How Did You Get in The Front Row?

Have you ever asked someone how they got their tickets? This article reveals the different methods on finding out when events go on sale, how fans get tickets to sold out shows, and how fans get upfront tickets to their favorite shows.

As a ticket broker, I've had tons of people ask me, "How do you get your tickets?", and a few years ago I would be reluctant to reveal my sources. Since the evolution of the internet and the fierce competition that it has brought on, I find it better to inform people on some tricks on just how to get valuable, upfront seating. First, I will start with ticket onsales. You must know when a show is going onsale before you can even have a chance at obtaining good tickets. Ticketmaster is probably the largest primary ticket seller to most events and you'll want to get updates from this company. There are two methods to get these updates. The first is that you can simply log on to their website and sign up to get upcoming events emailed to you. The second is that since most onsales occur on Saturday mornings, you can check their homepage every Friday for any information pertaining. Another recent source of onsale information, comes from Livenation. Like ticketmaster, they have become a primary seller of tickets in which they also feature a newsletter that fans can sign up for as well.

Now that you know when tickets are going onsale, it's time for the hard part, getting good tickets or getting any tickets for that matter. The Neanderthal days of going to a ticketmaster outlet and getting tickets is almost all but over. For example, in the city of my hometown, Chicago, ticketmaster outlets are located at places such as Carson Pirie Scott, and a few remaining record stores. When you go there on Saturday morning to buy tickets they will always throw a lottery, usually by a security guard. Whoever wins the lottery is the first person to buy tickets, and every number after the winning one lines up in order. Now if you think your going to have a chance at winning the lottery, think again. Please don't get too upset at this fact, I'm just trying to be informative. Remember, our current President was elected this way as well. Anyway, due to all of the internet presales I no longer use this method in that good tickets rarely come up.

Internet presales and fan clubs are also able methods of obtaining tickets as well. Usually with a presale, you have to join your favorite performer's fan club. You can do this by typing your band's name followed by "fan club", into google. By now most performers have a fan club, so a successful search should come up, but expect to pay a fee to join. Once you join their fan club, they will usually email concert updates along with passwords to buy tickets. Limited tickets are released during these presales so make sure that your ready to buy at the onset of the presale. Personally, I have been successful at some presales, but I have come up empty during most of them. It has been suggested that fee based fan clubs are just another money making scheme in the ticket industry, and again from my experience, I would agree.

Another primary way of obtaining tickets, especially to your favorite sports team, is to get season tickets. Depending on the sport this method can get pretty expensive. For example, the Chicago Cubs offer different season ticket plans, and generally the larger the ticket plan, the better your seats will be. Again, this method can get pricey.

If you've tried all of the methods above but have come up short, than your next option would be the secondary market. Ebay, Stubhub, and TicketAmerica are just to name a few. I won't go into Ebay that much, but I will simply say that tickets go to the highest bidder. Stubhub on the other hand likes to portray itself as "Fans selling unused tickets to other fans", which is only somewhat true. Sure there are fans selling tickets that they cannot use, but there are a lot of ticket brokers and ticket resellers that list on Stubhub. I have been listing my tickets on Stubhub for almost three years. Furthermore Stubhub marks up each ticket 30 percent, 15 charged to the seller and 15 charged to the buyer. When brokers put there tickets on Stubhub, a common practice will be for the broker to price his tickets higher on Stubhub, than his own website to make up for the difference. Going through a ticket broker such as TicketAmerica is another option. As with most ticket brokers, this company is linked to various other ticket brokers. This is why you will see their ticket inventory posted on several other ticket websites. Going through ticket brokers can be pricey, but it saves a heck of a lot of time and aggravation.

The internet has really changed the ticket industry, and it can seem like an endless maze trying to obtain your favorite tickets. Hopefully this article can shed some light and get you in the front row!

Gary Ketchum
CEO TicketAmerica