How To Ask For Sports Tickets (And How Not To!)

Super Bowl week is upon us and this year it has the added excitement of being in our local market of Los Angeles.

And with it comes the avalanche of people asking for tickets.

Tickets for big events are hard to get and in limited supply, whether it's a concert or a big game. We all want to go, but wow can tickets be expensive. So we look to our network to see if anyone can save us from paying (gasp!) full market price.

We've been in live events and ticketing for twenty years in just about every aspect:

• At teams with direct access to tickets (LA Dodgers and STAPLES Center)
• At StubHub in the secondary market
• With sponsors and partners at TicketManager who have killer tickets through their company

We, and they, are asked for tickets constantly. Especially when the big event comes our way.

Here are the Do's and Don'ts of asking for tickets. But first, here are the players and what their goals are for the big game:

Oh, and one more thing:

30 years ago we asked for tickets because they were really hard to find. Today? Thanks to the secondary market, you can get tickets to anything you want on Ticketmaster, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, Gametime and the like. What you're really saying is: I don't want to pay market value. And we all know it =) ?

The Do's

1) Ask.

Yep, it's okay to ask. We can't help if we don't know.

There have been dozens of occasions where we've had tickets to events which we would have given to business contacts, family or friends had we known they wanted to go. It's pretty rare, and very rare for the biggest of events, but it does happen from time to time where someone can't go last minute and it is a sensitive ticket which can't be sold.

It's always the nicest people who care about us the most who don't ask. They don't want to put us out of our way. And they're the ones we'd love to go with. My loved ones have been to many a bowl game, World Series, NBA Finals, etc.?

It is totally okay to ask "if anything comes up I'd love to go with you."

2) Ask Once.

Once is sufficient.

Reminders are rude. No matter how well typed out and considered they are (the creativity behind some of the reminders notes is good humor).

We're all the stars of our own movies. It's unlikely we've been forgotten. It's much more likely we're just not getting the "hook up" or they have a process they adhere to when distributing tickets.

We don't need to let our contacts know "we're about to just buy some" after we're told they'll do their best for us. Appreciate their timeline and priorities don't align with ours so if we think we have a great deal, it's up to us to buy elsewhere or not. And if we do buy them from elsewhere, follow rule #6

3. Know where we are on the Hierarchy of Tickets.

We can all use this hierarchy to do the math on how many tickets our contact would need to get to us on the list. It is an easy way for people to understand the dynamic. Use it often.?

4. Say Thank You. A lot.

Seems obvious.

Yet there's an entire Seinfeld episode about this exact rule. And it is hilarious.

Even better, ask to see them at the game so you can thank them there (if they're in attendance.)

I'd guess about half the people we've helped over the years have even said Thank You, let alone adhere to #5…

5. Send an appropriate gift

Tickets are worth money. They can be sold. They can be traded for favors. And we're asking them to give them to us for free or at a significant discount. Remember, they're available on the secondary market all the time.

The gift should match the favor.

If we're getting $8,000 market value Super Bowl tickets for only $1,000, the gift should reflect that value. (over $1,000 in this case for those who believe buying a round of drinks will suffice.)

Don't believe me? Try not doing it and see where you end up on everyone's hierarchy.

Special note: There are some exceptions to this rule. Family and partners who return the favor included. Gifts not needed in those circumstances.

6. Inform immediately if we get tickets elsewhere

I am guilty of this. At one of the biggest recent Super Bowls, a good friend asked me if I needed tickets. I mentioned I didn't have them yet and he said he'd keep his eyes out.

We got great tickets from another terrific friend the next day.

On the morning of the game, the first friend called to let me know he'd gotten us tickets - which is what he does as he's a sweetheart a great friend. The good news is that the game was so hot he had another home for them. But that was very rude of me as he was clearly looking out for us.

It happens often. Even I'm guilty of it. Please let your contact know if you find access elsewhere.

7. Two Degrees of separation

The most applicable rule of big events tickets, yet those outside the industry don't know it….until now.

Yes, I can ask for tickets to major events and get help given what I do for a living. So can our friends and contacts. And all of those wonderful people I've gotten to know will sometimes do us favors which we very much appreciate so I can attend the game with friend and family personally.

But if I'm not going?

Just think about it. "Hi friend, any chance you could hook me up with tickets for free, or way under face value, for a friend of mine who you've never met?"

Doesn't work that way. Not for the big events. Regular season games which aren't sold out? Sure. But not the marquee games.

The Do Nots

1) Take advantage of people

What people will do, and promise, to get tickets is pretty terrible. I've learned it first hand.

When I was at StubHub, the USC Trojans played Illinois in the Rose Bowl. We had a suite through a connection which we were keeping to a few friends of the company. USC's starting quarterback's brother, Josh Booty, got connected to us through a mutual connection.

After a sob story about how family couldn't sit in the main bowl and enjoy watching JD, we got the call from our bosses to give him four tickets as a favor. After a text exchange, we went out to meet with him in a distant parking lot and deliver the tickets.

Five minutes later, after the acting session of gratitude, Josh texted some excuse about how they swapped the tickets for something else and we ended up with five of his knucklehead friends in the VIP suite. Classy. Totally burned his friends contact and didn't think twice about it.

Don't do that. Be a nice person. Especially when others are doing a favor saving us money.

• Fair warning to those who have tickets - trust your instincts. Promises made are rarely promises kept. I could share stories for days about people who've done others favors and felt taken advantage of

?2) Pester

Now that we know the Hierarchy, do we think it's a good idea to contact for updates on the reg?

Please, have patience. The easiest way to get bounced from the hierarchy altogether is to be a pain in the ass. Believe me, there are a lot of them. Especially on the big time events

3) Talk smack

Unfortunately, it happens a lot when we don't get what we want.

We can't tell you how many times someone we barely know asks us for tickets, or worse, a family member of ours, to which we respond with a diplomatic "I'm sorry but we can't help" only to hear later negative things said about us. It's not that we "don't have any pull." It's just we don't want to use it on them.

Hell hath no fury…

?4) Ask all over town

The industry is small. If we don't know each other directly, it's likely we are only a few degrees separated. Asking multiple people and trying to take the best offer is a sure fire way to get ignored the next time the big event comes to town.

It's also just a crummy thing to do.

5) Put any pressure on your friend

Most people don't like saying no to the people they care about. When we ask them and put them in a spot they may have to say "no," let's be sensitive to the situation and not pile it on.

6) Beat around the bush

Last but not least, we know why you're calling. No need to pretend to have something else to talk about.

Yes, we haven't see each other in awhile. Yes, we should remedy that in the near future. Yes, we remember the time.

Catching up with loved ones is a great pleasure of life. When it's disingenuous, it can be just a tad bit insulting.

We hope these rules help! Please feel free to add to them anytime!

?

?

?

?

?