Paul Daugherty: The Hard Core Section

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Hard Core Section

The Reds have eliminated camping out for Opening Day tickets, by having all those interested apply online. The winners are randomly selected, and can buy up to 4 tickets. It is, I guess, a more orderly and civilized way to do things, and gives their marketing people a lot of new e-mail addresses to jam with promotional "information.''

What does it do for the Hardcore fan? The guy who wants to stand in line for OD tickets, who wants to camp out?

Why not leave out a couple hundred tickets, in a specific section? Put it out there that the first 200 people in line will be guaranteed a ticket. Allow them to preserve an OD tradition by camping out and lining up. Give them all Hardcore Section T-shirts? Or, if that offends you, Diehard Section?

That in itself could be a good promotion.

What do you think?

15 Comments:

at 9:01 AM

Anonymous said...

I know a number of people who have camped out for tickets. Every one of them immediately put their tickets on ebay. It's not about being a hardcore fan. It's an opportunity to make a quick buck.

at 9:20 AM

Anonymous said...

Heard that discussion last night while driving in the snow, and my first thought was that "hardcore" would be a poor choice of words. There would be those who would abuse what's meant one way and turn it into a spectacle. You can just count on it.

"Diehard" would be cool. Maybe they could get Bruce Willis to throw out the first pitch.

"Extreme" could be usable, like in ExtremeSport.

Make it the ExtremeRed section.

I hate to bring it up, but, if the Reds encourage overnighting, etc., do they have liability?

at 9:22 AM

Anonymous said...

The Reds (who are not alone in this regard) are about making things easier on themselves. Fans (hardcore or not) are a secondary concern.

Shame.

at 10:16 AM

Anonymous said...

I would have to agree with 9:01. It's the fans watching and attending games in September when the team is twenty games under .500 who are the diehard fans. But let's be honest...any sold ticket is a good thing, even if it does end up on ebay. Here's to 2008 being a season where all Reds fans have a reason to root in September.

at 10:17 AM

Anonymous said...

Hey Paul, thanks a lot for posting this info. I live in Indianapolis and wouldn't have known about this lottery otherwise. I can certainly say if I got Opening Day tickets, they wouldn't be resold. And I thank the Reds for making them available to those of us who can't camp out at GABP.

at 10:17 AM

Anonymous said...

Doc, I basically agree with you. Remember that bad promotional slogan "The Power of Tradition" the Reds came up with shortly after Castellini took over? Since then, they have eliminated the Opening Day campouts, which was by far the coolest baseball related activity of the off-season, and will probably move spring training out west, greatly reducing the number of local folks who attend. The Power of Tradition or The Power of Money? You decide.

John Burroughs
Hyde Park

at 10:43 AM

BShooner said...

In response to Anon 9:01-yes some who camp out do it for money. Not the case for many of us though. For several years, a handful of us would camp out (at Fountain Square, and the ballpark) in the hopes that one of us would obtain tickets. This was usually succesful-and the tickets all went to friends and family.

A few years ago, we woke up on the side of Mehring Way that Saturday morning and found ourselves covered by an inch of snow. It was a consolation that John Allen was there to give us donuts and coffee. It used to be an unwritten rule that if you camped out-you'd get tickets.

I can't blame the Reds for wanting to cash in on the demand for Opening Day tickets by packaging them with other games. One year, our group was able to get 30 tickets by camping out-I'm sure they'd rather sell 30 season tickets if at all possible.

We were not able to go last year due to this new setup, but I imagine it results in a more family-oriented and/or hoity toity atmosphere than in previous years. Probably not the right of Spring baseball bachanal we'd all come to love.

I'd love to be able to go this year, and I'd say that freezing your butt off all night in February warrants a ballgame in April. Still-we will celebrate Opening Day no matter what. We will not work, we will walk in the parade, we will celebrate Spring and Reds-and that night we will watch the final NCAA basketball game.

The game itself is only part of the holiday. If we have to choose between going to Opening Day, and going to a game in September that matters-most every 'hardcore' fan would choose the latter.

at 11:12 AM

russ said...

The new system seems to at least make things a little more difficult for online brokers than it used to be. I still think that our reward for providing the team with a $300M stadium should be that Hamilton County residents should get first crack at the tickets. It's awful the prices we have to pay to buy them from brokers after all we have done for the team. That is why I refuse to pay those prices!!!

at 2:26 PM

Chris said...

While it's not exactly traditional, I've always wanted a ticket to opening day but have never had the free time to pitch a tent outside of GABP and spend an extended period of time waiting in line to get a ticket. I don't know what people who wait in line do, but I go to college full-time and have a part time job on top of that. I don't have time to put off classes and work to get a ticket, regardless of how much I want it. I'm not knocking people who wait in line, but how is it fair to me that I have to pay ticket broker prices to get a ticket to opening day? The raffle is the only way a guy like me will ever make it to opening day. If you want to talk about what's fair, talk about what's fair for everyone.

at 2:42 PM

Anonymous said...

Great idea that won't happen. You nauiled it...they want those email addresses! You could take care of the Ebay Factor with a simple ID process on those 200 tickets. Can't be resold. They are printed with the buyers name, go to a special gate and show ID. Voila. Nope... too easy.

at 5:54 PM

Anonymous said...

Not sure there is any way to devise a system that is "fair" to everyone. Chris (2:26 pm) doesn't have time to camp, nor do most people, but almost everyone could go to a Tickets.com outlet or get online or try to call the morning that tix go on sale. You can't blame the Reds for making opening day tix available mostly thru ticket packages. They sell more tickets that way. I just can't help but think that many of those packages featuring opening day & other attractive games are not bought by regular fans (who cannot afford to buy so many tickets at once), but are purchased by scalpers who have the money to "invest." And that is what sucks. The little guy is squeezed out again...

at 11:14 PM

Anonymous said...

Pebble Beach is ridiculously beautiful on "old-fashioned" TV - not sure I could take it on HD.
My round there in the 70's was the highlight of my golf life. And they don't even cover the best holes - 6, 7 & 8 on the peninsula.
For golfers, PB is the ultimate blowout.
Oh yeah, Lowery beat VJ in a playoff... Sweet.

at 10:09 AM

Anonymous said...

how about a mail-in drawing for tickets. Some older folks don't have computers. Why should everything be awarded on-line? They could have some Opening Day tickets drawn from mail-in entries, and some from online entries. That way, EVERYONE would get a chance to get those tickets that are left. Everyone would have a fair shot.

at 9:08 AM

Anonymous said...

Have the people who have won a chance to purchase Opening Day tickets been notified yet (Thurs, Feb 14 9:11am) ???? I applied and was under the impression that the ticket lottery winners would be selected Weds.

at 1:37 PM

Anonymous said...

FYI

Yes…fans that got selected were notified by the club via email.

MLS.

Mark Sheldon
MLB.com beat reporter - Reds
e-mail: mark.sheldon@mlb.com

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Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Hard Core Section

15 Comments: