NCAA Ticket Strategy

[TallTitan34]

Just curious what people plan on doing for NCAA tickets since last year made it clear we won't be getting any from Marquette.

Last year our group got tickets for the first round right after selection Sunday and hopped on second round tickets once Purdue fans dropped them after their first round exit.

Assuming we end up in Indy, we are going to have to deal with Purdue fans driving up ticket prices.  Ideally, Marquette and Purdue would be placed in separate Friday sessions bringing first round tickets down in cost but Sunday tickets would still be expensive.

I'm always afraid to do it but it seems like purchasing tickets on Stubhub right as you walk in might be the way to go.

Just curious what other people's plans are.

[wisblue]

Just curious what people plan on doing for NCAA tickets since last year made it clear we won't be getting any from Marquette.

Last year our group got tickets for the first round right after selection Sunday and hopped on second round tickets once Purdue fans dropped them after their first round exit.

Assuming we end up in Indy, we are going to have to deal with Purdue fans driving up ticket prices.  Ideally, Marquette and Purdue would be placed in separate Friday sessions bringing first round tickets down in cost but Sunday tickets would still be expensive.

I'm always afraid to do it but it seems like purchasing tickets on Stubhub right as you walk in might be the way to go.

Just curious what other people's plans are.

Not planning on anything now but am considering going to Indy for the Friday game if I can make arrangements.

If MU does end up in Indy they would not be in the same session as Purdue.

Each session has both games from one pod and there is only one protected seed (1-4)  per pod.

My strategy would be to wait until the game times are announced on Sunday evening and then see if tickets for the session that Purdue isn't in start showing up on the secondary market.

[Dr. Blackheart]

I tried this summer for Indy on the presale. Was #3000 in line five minutes before allowed in. The NCAA sux!

[TallTitan34]

If MU does end up in Indy they would not be in the same session as Purdue.

Each session has both games from one pod and there is only one protected seed (1-4)  per pod.

Good call.

[MUbiz]

Last year like the first 50 priority point holders got tickets. UConn already sent out an email to all donors pretty much saying "we get a small amount of tickets so do not expect them from us".

Really the only option is secondary market. I prefer to wait until the brackets are announced and then try to get some. I know people do not like this, but buying tickets the morning of the game has always worked out well generally as well.

[TallTitan34]

I know people do not like this, but buying tickets the morning of the game has always worked out well generally as well.

I'm one of those people although it seems to be the way to go.  Have you found there to be a pretty good price drop in waiting?

[rocky_warrior]

Really the only option is secondary market. I prefer to wait until the brackets are announced and then try to get some. I know people do not like this, but buying tickets the morning of the game has always worked out well generally as well.

Honestly, even for MU away games, I feel like I should wait until the "morning of" these days.  The past few years I try to buy early to get decent seats and/or just get in the door, and feel like I would have gotten the same or better aftermarket deal same-day.  I'm embarrassed what I paid vs the seats I got at Finneran!

[MUbiz]

I'm one of those people although it seems to be the way to go.  Have you found there to be a pretty good price drop in waiting?

I waited until the morning of the Michigan state game and got lower tickets for $90 each. My friends bought right after Vermont and paid $179 for lower in sections next to each other. I have found that about 80% of the time, you do better if you wait to game day. I never used  to wait until game day bc of the uncertainty, but I had a friend who worked for a broker years ago when there were paper tickets and sold a bunch of events and he would always tell me to wait to game day. I eventually listened. 

[MUbiz]

Honestly, even for MU away games, I feel like I should wait until the "morning of" these days.  The past few years I try to buy early to get decent seats and/or just get in the door, and feel like I would have gotten the same or better aftermarket deal same-day.  I'm embarrassed what I paid vs the seats I got at Finneran!

My brother, who lives in Connecticut, paid $250 for the game Day tickets at UConn. They were going for 400-450 even a few days before. It was a good deal considering the single game price was around $200 . There are always brokers who bought a bunch of tickets looking to get rid of them and people who wanted to go to game, who could not go last minute.

[TallTitan34]

Any issues getting X number of seats all together?

[MUbiz]

Any issues getting X number of seats all together?

Depends on how many people you have. I have had no issues getting 4 or less together. 5 is a weird number and hard to get together. 6 is generally doable, but from my experience those seats are easier to get upper levels.

[MU82]

Honestly, even for MU away games, I feel like I should wait until the "morning of" these days.  The past few years I try to buy early to get decent seats and/or just get in the door, and feel like I would have gotten the same or better aftermarket deal same-day.  I'm embarrassed what I paid vs the seats I got at Finneran!

Yeah, we bought our tickets to this Saturday's game at Xavier a couple months ago and now I realize we almost surely could have paid less, and maybe even gotten better seats. OTOH, I'm not sure how much better price or seats I would have gotten had I waited for the ND and NMD games, and we had a party of 4, and the other people wouldn't have been as willing to gamble as I was.

But I do think that we'll be waiting on the Indy tickets. What y'all are saying makes sense.

[MDMU04]

I'm one of those people although it seems to be the way to go.  Have you found there to be a pretty good price drop in waiting?

I bought tickets to last year's game vs Vermont on Stubhub 4 days before the game.  I had 2 corner seats towards the top of the lower level, they were $179 total after fees.

After we got back to the hotel from our game, we decided to go to the Purdue game. We walked over to the arena and I bought two upper level seats on the end of the court for $67.  This was also through Stubhub about 5 minutes before tip-off of that game.  So they were a fraction of the price, but the seats were not as good.

One thing I will say is if you're going to wait and go through one of the big online broker services, either make sure you get cell service at the arena or just buy them at the hotel or somewhere nearby before you get there.  The cell service in Columbus was a little spotty and it took several minutes for the tickets to load/scan after I bought them.

[MUbiz]

Yeah, we bought our tickets to this Saturday's game at Xavier a couple months ago and now I realize we almost surely could have paid less, and maybe even gotten better seats. OTOH, I'm not sure how much better price or seats I would have gotten had I waited for the ND and NMD games, and we had a party of 4, and the other people wouldn't have been as willing to gamble as I was.

But I do think that we'll be waiting on the Indy tickets. What y'all are saying makes sense.

There is a give and take buying tickets ahead of time vs waiting. I would not wait for NMD and I would not wait for the Natty or final four. But the first 2 weekends of March madness are pretty easy to get cheaper if you wait to day of from my experience.

Obviously that elite 8 game can be in demand if you have a team playing in it that is not far away from the game site. That's why I said about 80% of the time, waiting to last minute goes in your favor. If you know the tickets will be in higher demand due to a certain team, go ahead and buy them early.

[mu_hilltopper]

So .. haven't been to NCAAs in a while. 

How are the tickets sold?  One ticket for all of Friday?  All of Sunday?  Early/late session?  One game?

[zrjones13]

So .. haven't been to NCAAs in a while. 

How are the tickets sold?  One ticket for all of Friday?  All of Sunday?  Early/late session?  One game?

It's by session. So on Friday there will be two sessions. Each session has 2 games. On Sunday there is only one session. Marquette sent out an email last week that they won't have tickets available, and to utilize the secondary market.

[Mr. Nielsen]

With Marquette and Western Kentucky. Florida  and Colorado or Boise State in the session in the day session. I would think the secondary market will be low in price. No Big Ten teams in that session. Marquette could take over the building.

[Gato78]

Tickets are OK for Friday—can get decent seats for $200 a pop. Sunday, with Purdue involved, the tickets are 4x the price of Friday tickets.

[jesmu84]

Which session is Marquette?

[Miss Katie’s]

Which session is Marquette?

Session 1

[MarquetteVol]

If ever there was a year for Purdue to lay an egg in the first round. Feels cruel to root for that outcome though

[mu_hilltopper]

With Marquette and Western Kentucky. Florida  and Colorado or Boise State in the session in the day session. I would think the secondary market will be low in price. No Big Ten teams in that session. Marquette could take over the building.

Is that right?  The post above says there's only one session on Sunday.  If true, that would include Purdue's game (and another.)

Edit: I'm dumb.  You are talking about Friday.  I was thinking Sunday.

[Newsdreams]

Which session is Marquette?

1st

[zrjones13]

Is that right?  The post above says there's only one session on Sunday.  If true, that would include Purdue's game (and another.)

This would be Friday session 1. Purdue is playing Friday session 2.

[Jay Bee]

Sunday could be rough. But Friday prices may be great. Gonna hold off for now. I may need a second job to pay for the tix — the flight into Indy is just brutal $$$$