, etc.......

 

[bresna]

I didn't know that about the Broncos, but you can add Atlanta and Tampa Bay in that category.

AND the Boston Celtics (at least as far as STHers are concerned, but I do not know about individual sales). It really makes it a pain when you want to just give (or sell) tickets to a buddy or colleague. You have to walk them through downloading the app, registering an account, accepting the transfer, etc, etc.......

The Celtics did this too? That sucks. Back when I was a season holder, I remember when that big manila envelope showed up at the door via registered mail - signature required. Big sheets of tickets. It was like Christmas. Now you just get an E-mail? No more selection parties where you split up the tickets for the year, like the one Jimmy Fallon holds in "Fever Pitch"?

Man, I'm getting old...

 

[h0c2000]

Why Is the Live-Event Ticket Market So Screwed Up? - Freakonomics

Good listen about the ticket market as a whole.

 

[XLIX]

The Celtics did this too? That sucks. Back when I was a season holder, I remember when that big manila envelope showed up at the door via registered mail - signature required. Big sheets of tickets. It was like Christmas. Now you just get an E-mail? No more selection parties where you split up the tickets for the year, like the one Jimmy Fallon holds in "Fever Pitch"?

Man, I'm getting old...

It's not an email, it's your online account where you access your tickets. You can't even print them out.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Well, if you signed up after September 2003, you're now one step closer to the top of list.

I wonder how much the list will shrink by once everyone who was on it just to get access to ticketExchange realizes there's no longer a reason to be on it anymore.

 

[Blaizer]

Season ticketholders have thr ability to “manage” their tickets electronically as soon as the NFL schedule was announced. I am sure that is part of the volume of tickets that are already posted. I have had season tickets for 7 years now. Interesting to see how the sale of tickets over face value will be handled. MA law in theory does not allow for it. Yet I do not see one ticket on the TM site even close to face value. Also if Season Ticket holders sell on the TM site they have no liability for the actions of the person who purchases the tickets just like it used to be on the old Patriots Exchange site.

 

[bresna]

Season ticketholders have thr ability to “manage” their tickets electronically as soon as the NFL schedule was announced. I am sure that is part of the volume of tickets that are already posted. I have had season tickets for 7 years now. Interesting to see how the sale of tickets over face value will be handled. MA law in theory does not allow for it. Yet I do not see one ticket on the TM site even close to face value. Also if Season Ticket holders sell on the TM site they have no liability for the actions of the person who purchases the tickets just like it used to be on the old Patriots Exchange site.

Well, it looks like those of you that kept your season tickets all these years can finally cash in legally. I can a lot of you selling a couple of games and being able to pay for half of your season ticket bill.

 

[JMB]

Even though this is now sponsored and suggested by the Patriots, what are the chances they are still going to collect data and cancel the tickets of those who use it?

 

[Ring 6]

I don't get it. How can tickets already be available in this new system when they haven't even been sent out to season ticket holders yet? And there's already a lot of them up for sale. What am I missing here? I can only guess that what's listed for sale is from brokers who own season ticket accounts ... Or maybe from season ticket holders themselves? In either case, they won't be able to transfer anything until tickets actually are distributed by the team, which hasn't happened yet.

Do we know those are season tickets and not the team selling the non-Sth seats?

 

[Tunescribe]

Do we know those are season tickets and not the team selling the non-Sth seats?

Just from what I know about pretty much the entire stadium being sold out to season ticket holders, I seriously doubt it. Many of the regular-season tickets posted are from prime sideline locations. I figure they're brokers selling on spec (tickets haven't been distributed yet) either from their own STH accounts or from account holders they do regular business with. Or, some could be from the season ticket holders themselves. Another reason I doubt they're from the team are the markups -- most way, way beyond face value.

 

[Ring 6]

Just from what I know about pretty much the entire stadium being sold out to season ticket holders, I seriously doubt it. Many of the regular-season tickets posted are from prime sideline locations. I figure they're brokers selling on spec (tickets haven't been distributed yet) either from their own STH accounts or from account holders they do regular business with. Or, some could be from the season ticket holders themselves. Another reason I doubt they're from the team are the markups -- most way, way beyond face value.

I think only about 75% of the seats are Sth. I believe they are required to leave seats available so the opponent fans could buy.

I don’t think they can be spec because it looked like they are exact seats.

 

[Tunescribe]

I think only about 75% of the seats are Sth. I believe they are required to leave seats available so the opponent fans could buy.

Where did you get this? I've never, ever heard of that in my 26 years as a season ticket holder. The visiting fans I've encountered get their tix from brokers (Stub Hub, Ace Ticket, etc.). A number of tickets might be reserved for single-game sales but visiting-team fans are not directly accommodated by a home-team allotment. I do know that a small number are set aside for the visiting teams to use for staff and family, but that's like a few dozen.

I don’t think they can be spec because it looked like they are exact seats.

I don't know what you mean by this. By "selling on spec," I mean they're selling tickets they don't yet have possession of that will be delivered to the purchaser at a later date, either electronically or mailing the actual tix.

 

[PatsDeb]

I didn't know that about the Broncos, but you can add Atlanta and Tampa Bay in that category.

AND the Boston Celtics (at least as far as STHers are concerned, but I do not know about individual sales). It really makes it a pain when you want to just give (or sell) tickets to a buddy or colleague. You have to walk them through downloading the app, registering an account, accepting the transfer, etc, etc.......

Yep, the Bruins are doing it too. We already had a meltdown by my husband in front of the metal detectors to get in because his cell phone wouldn't load. We had two different ticket orders, so one was on my daughter's phone (we got through the gate) and one was on his phone and it wouldn't load. We had to come back to the gate and download his order on my daughter's phone (thank God for tech-saavy 15 year olds) and hand it back through the metal detector. Luckily the Garden guys didn't have a problem with it. They looked like they've dealt with these glitches before. Not sure what would have happened if we didn't have a 2nd phone.

 

[Tunescribe]

Yep, the Bruins are doing it too. We already had a meltdown by my husband in front of the metal detectors to get in because his cell phone wouldn't load. We had two different ticket orders, so one was on my daughter's phone (we got through the gate) and one was on his phone and it wouldn't load. We had to come back to the gate and download his order on my daughter's phone (thank God for tech-saavy 15 year olds) and hand it back through the metal detector. Luckily the Garden guys didn't have a problem with it. They looked like they've dealt with these glitches before. Not sure what would have happened if we didn't have a 2nd phone.

Mark my words: our dependency on electronics someday will go completely haywire and lives will be ruined as a result.