Whether or not to buy ahead of time: Cubs at Brewers

Normally, I never buy tickets ahead of time, especially for a Milwaukee Brewers game. However, tonight I am attending the Cubs at Brewers game at Miller Park. This morning, I logged onto www.brewers.com to see what tickets were available. Some $60 singles and Standing Room Only (SRO) for $22 was all that was available. When I went to see how many SRO seats were available, my seat number was in the 1300’s. I thought, maybe I can buy a cheaper ticket from a scalper at the ballpark. If not, I could always buy a SRO from the box office.

This afternoon, after checking craigslist, TicketsNow and TicketCity, I realized that upper level seats were ranging between $50 and $75 and that CC Sabathia was pitching. I also knew I only had $65 in cash on me (minus $8 for parking). So I logged back onto the Brewers’ ticketing site. The $60 seats were sold out and my seat number for the SRO was now 2144 – meaning approximately 800 SRO tickets had sold since I logged on this morning. I bought the SRO seat for $28.25 ($22 face value + $6.25 in handling fees) – knowing that I would probably not beat $30 once I arrived at Miller Park.

With any SRO ticket, you can generally find an empty seat in the lower deck (especially if you are a single). Also, if necessary, Miller Park has a TGI Friday’s which gives you a good view of the game as long as you are eating dinner.