![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-84966-100x100.png\")
Solution: Buy zero tickets.
Solution: Buy zero tickets.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-18124-100x100.png\")
I hate the Red Sox, therefore this pleases me. Although I do admit it's pretty jerky.
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I don't have a problem with this at all. A smaller market team wants its own fans to be able to go to a big game against the Red Sox. The only way to ensure the majority of tickets end up in their own fans hands was to bundle them and scare off Sox fans like Patrick. It worked.
Maybe if someone like Marge Schott was still running the place, things would be different.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-237297-100x100.png\")
Who cares, hes from bawston. He should be happy watching it on the Eastcoast Sports Programming Network!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-261281-100x100.png\")
Keeping Red Sox fans out of your park is a very good idea. Bravo, Reds!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-70968-100x100.png\")
I'll come if you need someone to take that extra Sox ticket for ya.
MLB is a giant scam and has been for years.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-107600-100x100.png\")
From boston to cinci? If it wasn't 5 years ago, I'd have assumed you moved because of the P&G/Gillette buyout! Haha! I'm just trying to buy tickets for a home game in Boston for August. It's like $50 for standing room only! Over $100 for the Green Monster bleachers. Against Toronto for god sakes. And you wonder why people don't want to go see baseball.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-41338-100x100.png\")
He should have choosen a better team. Go NY Mets!!!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-190983-100x100.png\")
Sad but not surprising. This is becoming all too common in MLB. More teams are creating packages like this to maximize overall ticket sales and ensure that tickets are sold for less popular matchups.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-126486-100x100.png\")
Yet another eff-wit consumer NOT voting with their wallet. Way to teach the Reds a lesson!
Can we institute a Consumerist rule? If you end up paying for the good or service at the end of the story anyway, you lose the right to have your complaint published.
Oh, and no need to insult my dearly beloved and completely harmless Buccos. It's like making fun of the disabled kid.
Hey original poster...how is it a ripoff if they are up front with the policy and you willingly pay it. You can knock it as poor policy...but there is nothing sleazy about this...just charging what people (you) are willing to pay. Realize (if you wanted)you will be able to sell the Boston tix for higher than face value...so lets try to put both sides of the story out there.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-72624-100x100.png\")
The Phillies are doing this too. When you have an inferior on field product and brand you need to make money somehow.
I just cannot believe that he was advised to scalp tickets for an Indians game. I'm offended.
Not too surprised, since the Reds have been having trouble selling tix in the home market. Last few times I went to see the Cubs in Cincinnati, Chicago fans easily outnumbered Reds fans, even during a mid-week day game in April.
@Patchy Drizzle:
It's not so much a ploy to keep Red Sox fans out, since presumably Reds fans will also have to buy the extra tickets. More like a scheme to pad \"paid attendance\" numbers to games that no one ends up going to. Chances are, the OP ended up with tickets to some
Reds-Pirates or Reds-Marlins game...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1504-100x100.png\")
@satoru: I worked for 4 seasons right by Fenway Park and never made it to a single game. Maybe it was the aggressive scalpers hitting me up for tickets at all hours...or just the overall outrageous price.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-26052-100x100.png\")
It turns out that the Cincinnati Reds, a once-proud baseball team that used to win games but is now managed by Dusty Baker...
Brilliant, Alex.
I would just buy an HDTV instead
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-129463-100x100.png\")
to be fair, the Phillies did the same thing for the opening series and perhaps others...but they did away with college night
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-102449-100x100.png\")
As a displaced Nati sports fan, I couldn't love the teams more, but the further away I get, I realize what sleazy plays both Reds and Bengals management manage to pull of year after year, while continually running the teams into the ground. Win games, THEN screw your fans on prices is such a better formula.
Also, this is not the only team that does it. The mets also did it with subway series games. You could only buy them in packs. My resolution to my problem? I didn't buy it. He could have done the same.
Same applied with the Baltimore Orioles during spring training. Want to see the sox buy ticks to 4 other oriole games. Only diff is that during spring training tickets are cheaper. It's still a sucky deal. They make you go see the Nationals vs. the Orioles to see the BOsox play. What a crock. At least I can get in a nap during the Nationals game.
BTW if it were the Yankees that were playing I'd buy season tickets just to see one game. Now there is a real baseball team for ya! Not like that Boston bunch of bums that just happened to get lucky twice in 86 years.
@backbroken:
You, sir (or madam), are brilliant! I can't believe how many posts end up the same way...\"Some merchant treated me like crap, it took me 14 days of wasting time and money to try to buy a product...and I ended up buying it.\" Are people so greedy/materialistic/stupid that they put up with such treatment to give their money away?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-360005-100x100.png\")
@ satoru
I think your comment proves that people DO still want to see baseball. Unless you're not a person. You're a robot, aren't you?! Show yourself, robot!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-88225-100x100.png\")
I grew up in Cincinnati. (And, coincidentally, later moved to Boston, but that's not the point here.) I grew up liking the Reds. Not really obsessed with, I mean they kinda sucked (and Marge Schott turned out to be a crotchety old bigot, and then Pete Rose did his whole thing), but liked.
I still have cheerful memories of getting to go to games as a treat. The parking was horrible, we were in the nosebleed section, often our seats were behind big concrete supports so we couldn't see much, and the opposing teams were even worse than the Reds -- but I was eight, what did I care? It was great. But as this farce of a ticket sale clearly illustrates, there's really no way to easily afford to go to a game.
BAD REDS. Don't make people pay for games they don't want to go to. If you can't fill the stadium on your own merits, encouraging fans to scalp tickets is HARDLY a solution to your problems. Maybe not acting like total dickwads is more likely to make people want to come.
Well, this isn't much of a help... but if you go ahead and get the extra tickets, I'd be more than happy to buy some from you... especially when they play the Cubs in September. (though that might be a big game)
Shoot me an e-mail Droy44@hotmail.com or something.
my bad, 3 times in 89 years
Yep. In order to get tickets for the Mets Opening Day, Closing Day, or any of the three games against the Yankees, you had to either buy a ticket pack of at least seven games, or enter an online lottery. And as far as scalping, most teams have it set up now where you can resell the tickets through the team.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-222420-100x100.png\")
Sounds just like the cable companie's tactics: bundle crap. You should buy a total of 0 tickets. That's what I am doing.
It may be ugly, but it's called charging what the market will bear. Since you went ahead and bought the tickets, clearly they know their market pretty well.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-115072-100x100.png\")
This is similar to the Timberwolves plan,which states that if you want to see the Spurs, Lakers, Celtics, Cavs, Mavericks, or Suns that you must purchase a 41 ticket package*.
And all the preseason tickets, too.
@Gamehenge: So I was correct in saying twice in 86 years. Please do your research before attempting to correct the master.
@l951b951: This.
Minor league games are more fun and you can probably get season tickets for that kind of money.
@Patrick
I live in the cincinnati area, I might be interested in purchasing some of his tickets, how do I get his email address?
I love seeing sports fans get ripped off by their beloved sports. You'd think they'd learn to find something more productive to do with their time. But the sports leagues count on the fact that their fans are stupid enough to *buy* all those extra tickets. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. They \"had to\" buy all those extra tickets. Maybe next time Consumerist could include a picture of the gun used to force this sale.
@l951b951: Yeah, I agree with the \"Buy zero tickets\" policy.
However:
\"He then went on to tell me that since I am a Red Sox fan originally from Boston, I should be used to paying these prices for baseball games!\"
LOLOLOLOLOLOL, I love the reputation that our good ole bay state has around the country.
Honestly, he doesn't HAVE to scalp the tickets. He could just sell them at face value...
It's not that surprising. There's nothing more humiliating than having half your stadium filled with visiting fans. Is this a fan-friendly policy? Hell no. It's professional sports. When's the last time they were fan-friendly?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-3436-100x100.png\")
The White Sox do it for people that want Cubs tickets.
Better to just buy them on the street on the day of game, where they'll still be cheaper than the extras you'd need to buy.
A little cynical whirlybird why would you love to see someone getting ripped off. That sounds just plain nasty and vindictive and frankly weird. Why would someones unhappiness cause you pleasure. On a friendly note perhaps you should seek help.
BTW there is nothing more important than Baseball.
@WhirlyBird:
Would like it if you felt you were ripped off by your favorite Broadway musicals? Isn't it ok for people to be passionate about certain things they enjoy?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-6864-100x100.png\")
As someone who has spent their entire professional career working in the front office of professional sports teams, I will tell you that this is the current trend for everyone.
I'll repeat what someone said earlier: If they are up front about it, sleazy is not the adjective you are looking for. Sleazy is when you don't tell someone about something and hit them with the additional cost after they've already purchased.
It's also not bad business practice. If people are willing to pay, and they sell out those Red Sox games using only this policy, this would be smart business on their part. They sell additional tickets to 3 other games for every ticket you buy to see the Sox. They are capitalizing off of the demand to see the Red Sox.
The responsibility falls with the consumer to either make the purchase or not. If you do purchase, then you are proving that the demand was great enough to install these types of practices. If the games sell out, which they will, then they will continue to abide by these practices in the future. If they sell out quickly, maybe next year it will be 4 or 5 additional games.
someone needs to remind third base when the last time a Yankees team actually won something.
it's been a long time. First round playoff series don't count.
@backbroken:
Very good point. If the consumer still purchases the good or service, it shows it is still worth it to him. Maybe not as good a value as he would like, but still acceptable.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-118203-100x100.png\")
@Dan Serafini: Yep. If I remember correctly, they started doing that the first year of interleague play. There was a lot of complaining about it at the time, but I haven't heard much about it anymore.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-98844-100x100.png\")
Solution: Have a team that your fans care about, or at least care about seeing, and/or has been relevant in the last 18 years, and you wouldn't have to resort to gimmicks like this that piss people off, Reds.
/Lifelong, Diehard Cardinals Fan
Yanks have the all-star game this year and i heard that they are doing this for those tickets. In order to purchase all-star game tickets, you have to buy a package for a few other games.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-39759-100x100.png\")
I think that while this isn't exactly the best way to appear \"kind\" in the eyes of your patrons, it's pretty typical business. The ONLY reason any team would do this is b/c they know they can. They're going to make money and sell tickets at whatever price the market allows.
I also feel like the OP is making it the Reds' fault that he's buying 8 tickets for friends and family, and that instead of 8 tickets he now has to buy 24. Or whatever it is. Frankly I got tired of trying to read through the numbers.
Bottom line - nobody's twisting your arm to buy tickets to anything here. Best way to really stick it to a company that's treating you poorly (in your eyes) is to not patronize them at all.
@rj3111: It's still sleazy. If the tickets to the marquee game are so valuable, charge what they're worth. Don't bundle them with throwaway games that ticket holders are prohibited from reselling.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-195217-100x100.png\")
To be fair... scalping is legal in Cincinnati.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-3857-100x100.png\")
This has actually been happening to Steelers fans for several years now. I believe that San Diego was one of the first to put the \"to buy a steelers game ticket, you also have to buy a ticket to another game\" policy.
Doesn't matter. Steelers fans are insane and will pay the price, which is what the Chargers and other teams have figured out.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-324264-100x100.png\")
The main point of this is to take advantage of Boston fans flying in for the game, and limiting them from overwhelming the local fans who would also like to go. Being an Oriole fan Ive experienced this, a ton of Sox and Yankee fans come down since its much cheaper to come to baltimore for a 3 game series then pay for it in Boston/NY. By packaging the tickets like this it means locals are more likely to buy tickets.
lol!
1) The Reds aren't the only team to do this
2) It helps generate extra revenue, I know, it's shocking the team wants to try and make money
3) Don't like it? Take your crappy accent back to Boston.
4) But yeah, you showed them by still buying tickets.
@WhirlyBird: What an ugly attitude. We all have our interests and hobbies. I may think yours are dumb and unproductive, but that doesn't mean I think you deserve my scorn, or to get \"ripped off,\" as you say.
You sound like a very unhappy person. Perhaps you'd like to talk about it.
@cmdr.sass: You're missing the point. This IS what they are worth. If the game sells out, and sells out fast, by using only season tickets and packages like this, then the consumer is telling the organization that this is EXACTLY what those tickets are worth. Sure they could just charge more for the tickets, but if people are willing to shell out the dough and committ to tickets for additional games, then those consumers are setting the value right there. The Reds, and teams like them, are simply setting the price at what they believe people will be willing to pay. What's the harm in that? If the game doesn't sell, they can always change the policy later.
Also, if you look in the dictionary, sleazy is defined as dishonest. If they are upfront, then they are not being dishonest.
@Tracy Ham and Eggs: Au contraire. The main point of this is to make money. It's just like NFL teams forcing season-ticket holders to buy tickets to their meaningless preseason games. Why? Because they can.
The reason you cite may be a secondary benefit, but the idea they're doing this primarily out of their loyal fans is naive.
@WhirlyBird: Yes, they could learn to be becoming condescending and snooty like you. Lord knows the world needs more people like you.
@rjhiggins: This is why they do it rather then just triple the prices of the game. Either way they will still sell out but this way they usually get more local fans.
And I agree with the preseason games, HUGE ripoff, especially in cities where you cant buy single game tickets.
@WhirlyBird: Ahh, nothing like the sound of self-righteous kvetching to kick off the weekend.
How's the view from up there?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-16301-100x100.png\")
No offense, but Cincy is probably going to kick the shit out of the Sox this year.
Geez. Why not do some good by donating the extra tickets for the non-Sox games to Big Brothers/Big Sisters or a similar group? I'm sure the kids would enjoy the games you think will be sucky.
FYI The Cincinnati Reds were not upfront about this.
It was not well known that this policy was the only way to buy tickets to the Red Sox series. It was only after seeking out extra information that it became clear this was the ONLY way to buy the tickets.
If the red put as much forethought into their baseball operations as they did their ticket operations maybe they would win some games?
Every team does it? Here at the University of Michigan you have to see a bunch of weak MAC teams get stomped in order to catch a decent big ten game.
Every team doing it doesn't make it right.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-267279-100x100.png\")
How about just use Stubhub.com for tickets outside their insane system? You might not be able to get seats together that way though.
@satoru: I know there are decent seats available at stubhub.com. Considering I just purchased a pair there :)
@chiieddy: Stubhub is good sometimes. I got tickets for the 2nd to last Mets game of the year(where John Maine took a no hitter into the 8th) for about 30 bucks less than face value.
This is a great policy. It means that regular customers are rewarded. The Red Sox, even without winning the World Series, are a hugely popular team. So without this policy, when the tickets go on sale, they'd be sold out much more quickly to ticket brokers, who would end up selling them at probably four times the original price.
The OP, who I guess never goes to another game all year, wants to walk down to the box office and buy eight(!) tickets to all three of what will probably be the most in-demand games of the year. Boo-Hoo.
This policy means people who have been following the team all year won't get screwed by people like this.
The front office knows that the face value of a Red Sox ticket is worth more than face value on \"the street\"/Ebay/whereever. So they bundle it and make some money. That's business. They could just markup the Red Sox tickets 20 dollars each, but of course there would be post whining about that.
The number of people in this country is escalating rapidly...the number of premium sporting events/concerts is not. Face it people...to be there in person is only going to cost more and more.
Umm, and this is news why? I'm not saying it's right, but it's been that way in Philadelphia and I'm guessing alot of other major sports cities for some time now. This year, if you want Opening Day or Red Sox tickets you must buy a package from the Phillies. If you wanted Nuggets tickets (Iverson's first game back) you had to buy a package from the Sixers.
The only news here is that Cincinnati is at least 5 years behind the rest of the country in ways to exploit their fans.
Mariners charge an extra 3$ service charge for Red Sox tickets...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-21933-100x100.png\")
As a lifelong reds fan I applaud them for trying to maximize their revenue. Maybe if major market teams like the red sox would share their revenues equally then they'd be fielding a competitive product and wouldn't be resorting to these perfectly legitimate business practices.
Before you whine about this, try taking an economics class. As a monopolist, when demand is higher than a fixed supply, you need to raise the price. So sure, they could have raised the red sox game tickets to 3-4x the price of a regular ticket, but that would just piss off reds fans (and cincy is a frugal city). Instead they give reds fans something in theory they should value (tickets to 2 more games), while just extracting a higher ticket price from red sox fans who are less likely to bother to attend the other two games (where demand will be much lower). They benefit their fan base while screwing their opponents, and I'm guessing most baseball fans from outside the northeast are perfectly happy with that move.
Why is everyone defending the bundling of ticket packs just because it's \"good business\"? We complain about CDs being overpriced because 1 or 2 good songs are bundled with 10 garbage songs. We want a la cart cable because bundling is expensive and sells us channels we don't want. People seem to agree with those scenarios, I submit that this situation is NO different. And voting with your wallet is useless when there is no equivalent good. Yes, that's right, watching any sports team is not equivalent to watching your team of choice. Watching it on TV is not the same as seeing it in person. And even if you personally don't care for sports, how does that make other people's interest any less valid? Or somehow make it fun to watch them get ripped off? Plenty of people that are saying sports fans \"deserve\" to be ripped off have hobbies that can be considered just as pointless and time-wasting as the people who watch sports.
Sure, the policy is listed upfront, but that doesn't mean it's a good one, it just means it's not illegal. The franchises are taking advantage of their fans. They may be willing to pay now, but that doesn't mean they accept that price. As this trend of ticket bundling and ludicrous year-over-year ticket price increases continues something will give. Most likely people won't spend money on concessions or merch since they already spent it on tickets they don't want. Then the teams will complain about poor income from that, boohoo, it's their own fault for abusing the fans.
@yayadiaw:
They should eliminate revenue sharing entirely, IMO. If the Reds have such dedicated fans, they should be able to support a major league team. I don't care if Cincy is a frugal city.
This is the same technique used by many sports teams anymore, whether its pro or college. Personal seat licenses are often required just to get to buy the season tickets to those seats. Many colleges require a person to be a booster club member to purchase anything more than a single game general admission ticket. Even small colleges are beginning to use this approach for football because it's football that funds most of their other athletic programs so they milk football for all its worth.
@l951b951: I agree. No sympathy for the consumer that kowtows to this form of extortion. Personally, I'd rather cut my finger off than sit through a baseball game, but even for events I'd like to see, I refuse to pay exorbitant prices or ridiculous fees associated with the tickets.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-352646-100x100.png\")
Here's a solution for everyone who doesn't like the shafting they are getting from teams: Stop caring about them. No more agita when they lose and no more euphoria when then win. Nice and even. Don't attend games. Don't watch them on tv anymore (what with all the \"calls to the bullpen being brought to you by AT&T\" it's a wonder the games get played at all). Read about them the next day as if you were reading a story about the weather in the Mojave desert.
I stopped caring about the NY Mets after the '94 strike and I haven't missed it at all (and I live here in NYC).
Of course, next year I get to go past the new Shitty Field (it's how we pronounce the new stadium's corporate name) and naming rights are more of a curse upon this world than ticket shafting. I'll leave that to another post.
Yeah, this is the way it is for Ohio State games. You have to buy season tickets if you want to see any of the good games.
I guess I don't understand what this guy's complaining about. He'd rather they just increase the price than make him buy extra tickets which he can then sell?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-3926-100x100.png\")
Wow, talk about whiny. The RS are coming to Houston for a three game series in late June and initially the ONLY way to get guaranteed tickets to the game was by purchasing an 11, 12, 13, 27 game package, or season tickets. Yeah, being a lifelong Sox fan from MA I thought this was kind of unfair but I just found a few friends and we all split the package. I got the Sox game and then tickets to three other games. We all won. I don't see what the big deal is...enjoy your home town team and now you have tickets to a few more games.
@jtheletter: I love the comment that fans may be willing to pay the money, but that doesn't mean they accept the price...umm actually it does mean they accept the price. And also...simply speak for yourself and leave it at that. I for one, think the Reds are conducting good (but not popular/fan friendly) business just as non \"a la carte\" music is good business. Would I be happier if the Reds tickets and music and tv channels were a la carte...yes. But until consumers give corporations a reason to change...they will not.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-43328-100x100.png\")
the t-wolves did the same thing with boston tickets this year. somehow i was able to get tickets to just that game though. i really wanted good seats and i knew that this would be the only sellout of the season so i got online and bought tickets a couple of hours after they went on sale. we got three tickets and they were awful about three rows from the top in the corner. i thought initially that the tickets had just sold that fast, but then found out that you had to buy tickets to two or three other games. apparently they had only released the shitty tickets and to make matters even worse/funnier kg didn't play. but i'm glad we got the seats we did because we were right behind a guy tripping his nuts off wearing binoculars on his head and playing around with a tassle-ey new year's eve noisemaker. best 20 bucks i ever spent and if any of you were among the thirty or so people who were entertained by this asshole, you know how true that is.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-153167-100x100.png\")
Hey Erica! Same here. Cincy to Boston transplant. Enjoyed going to Riverfront Stadium, heading to the very top of the nosebleeds and looking at the skyline.
I still enjoy the Reds, but I'm a diehard Sox fan now.
Haven't been to a game in over a year, tickets are impossible to get if you're looking for more than 2 seats.
@ben1711:
they already marked up the cost of the red sox ticket close to 3x the face value of other games. No one complained about that. Doing both (marking up and bundling) seems greedy to me.
just wait. if you think they're gonna sell all of those 4-packs you're nuts (you should want to watch the mets anyways!). don't play along their little game.
The Phillies \"bundling\" is worse. You have to buy a half-season plan or season tickets to get the Red Sox games. There's no way I'm going to take the time to resell all those extra Phillies tickets.
There was a lottery for the opening series tickets, but I didn't win that, so we're stuck going to Baltimore (again).
As a die hard reds fan, (I just camped out for opening day tickets, but thats beyond the point) I end up going to 25-30 games a year. Most of the time, you can buy the cheapest seats available (5 dollars I think) as your walking into the park. Reds attendance is dismal to say the least, even when they are winning. heck, they even have extra bobble heads when they do promotions for the first 20,000 people. Weekday games are atrocious when it comes to fan attendance.
The reds usually sell out one game a year, and that's opening day. I applaud red's mgmnt for selling tickets to local fans. It sucks when late in the season the number of out of town fans is 3-1 to the local boys. It is cheaper to the bosox play in cincinnati, and i'm glad dusty baker and company are aware of this too, if only they'd be so incline to hire a good pitching staff.
My brother is a huge Steelers fan. He said it is like this in many cities for games against the Steelers. He said the reason was so that the home team still has the home team advantage (the stadium doesn't fill with Steelers fans).
They use to do this in Toronto with Raptors tickets. If you wanted tix for say Raps vs Bulls, or any other \"in demand\" you'd have to buy a package of 4 games. Three of which sucked. Didn't last long because basketball was still new here and people let the tickets rot on the vine. At one time before they stopped this practice, the Raptors would be LUCKY to see 4 or 5 thousand people in a stadium that hold 16 1/2 thousand. Today, you're lucky if you can get tickets at all.
the Minnesota Vikings do this every year with the Packer tickets that go on sale. They make people buy tickets to a pre-season game as well.
Seems like a common practice all around, unfortunatly.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-157641-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-282699-100x100.png\")
No, it's buy one, get three free. The extra cost is just Ticketmaster.