To Season Tickets or Not To Season Tickets...

a year ago. I was offered the bleacher seats and decided to pass. This year I was offered the chance to go to Wrigley to pick out tickets in the seating bowl, and I decided to go for it.

I took some time to think about it, but being a Cubs season ticket holder is something I’ve always kinda wanted to be. I read all the comments by bluemagic9 (who has not surprisingly made his presence felt in this thead) and others warning about the possible monetary loss. I’ve accepted that it won’t be a money-making proposition (at least for a few years), but I’m okay with that. I have a decent network of family/friends in Chicago that are buying a good chunk of tickets.

If I were you, I’d pass on this offer and wait until the Cubs make you decide, which will probably be next year. Unless the Cubs shock the world and become amazing, you’ll probably get another email next year with the ultimatum forcing you to buy or give up your spot. Seems like the smart play for your circumstance.

I’ve been pretty busy over the last few days, so I couldn’t respond until now. Thank you for those who left constructive feedback.

A few responses.
1) I noticed a lot of people mentioned my comment about making profit on the tickets, but ignored the sentence right after that; “I simply can not afford to spend upwards of $$4,700 just for the leisure of going to cubs games.” I guess I should have re-worded the whole thing and just said “I can’t afford season tickets unless I could make some money back because I am broke and I can’t make it to all of the games because of my job.” Sound better? :-) I just don’t want to come off as someone who isn’t a fan and is trying to profit off of the Cubs. That wasn’t my intention.

2) From the overwhelming feedback, I see that a lot of people are loosing money on season tickets, and making any money back is just a cherry on top. Any thoughts about my previous mention about only getting the “Combination Plan” that is 55 games (nights and weekends only)? I figure that most of the losses would be from day games if I bought a full package, because I definitely could not attend most day games because of my job.

3) Lastly, my assumption was that bleacher tickets were easier to sell on the secondary market than those in the grandstands. I had a 9 game package in the bleachers a few years ago, and the few games that I was unable to attend, it was pretty easy to sell the tickets. Pretty much every game that I have attended during the last few years where attendance was low and seats were empty — the bleachers are still packed. Also, I have purchased several single game tickets to the bleachers over the past few years, and have paid a decent amount for them, which led me to believe that I could get the same in return.

Thanks for letting me know that this is not feasible, and since I can’t afford the tickets, I probably won’t be doing this. Points #2 and #3 above led me to believe that I could afford them by selling some of them, but apparently that isn’t the case.

the day single game seats go on sale, they decreased payroll by almost 25 million (Sun Times reports payroll at 107 right now) and did not decrease ticket prices. I cannot imagine them getting the $86.00 for bleacher tickets for any series other than Boston.I don’t think the Sox series will sell well at all this year, they have no buzz and their fan base is disgusted. In fact, I’ll go on record now right and predict opening day will not sell out this year. I expect thousands and thousands of empties at Wrigley this year.

The Cubs front office will not be pleased on March 9th at 6:00 pm when they compare ticket sales on that day to 2007, 2008, 2009….it won’t be pretty.

To answer your question, no way in hell would I spend $2400.00 on any season tickets this year. It’s gonna be a blood bath for ST holders this year.

Dear Steinmer:
This is my 3rd year as a STH. The first year was in the bleachers, last year was upper deck box outfield and this year I moved to Terrace Reserved Outfield (less money!). I have had 4 tickets for each of the seasons.
I have been able to split the tickets with 3 other people to offset the cost. We each get 4 tickets to 20 games. You need to get other people to split the games with you. Otherwise, you will lose a lot of money.
Stub Hub charges 15% to sell tickets so you have to sell tickets 15% above what you paid just to break even – not gonna happen on almost every game. The bleachers were way easier to at least sell even if for only half the price. Upper Deck Box don’t sell nearly as well as the bleachers.
If you don’t have to make the commitment this year, then don’t do it. Just do some homework and look at the prices on stubhub, craigslist, etc Get some friends to split them with you next year.
The only thing I would be a little concerned about is that they could next year force you to buy a full season. The 55 game package with just nights and weekends is way better than the full season. The difference is that if you have a full season – you get tickets to every postseason game. With the night/weekend package, you get 2 games (Cubs choice) to every postseason series.
Good luck and go Cubs!
P.S. As a STH you are allowed to buy tickets to concerts (Brad Paisley and Roger Waters this year) before anyone else. You also can buy additional single game tickets before everyone else.

Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal
Incredible stat of day: #Phillies had 3.1M tickets sold before first workout of spring. #MLB

I got the phone call last year to join the ranks and I did for a season. I decided not to renew for various reasons, but had a fairly successful season selling my tickets given the record.

Some tips and thoughts -

• Start selling your tickets early – StubHub allows you to list your tickets in November. If you know you’re going to renew your tickets, put them on the Hub right away.
• The Cubs fan base is large. Very large. Each area has their own craigslist – list everywhere. Post 2x a day in each city and delete and repost ads on a very regular basis. Be careful though, craigslist could ban you from their site. (One of my e-mails is permantently banned from craigslist)
• Setup a website with your ticket availability, and use Google Analytics to determine where your hits are coming from and focus on your ads there. Be sure your website is regularly updated
• Speaking of Google, use Google Voice and ‘mask’ your real cell phone in case you get a nutjob. (You can easily block numbers via GV)
• Setup a new e-mail address that you will use ONLY for season ticket transactions
• Early in the season, you can get away with charging the PayPal fees and shipping fees (I charged 3% transaction premium for PayPal and $5 to ship tix via USPS Priority Mail)
• You might have to take a leap of faith with some folks – they’ll send you personal checks – wait for checks to clear before shipping
• Get business cards with your GV phone number and website.
• Always have your tickets available for sale on the Hub. Pull them as you sell tickets. (I got burned a once when I got sloppy and had to cover my transaction)

In all – treat your season tickets like a business. You’ll get repeat customers and regulars. I was only a season ticket holder for one season, but was getting referrals within 30 days of my first sale.