Sporting Events And Ticket Touts

in #rugby5 years ago (edited)

1kzcf3xot2.png
source
No wonder Mastercard and DHL are sponsors as the main site accepts Mastercard for payment and DHL ships them worldwide. Will DHL be a partner when they become E-Tickets? 1.8 Million tickets with a majority purchased with a mastercard.

The last Rugby World cup I went too was in England for the 2015 event. I had organised tickets a year in advance with a family member who works with one of the sponsors. Things changed a month out from the event though as there was a whole lot of excuses and lies. In my mind he had sold them so he could go for free and I know I am right in my thinking. I have never asked him for a thing since and it is a hello and a goodbye when I see him.

a0wogwnmtg.jpg
source

He cost me a bundle as my flights had already been booked and I knew my itinerary. I had one quarter final match and two semi finals on my hit list and trust me three weeks out looking for tickets is not fun. I thought it would be unfair to use my contacts at the last minute so I would buy them the expensive way. I used a site called ticketmaster.com and bit the bullet.

I spent well over $2500 for the tickets and they weren't the best ones either. I could have spent a lot more but I was going for the atmosphere and experience. I know loads of people and I have always just bumped into people wherever I go. The world is very small when your team is playing in a World Cup. I spent the day of the semi final with the 1995 Springbok team after being invited by some of the players, but that is another post.


source
I just had a look and found 2 tickets for the New Zealand game against South Africa for 604 Euros each. beggars can't be choosers at this late stage. This was pretty much my choice 4 years ago.

The first game was a Quarter final against Wales at Twickenham and I traveled by train and arrived at Twickenham station. I had been there only a few minutes and saw 100's of ticket touts selling match tickets. If I had known I could have bought a ticket for a fraction of the price that I had paid. I stood buy and watched as the later it got the cheaper they became. I inquired about the final tickets and could get them for around $500 which I thought was fairly reasonable. This way of traveling to an event without a ticket is a high risk way of doing things though and not something that sits comfortably with me.

I met loads of friends at the ground and they were mainly on package deals. What I had paid for my tickets they had a whole package including hotels and flights plus match day tickets. I wasn't upset as I was there and was prepared to pay for the experience. There are some things in life that are just worth forking out for, but I could kick my family member for his greed.

Imagine flying to Japan and the local authorities have clamped down on this type of behavior and you end up watching the games in some bar close to the ground. I know now that if you don't have a ticket at Twickenham they are available ,but in Tokyo or somewhere else I wouldn't take that gamble. In some parts of the world ticket touts are illegal and is frowned upon.

I am not going to Japan this year as I have a business to run and grow and wouldn't consider it even if I was given a trip for free. Maybe the next one, but definitely I will be going again at some point. It is too much fun catching up with old buddies and drinking into the night.

Sort:  

So I guess you really really like rugby! A lot of talk about a lot of money there!

Ticketmaster are a bunch of jerks. I can't stand them.

Posted using Partiko Android

You could say that. Initially I wasn't going to go but I had been looking forward to it and just thought what the heck as it is not something you do all the time. I wouldn't use Ticketmaster again as I did feel as though I had been screwed. Next time I will not rely on others for tickets and will sort it out a long way in advance.

My brother in law goes to the first couple of rounds of the college basketball playoffs each year with a group of friends. They buy their tickets ahead of time and there are times that if they aren't interested in the games they will sell them and then go watch one of the games from another location at a local bar. That is horrible that your family member did that to you. I always like to be better safe than sorry and I always buy my tickets ahead of time rather than taking the gamble when I get there. Ticketmaster sucks, their fees are nuts, but they are one of the major outlets.

The only rugby games I went to, they were free tickets, and people were still making fun of me. Well I come from a country were rugby is seen as a game for...better not say it 🤪

Nothing wrong with rugby players.

I think my comment came out wrong, this often happens when english is not your first language.

Posted using Partiko Android

Support your sports post (by SPORTS Token and MARLIANS Token)
From @hertz300

支持你的贴子(by MARLIANS)

Thanks for using eSteem!
Your post has been voted as a part of eSteem encouragement program. Keep up the good work! Install Android, iOS Mobile app or Windows, Mac, Linux Surfer app, if you haven't already!
Learn more: https://esteem.app
Join our discord: https://discord.gg/8eHupPq

To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.

Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.

Hi, @cryptoandcoffee!

You just got a 5.57% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.

You will nearly always get cheap tickets on the gate at the last minute. It is a risk but every major match i've been to there has been touts that will take anything in the last 5 minutes.

Hi @cryptoandcoffee!

Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 4.189 which ranks you at #3208 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has not changed in the last three days.

In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 105 contributions, your post is ranked at #20.

Evaluation of your UA score:
  • Some people are already following you, keep going!
  • The readers like your work!
  • Try to work on user engagement: the more people that interact with you via the comments, the higher your UA score!

Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.28
TRX 0.11
JST 0.034
BTC 66274.97
ETH 3175.04
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.06