How can 6 people split 6 season's tickets equitably?

February 10, 2011 10:39 PM

Help me design a good strategy for splitting a seasons ticket pool.

I have bought 1/6 of a six seat consortium of season's tickets for the upcoming Vancouver Whitecaps season. The schedule was released today and we're all excited about picking our seats for the upcoming year.

There are six of us sharing six seats. There are 19 home games, so we have access to 19 actual tickets for the season. We'd like to be able to have a variety of options available for taking spouses and kids in different combinations: three pairs, two trios, 4 plus a pair, so obviously not everyone will go to every game.

At any rate, not being mathematically inclined, I wonder if the hive mind could manifest an effective strategy for drafting our options?

It's important to know that not every visiting team is equal and some dates are more important and in demand than others of course. Certain teams, players and rivalries will command more attention than others, so whatever scheme we use should spread these out.

Thanks in advance!

posted by salishsea to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 answers total)

sounds like auction time! start play with 10k in monopoly money, auction off the tickets in a silent auction. fair 'market value' determined.
posted by mce at 11:06 PM on February 10, 2011 [2 favorites]

You bought 1 seat across 19 games. I know if I bought tickets to 19 games I'd want to go to 19 games. So unless the group discussed the fact that not everyone will go to every game you're going to be setting yourself up for trouble.

The first thing you need to do is figure out who will be OK with giving up their ticket to some games. Anyone who really wants to go to every game needs to not even be involved in everything I say after this.

After that, it's a simple game of trading for the tickets. Bringing someone lunch to make up for it, watching their kids, something that makes it worth it for them to give up a ticket. And of course, offering a ticket to another game. That alone might be good enough.
posted by theichibun at 4:55 AM on February 11, 2011

Yeah, the best option seems to be simply giving each owner 1 ticket to each game, and then leting people trade amongst themselves, which would probably end up with all sorts of different arrangements, as you suggest.

You could also give everyone some initial sum of money, proceed game by game, and have people bid on the tickets they'd like. This has the drawback of requiring everything to be planned out upfront, among others.

I say just give each person a ticket and let them decide how to use/trade it.
posted by milestogo at 5:53 AM on February 11, 2011

I have done exactly what you are doing several times in the past. I shared season tickets with a group to the NY Rangers and the NY Yankees for years.

First thing we would do is this - all agree to a minimum number of games to go to together to get an evenly divisible number. In this case, you all agree to go together to one game.

Then each person controls 3 complete games. Draw a lottery, and do a sports draft style selection. Where if you pick last in the first round of picking, then you pick first in the second round of picking.

Once all the games are controlled by individuals, then you can trade freely amongst yourselves. I will take you two to this game if you take me to that game.

That is the way we always did it, and we did it for years, and it worked well enough.
posted by Flood at 6:13 AM on February 11, 2011

Groups in online MMO's face similar issues with dividing up gear amongst the players. The players are all friends, such as you all are, the gear is the tickets, which presumably you all bought on the assumption that you'd share, so that family could come. Some gear is better than other gear, some tickets better than others. And whether or not something is "better" is subjective to the player/watcher.

The best method I've seen for dividing gear is what mce suggested. You all start out with a set number of points, and go through the list auctioning off tickets. I can't think of anything more fair.
posted by Tooty McTootsalot at 7:55 AM on February 11, 2011

Thanks for these two good answers. We actually have 6 seats for every game and we know for sure that each of us don't want to go solo to each game. We want to be able to divide up the block into pairs and trios and quartets.

The auction method appeals to the libertarian in me. The control and distribution model appeals mto my inner communist.

Thanks!
posted by salishsea at 2:54 PM on February 11, 2011