Cubs tickets: Now or then?

May 28, 2007 12:24 PM

Our family wants to see the 7/20 Diamondbacks-Cubs game but we don't have tickets yet.

While in Chicago on July 20th our family is hoping to see the Diamondbacks-Cubs game. The official Cubs ticket outlet says three together aren't available, and online tickets (stubhub.com, ticketsnow.com) look like they're priced about double the face value. Is it fairly certain we'll find three lower-priced tickets from scalpers before gametime, or should we take the sure thing?

posted by davcoo to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Welcome to the north side of Chicago, where tickets are sold out months in advance for our consistently losing baseball team ;-)

There are always scalpers around, but they're riskier, and I wouldn't necessarily count on lower prices being easy to find for a Friday game. I grew up a Cubs fan, but any of us are lying if we don't admit that Wrigley Field is the World's Largest Beer Garden(tm). Friday games, therefore, are always very well attended.

I'm not going to say for sure you can't find a lower price from a scalper, but I'd recommend the sure thing. Scalpers have a few risks:
- The tickets might be fake (not too likely for what could be a relatively meaningless game, but still possible)
- They might not have 3 seats together - pairs are far more common
- They might end up not being significantly cheaper than double face value

Go for the sure thing unless spending that kind of money is not worth it to you. In which case you could show up for the game, see if you can get cheaper tickets, and have a Plan B just in case you can't.

You also might try Craigslist for Chicago Tickets before settling on StubHub, etc... Try searching for the word arizona.. or the word diamondbacks...
posted by twiggy at 1:51 PM on May 28, 2007

I think you have a chance of getting them cheaper at the game. As a former season ticket holder, there were games that I sold at face value outside Wrigley or even on an occasion, gave them to a father son who just struck me as people who could use a break. I often had other nearby season ticket holder's seats to sell for them too in case I could not use them. I doubt double face against the D'backs. I'd take a chance, but I have no problem with accepting that kind of risk (low likelihood of not getting seats, but if you are wrong, you are SOL.)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:24 PM on May 28, 2007

I'd just get them from the scalpers, there is a whole line of them from the L stop to Sheffield.
posted by corpse at 3:52 PM on May 28, 2007

My friend who is a Cubs fan asked me to post a link to this site, a ticket reseller for people with tickets.
posted by CipherSwarm at 5:11 PM on May 28, 2007

You will be able to get them outside the park for less than twice of face, since the D-Backs aren't a glamor team. You can also get them day-of from the box office at face, if you're there right when the ticket windows at the park open. There are tickets that get reserved for corporations, sponsors, and the players. If these aren't being used, they get released to the public at Wrigley. The windows open at 8 am, and depending on the demand for the game the line can be long, so you'd probably want to be there at 6 or 7.

If you want to play it safe and have them beforehand, keep checking Craigslist and eBay as the game draws closer. The prices tend to go down as sellers realize their supply exceeds the demand, or regular fans realize that they can't go to the game for whatever reason and want to minimize their losses. I've bought from season-ticket-holders at face this way. Good luck, go Cubs!
posted by kyleg at 6:53 PM on May 28, 2007

I would try craigslist. That's the first place we look for tickets when we need them. If actual seats are too expensive, don't forget about tickets for the bleachers! They're classic Wrigley and all open seating. Just make sure to get into the park maybe 45 minutes early to make sure you can square off your area to sit. Use the time to have a hot dog and watch the players warm up.
posted by youngergirl44 at 9:47 PM on May 28, 2007

As kyleg says, you're likely to be able to get tickets day-of at the stadium direct from the box office, and barring that, from a scalper.
posted by me3dia at 8:44 PM on May 29, 2007

Or wait for the game to start, when all the scalpers dump their tickets for face value or less.

You get to your seats in the bottom of the first, along with about 4000 other fans.
posted by achmorrison at 8:20 PM on May 30, 2007