I want to see the Green Monster.

January 22, 2009 9:53 AM

I might be in Boston in May and would love to see a ball game at Fenway. The Red Sox are in town, and there are tickets available. Should I buy a ticket now?

In spite of being a Canadian, I've been a Red Sox fan for as long as I can remember. I've always wanted to see them play at Fenway. Now, I am applying to attend an academic conference that is in Boston, at a hotel near Fenway, for the duration of a Red Sox home stand against the Blue Jays in May. There are still tickets available for one game, and I am eager to go, but I am not yet certain that I am going to the conference. I have the conference schedule, and there won't be any conflicts with the game that still has tickets left.

The question I have then is whether I should just buy my ticket right now anyway, and then try to sell it later if I end up not going, or if I should wait until I receive confirmation that I will be attending the conference.

If I do get it and have to sell it, is that legal? I wouldn't want to sell it for a profit, only to recoup what I paid for it, but I don't know if I can just throw it up on ebay or craigslist or what. Alternatively, is it safe to wait? For how long? I know the Red Sox will probably sell out Fenway, but I don't know how far in advance that happens.

Thanks!

posted by synecdoche to sports, hobbies, & recreation (11 comments total)

Buy now. It's better to have it in hand and you will have a built-in market if you need to sell later. There's nothing worse than buying tickets at artificially inflated prices from scalpers outside Fenway. Buy now.
posted by LilBucner at 10:03 AM on January 22, 2009

Get it now. Resell legally it via AceTickets (see this article).
posted by inigo2 at 10:04 AM on January 22, 2009

Just thirding, yes buy now. And you can sell them, no problem, if you can't make it.
posted by jdl at 10:32 AM on January 22, 2009

The Blue Jays will not sell out as quickly as, say the Yankees, but it will sell out (As a Red Sox fan you may have seen/read they're closing in on 500 consecutive sellouts). As noted, you'll have very little trouble unloading the ticket, especially at or near face value, if you're not looking to this as money-making opportunity.

I know this wasn't part of the question but FWIW: As a first timer just being there will be a thrill - It's a magical place, and I say that as a Yankee fan. In terms of where to sit (depending on what's available) it's hard to find a bad seat but the one area I'd try to avoid is upper reaches of the outfield grandstands in right (roughly sections 3-7); sections 5 6 and 7 are tucked under the deck above, and aren't canted toward the plate, so you end up with a claustrophobic view of center field. Adding insult to inury, these sections "feature" the old wooden seats* that date, I believe, to the previous big rehab after the fire in the early 1930's, so if your build is anything beyond "slight teenager" you'll feel pretty crammed in. I'd pay less for a bleacher seat before venturing up there again.

*they've been replacing these over the past few offseasons, not sure if they've gotten to these sections yet -
posted by jalexei at 10:33 AM on January 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

You will have no problem selling later for at least face-value, especially if you just buy a standing-room ticket. I bought a pair of Pavilion standing room tickets on stubhub last year for well above face value and had a great view and a very good time.
posted by schustafa at 10:47 AM on January 22, 2009

Although it's not a bad idea to buy your ticket now, if you're going to be by yourself, you're in pretty good shape as far as getting your hands on tickets is concerned. I happened to be in Boston in July and I bought a single Fenway seat on StubHub less than 24 hours prior to a Sox game for basically face value. Loose single tickets are harder for resellers to unload, so you don't get gouged as badly as you would if you needed four seats together.
posted by letourneau at 10:52 AM on January 22, 2009

Yes. I'd buy two tickets (you could bring someone from the conference.) and if you end up selling them later, i will buy them from you, as long as they're face value and not super expensive seats.
Or put them up on craigslist for face value. i'm ethically opposed to Ace tickets because they make a windfall on tickets.
posted by emd3737 at 10:55 AM on January 22, 2009

Tickets for individual games go on sale this Saturday, 1.24.9. You will be in a virtual waiting room for most of the day with automatic refresh every 30 seconds. Best of luck.
posted by brent at 10:56 AM on January 22, 2009

Definitely go for it, you can always resell later. Be warned: The virtual waiting room is a terrible, terrible mistress, and there's a decent chance that you'll walk away empty-handed.
posted by SpiffyRob at 11:10 AM on January 22, 2009

nthing buy it - if you even can. This is largely a theoretical discussion at the moment.
posted by micawber at 11:16 AM on January 22, 2009

Thanks everyone. The game I wanted was already on sale, so I just picked myself up a ticket. Very exciting.
posted by synecdoche at 11:16 AM on January 22, 2009