Some fans cry foul over ticket plan

Scalpers will use Web wiles to snap up most, they fear

Chris Walsh, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 19, 2007 at midnight

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At 10 a.m. Monday, in offices, homes and Wi-Fi hotspots across the state, tens of thousands of baseball fans will flood the Colorado Rockies Web site with dreams of landing World Series tickets.

Only a fraction will succeed.

Many tickets - up to 25 percent or more, by some estimates - will end up in the hands of professional scalpers and everyday Joes who will turn around and sell them for a tidy profit outside Coors Field or over the Internet.

While that's bound to happen for any big event, some fans say the Rockies' decision this week to sell seats solely through its Web site increases the likelihood that scalpers will wind up with most of the tickets.

"There are thousands of ticket brokers out there, and they will all hit the site at 10 a.m., taking up all the bandwidth with the 50 browsers they each have open," said Justyn Davidson, an Erie resident upset with the change from a lottery system.

"My concern is that most of the tickets will be sold to people who are not fans and then resold back to wealthy fans. It decreases the odds that people who care about the Rockies can buy tickets."

Professional scalpers use a variety of tools, such as automated software programs, to take advantage of online sales, giving them a leg up in scoring tickets, said Stephen Cassar, president and CEO of Ticketsage, which sells ticketing software.

"You're basically competing against 200, 300, 400 people who are experienced using ticket systems and know tricks to get to the front," Cassar said.

But Cassar and others said that lotteries don't prevent scalping.

"I like what the Rockies are doing," said Stephen Happel, a professor of economics at Arizona State University who has studied the issue closely. "Why have people spend all this time going down there and lining up? It's a waste of time. Besides, it makes no difference how you do it. Ticket brokers, scalpers, whatever you call them, are going to find a way to get tickets."

The Rockies' Web site also features technology that makes it difficult for scalpers to snatch up batches of tickets, said Matt Gould, a spokesman for the company that operates all of Major League Baseball's team sites.

"I can tell you that our technology team does an outstanding job of maintaining the appropriate security measures," Gould said.

Fans who miss out on tickets Monday will have to turn to the secondary market.

Tickets available through eBay and online brokers are in some cases selling for thousands of dollars.

Beating the system

Rockies fans are developing game plans for Monday's online ticket-buying showdown for the World Series. But despite their best efforts, many fans will be shut out for the precious few thousand tickets that will go on sale on the Colorado Rockies' Web site. Even if fans get onto the site, it's no certainty that good tickets, if any, will be left. Here are some of the schemes fans plan to use to beat the system.

• Name: Lauren Cronin

• Age: 22

• Occupation: Student at the University of Colorado at Denver and a server at House of Commons, an English tea room

• Cronin said she and her father will be at their Wheat Ridge home Monday morning, with two computers operating. Cronin hopes her brother will be able to activate a third computer, either from home or at work.

She and her father plan to use as many browsers as possible simultaneously to gain access to the Rockies' site.

Cronin also plans to use multiple credit cards, so whichever family member gets on the Web site, he or she is ready to use the plastic.

"I really want Christmas to come in October," she said.

• Name: Scott Wacker

• Age: 28

• Occupation: Physical therapist at Champion Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy

• Wacker has two morning appointments with clients - at 7:30 and 8:15 a.m.

On his computer screen, Wacker has typed at the 10 o'clock hour: Rox - absolute block.

He has no appointments between 9 and 11 a.m. Wacker plans to huddle with the owner of Champion Sports and an administrative assistant to operate four computers and search for the midrange tickets that are expected to run from $100 to $150.

Wacker said he will accept clients at 10 a.m., "as long as they bring a computer and help me."

• Name: Jake Cerra

• Age: 23

• Occupation: Waiter at Proto's Pizzeria Napoletana and student at the University of Colorado at Denver

• Shortly after the Rockies announced that World Series tickets would be sold online, Cerra began recruiting relatives and friends in New York, Detroit and Kansas City to help him buy tickets.

Cerra has reminded them of their different time zones so they can synchronize their watches with Denver. In the meantime, Cerra acknowledged that he will be a little late for his 10 a.m. geomorphology class.

While his relatives and friends work their computers back East, Cerra plans to head to the computer lab on campus to get onto the team's Web site.

"I'll go late. I'm a senior," he said, explaining his pending tardiness. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

• Name: Nicholas Brown

• Age: 28

• Occupation: Mortgage planner for Spire Financial

• Brown and several of his colleagues plan to have as many as six of their computers up and running at least 30 minutes before tickets go on sale. He already has a reminder on his Outlook calendar.

If Brown and his cohorts manage to get on the Rockies Web site, their plan is to take a pass on the cheaper seats and focus on midrange tickets.

"That's roughly what I can afford," he said.

The strategy is, if other fans are focused on Rockpile tickets, for instance, that might make higher-priced tickets more readily available, Brown said.

"We'll try to get them as a group for one game," he said.

What you need to know

• What: Colorado Rockies World Series tickets for games at Coors Field

• When: Tickets on sale Monday at 10 a.m. Home games scheduled for Oct. 27, 28 and 29 (if necessary)

• Where to buy: Coloradorockies.com

• How much: Prices range from $65 for the Rockpile to $250 for infield box and club- level seats.

• How many: You can purchase up to four tickets per game. Less than 20,000 tickets will be available for each home match.

Tips for scoring tickets

• Increase your chances by searching for "best available" tickets, rather than specifying a certain section. The downside: You might get stuck with $250 seats.

• Determine the price range you're comfortable with beforehand if you want to make sure you don't end up with a seat that's too expensive.

• Familiarize yourself with the Rockies Web site so you're not fumbling around as tickets go on sale.

• The faster your Internet connection, the better your chances.

• Team up with friends, family or colleagues, with each person trying for different games.

walshc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2744

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