Is this problem common for all resales? I see $44 face value upper level tickets selling for upwards of $200 each for late season or Dallas games every year. Does the resale just suck early in the season, or do you have a weird seat location?
No, it's not the location. I'm right on the goal line, in pretty good seats (if I may say so myself
) Certainly not the best, but I'm happy with them
(section 117 if you look at the stadium diagram)
First - this past year was an abnormality - hopefully it continues - but since Gibbs left the team has been so dreadful by week 14 you can't give tickets away. Literally. Where I used to work had to give up the company tickets because employees wouldn't go - for free...
Second - any big team or NFC East rival has a possibility of pushing sales up due to the number of transplants in the area. A lot of teams have a pretty impressive following in the area (some of it is bandwagon fans too). So for a 'big' game you may see them go up. This year eagles tickets didn't skyrocket - because the eagles sucked by the time they came here to play. Which is why, for the first time in a long time, I enjoyed going to an Eagles game. Their fans didn't show up. In the past I'd just sell that game, wasn't worth almost getting in a handful of fights and being arrested, or worse sent to the hospital. I stopped being a confrontational dumbass around 20, 21; but with eagles fans... trouble just follows those low lifers.
Third - it really really really depends on where you're looking. Stub hub, for example, is super inflated. They add their cut, their fees, and to top it off most of the tickets are coming from the team itself, or one of the many brokers the team has become far too close with. They're basically trolling for anyone willing to pay that price. If I were to put my tickets up there for, say $10 cheaper, they'd never sell because there just aren't that many buyers. Big games aside, of course. Stub hub is not exactly a good place to gauge ticket resale value on average.
The problem with reselling tickets is primarily with the attitude most redskins fans in this area have had. They know the team has sucked, it's 'common knowledge' the stadium sucks (despite the fact that most people who say that haven't been, or have only been a few times, and are just repeating what they hear other, equally as informed people say), and Snyder has a reputation among the fans as a greedy little prick trying to stick it to the fans in every way. When you add all that up you have a general consensus among people that the tickets are way over priced and that season ticket holders are dying to get a buck for them. So - when I tell someone I'm asking face value they laugh, and offer below 50%. I'm not in the business of losing money so I just don't sell my tickets for that.
I know it sounds like I'm picking on redskins fans, but here's the thing - I've never encountered that with anyone who wants to buy tickets because their team is playing the redskins. I've (despicably) sold pre-season tickets for full price to opposing fans in the past and they happily paid it. Granted, they don't have the opportunity local redskins fans have to see their favorite team in person nearly as often, but in general those fans are happy to pay face value and not get raked over the coals. So which team the buyer roots for definitely seems to matter.
Which is why I laugh at people who criticize season ticket holders for selling to the highest bidder even if it's not a skins fan - you go flush 60% of 4k down the toilet then we'll talk about loyalties and what it means to be a fan. I go to more than my fair share of games (missed one preseason game out of the last 28 straight) to listen to a bunch of bull**** from people that rarely, if ever, attend games.
Sorry about that rant. Anyways - it's been a problem recently. Majority of the people in this area are fairweather fans - and I don't mean that as an insult, its just the way most people are. if the team is good you just see more redskins gear, you hear more people talking about it, and more people are interested in going to the games. When they're bad you don't see gear, no one talks about them, and you play hell trying to sell your tickets if you can't go.
My dad had the tickets from ~1980 until 1997 (these have been in the family a long time.) When they were passed to me he always told me - sell your tickets before the season starts, cause when week 8 roles around and they suck no one will take them for free. He was absolutely dead on. It goes up and down. There are decades where having season tickets means your phone rings constantly from people you haven't talked to in years asking if you still have tickets, trying to find them. There are decades where the main joke is 'I left 2 tickets on my dashboard and when I came back my window was smashed and there were 4 tickets on my dashboard.'
So, that was a very long way of saying yes - it's common. It's just part of the deal and you accept it when you buy them - well, if you don't accept it then you wind up giving them up when you realize you can't assume you'll get $x amount every year selling your tickets. I know it sounds weird, and it should - if you're active on this site than you're in the 1% of redskins fans in terms of how obsessed you are with the team.
I'm expecting this problem to go away now that we have Griffin. This team is finally a team to be proud of, and it will show in terms of fan support and stadium attendance. It's already starting to show at the stadium.
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