Would you buy a ticket to a perfect game after the fact?

[Chip R]

I wouldn't but it looks like there's a market for it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5236340

[jojo]

I could see how this could make a neat display for a christmas present or something... I wouldn't treat the ticket like a collectors item when valuing (paying for it) though...

[reds1869]

Tickets like this can be a nice collectors item and carry real value in the secondary market. That said, I would never buy one unless I was a diehard Phillies fan.

[RBA]

I think it takes away from the fans that actually attended the game. Now they won't be able to prove they were there by just displaying their ticket without some people questioning if they just bought it after the fact. On the other hand with iphone/camera phones I'm sure most got pictures while at the stadium. Unless the Marlins sue them for not having "express MLB/Marlins written permisison to record the accounts of the game".

[toledodan]

Unless the Marlins sue them for not having "express MLB/Marlins written permisison to record the accounts of the game".

i'm surprised some team or mlb has not tried that yet.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by RBA

I think it takes away from the fans that actually attended the game. Now they won't be able to prove they were there by just displaying their ticket without some people questioning if they just bought it after the fact.

And that's why I wouldn't buy one. If it's for memorabilia sake - like the posters they gave out after Jr. hit his 500th HR (or was it 600?) then that's fine. But if you buy that ticket and say, "Oh, I was there at that game," is just a lie plain and simple. Now what these teams should do is stamp the ticket with something that shows it's a ticket bought after the fact. That way people can't go around saying they were at that game.

[dougdirt]

I have sold many a ticket in my day. Mostly for players MLB debut's. I think I got $15 for Cole Hamels debut (came in Cincinnati - he owned us for 5 innings) two days after he made the start. Sold a Bruce MLB debut ticket or 5 at some point in June of that year too. People collect that stuff (I am one of them, just don't happen to have the pockets for it sometimes).

[TheNext44]

This is veery unusual. I used to be in the sports memorabilia market, and ticket stubs and unused tickets from special games were always a hot commodity. But those were always sold by someone who was at the game, or who bought tickets and couldn't attend it.

However, I have never heard of a team selling tickets after the fact. I have no idea what value these will have. They have to be marked as tickets sold after the fact, or else it will destroy the market for the real deals out there. I hope the Marlins are smart enough to do that. I'm pretty sure they are, if they are smart enough to try this.

The closest i came to something like this, was after a Reds/Braves playoff game in 1995, I bought up a few hundred tickets from scalpers that they had left over for $1 a piece. I made a killing, selling them for $10 a piece. I have a few left over that I kept for myself. But these were bought before the game, and just not resold by scalpers. That's very different from ones that were never sold until weeks after the game was played.

[Strikes Out Looking]

I have tickets from Browning's perfect game. My parents went and then left the stadium during the rain delay and couldn't get back in (I still give them a hard time about that). I called them the next morning (knowing they were going to the game) and told them to save me the tickets.

[Ghosts of 1990]

I'm a baseball collecting junkie. Anything and everything. So yea, I'd definitely buy one if the price wasn't too steep.

At the old memoribilia shop off fountain square they sold ticket stubs of famous old Reds games. I considered buying those too, but then I'd had no money for baseball cards as a kid when I was in the store.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by TheNext44

However, I have never heard of a team selling tickets after the fact. I have no idea what value these will have. They have to be marked as tickets sold after the fact, or else it will destroy the market for the real deals out there. I hope the Marlins are smart enough to do that. I'm pretty sure they are, if they are smart enough to try this.

Just curious, why would the Marlins care about the secondary market for tickets they've already sold? I mean, if collectors buy and sell "real" tickets the Marlins aren't going to get any revenue from that.

From the Marlins point of view, if they can sell 2000 extra tickets without having to put any additional product on the field, all the better. If by selling the 2000 extra tickets and not distinguishing them from tickets of people who were really there, they destroy the value from sports collectible markets, than so be it.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by RBA

I think it takes away from the fans that actually attended the game. Now they won't be able to prove they were there by just displaying their ticket without some people questioning if they just bought it after the fact. On the other hand with iphone/camera phones I'm sure most got pictures while at the stadium. Unless the Marlins sue them for not having "express MLB/Marlins written permisison to record the accounts of the game".

I think they can only be sued if they take pictures and try to re-sell them. I suppose they could also be sued for redistributing the pictures for free, but the next time I see an internet ad for "Free Baseball Pictures" will be the first.

[TheNext44]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

Just curious, why would the Marlins care about the secondary market for tickets they've already sold? I mean, if collectors buy and sell "real" tickets the Marlins aren't going to get any revenue from that.

From the Marlins point of view, if they can sell 2000 extra tickets without having to put any additional product on the field, all the better. If by selling the 2000 extra tickets and not distinguishing them from tickets of people who were really there, they destroy the value from sports collectible markets, than so be it.

Collectors are a finicky, crazy bunch. You don't want to make tick them off. And a large number of baseball fans are also collectors. It would be penny wise and pound foolish. They possibly could make a few $100K from this at most, and if they don't distinguish them, they could lose millions in the future. I know I would never buy any memorbilia from the Marlins again if the did that. I wouldn't trust them.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by TheNext44

Collectors are a finicky, crazy bunch. You don't want to make tick them off. And a large number of baseball fans are also collectors. It would be penny wise and pound foolish. They possibly could make a few $100K from this at most, and if they don't distinguish them, they could lose millions in the future. I know I would never buy any memorbilia from the Marlins again if the did that. I wouldn't trust them.

More than anything I'm just curious. so two questions:
1) If you're buying a ticket from a dealer, why would you care if the ticket was actually used at the game? If say I bought the ticket to Halladay's perfect game, never went in, but had purchased the ticket before the game, would it be more valuable than one sold after the game? Why?

2) Do teams make any money off selling memorabilia? I suppose at charity functions and the like where they donate player's bats and jerseys, but how does a team make money from the memorabilia game?

To be honest, this is why buying memorabilia has never made a lot of sense to me. The reason I would keep a bat, or a ball, or an autograph is for the experience obtained in getting that memorabilia. If I go buy it from Joe the dealer, there's no experience.

[RBA]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

I think they can only be sued if they take pictures and try to re-sell them. I suppose they could also be sued for redistributing the pictures for free, but the next time I see an internet ad for "Free Baseball Pictures" will be the first.

I guesss I should have used .