This morning Patriots tickets went on sale on Ticketmaster, and excited Pats fans with multiple browser windows open began their quest to secure face value tickets at 10am EST.
What followed shortly thereafter was a collection of responses like these from Twitter:
@Patriots what’s up with ticketmaster!? Can’t get any tickets!
— Jeremiah Daly (@JeremiahDaly_25) July 17, 2012
. @Patriots nothing to say about literally millions of people on Twitter and not a single person actually getting tickets from today’s sale?
— King B (@brendan207) July 17, 2012
so much for stalking and refreshing ticketmaster at 10am for @Patriots single game tickets. #betterlucknexttime
— Shannon Bresnahan (@ShanBres) July 17, 2012
Even an informal twitter poll by yours truly failed to turn up one single fan who was able to get tickets this morning. This is nothing new, and there has to be a better way for regular fans to get tickets before they get bought up by the bots and resold at an increased price.
Here’s my proposal: why not go back to the old fashioned way? You know, have actual hard copies of tickets that real human beings can wait in line for and purchase?
The Patriots could even make an event out of it. I know more than a few people willing to drive down to Foxboro in early summer to wait in line with other fans. Put Pats highlights up on the jumbotron, play some music, get Coach Belichick to come out and shake hands, maybe cut some sleeves off (okay maybe that’s a little much). What a great way to get people pumped for the season!
And think of all the business it would drive to the Hall and Patriots Place! That’s money that goes back to the organization and not to ticket brokers like Stub Hub.
At least it would certainly be better to stand and wait with other passionate fans at the stadium than sitting in front of a computer, frantically refreshing multiple browsers only to find yourself screwed by Ticketmaster yet again.
It should not be this hard for average fans to get tickets at face value. Game day experiences are expensive enough without having to deal with all the increases the ticket brokers stick on them.
Ticketmaster is completely broken for sales days like today and it has been for a long time, yet it is still pitched to the fans as a chance to actually get tickets to a game, which rarely happens for anyone who’s not a ticket bot.
If the Pats are serious about getting tough on ticket brokers they should really look into new methods to get their tickets into the hands of their passionate fans who want and deserve them most. Ticketmaster is completely corrupted by online technology, and it’s unfair to continue to act as though getting tickets is as easy as logging on when the sale starts.
4 years later, nothing has changed. Kraft talks a big game about how important the fans are to him. Clearly he doesn’t give a crap.