By Frankie Barbato, Spotlight Editor
With so many sports teams in Boston to root for, it is no surprise that both Boston locals and Boston University students enjoy heading out to the games. Even though Fenway Park might be just a quick walk from Warren Towers, how much does it cost to actually get in the park itself? At first glance, tickets can seem to break the bank (can we use convenience points for these?), but fear not! Here is the how-to guide to buying tickets.
Lazy purchases:
Game tickets are always available for purchase online. According to redsoxdiehard.com, most Red Sox home games are sold out during the season, but the probability of getting a ticket is still there. In order to get tickets for the season, start looking online in mid-December and visit the Redsox.com Online Box Office. If you cannot get tickets ahead of time, normally the Red Sox will have additional tickets available at the start of the home series. Of course other websites such as ticketmaster.com offer tickets as well, and stubhub.com is great for selling tickets that you do not want anymore. Other teams such as the Boston Celtics also offer an online “ticket-exchange” service to buy and sell tickets as well.
Make a call:
If the online strategy is not working its magic, try being old-fashioned and actually calling a human being in the ticket office. Oftentimes, “piggy-back seats,” or two to three seats that are behind one another, are available the day of the game for purchase.
Be a die-hard:
For the amount of California-native students at BU, it is common to have just as many Lakers fans as Celtics fans at these competitive games. Los Angeles native and College of Communication Sophomore Sarah Sassen will stop at nothing show her Lakers’ pride and get in on the feud. She exemplifies how fans sometimes have to use other resources to get to the game.
“My grandparents have season tickets at home…and when I decided on Boston they said they would get them [tickets] for me for my birthday,” she said. “Last year I tried to do it online, but everything was sold out and it’s hard to buy them because you have to in Oct. or Nov. for Feb. games. My grandparents ended up going through a guy that they get play tickets for in New York.”
Taking a chance:
When the big game arrives, and you feel defeated and say something like, “What! I couldn’t get Red Sox/Yankees tickets the day of the game?” Try testing your luck and going to the gate itself. According to tdgarden.com, the Celtics and Bruins have the “TD Garden Box office” that sells tickets up to one hour after the scheduled start time of the game; and by taking a trip to Gate E of Fenway Park, you may be able to snatch one of the couple hundreds of tickets that go on sale on game day.
Join the club:
Teams like the Celtics have “club” membership benefits. For example, the Celtics have their “Club Green,” which oftentimes allows fans to purchase tickets on pre-sale and gain access to the season ticket waiting list, according to nba.com. The “club” has a membership fee, but once you are in, the Celtics always reserve enough tickets to ensure that every club member can purchase tickets for a regular season game.
Try to know more people:
As most things go in life, the more people you know the better connections you have. Take it from my personal experience. Casually befriend one of the Red Sox clubhouse workers so whenever he just so happens to have extra tickets to games, he will offer them to you.
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