Fluid Tickets...Again

Seems like it's every year I'm writing about this Fluid Tickets thing that the Wizards rolled out for season ticket holders a few years ago. Here goes the 2019 version.

Before we get to my thoughts on this year's version, let's recap what this whole thing is about. This program was introduced during the 2016-2017 season to add value to season ticket holders who couldn't (or didn't want to) make it to all 41 home games. The team allowed ticket holders to return a certain number of their tickets to the team in exchange for store credit (so to speak) generally at the per game price paid by the ticket holder. The credit could be used to purchase additional tickets returned by other ticket holders. Easy enough concept, right?

For the first two years the program was great. The inventory of available returned tickets was pretty decent (especially in the all-inclusive VIP end zones which I covet) and the team made participation in the program attractive by giving $100 in credit as a kickstarter to get you into using the program. But towards the end of the second year the inventory of tickets became decidedly less attractive as (and I'm guessing here) people in the more expensive seats figured there was no point trading in tickets for credit. Last year the Wizards put additional restrictions on the quantity of games that could be traded in and they eliminated the free $100.  So last year I just didn't participate. I figured it was a waste of my time, although a fellow season ticket holder did tell me he used the program pretty regularly last year.

This season I'm giving it another shot. And so far, I'm OK with the results. Let's cover this year's rules first then get to what I've found.

• This year tickets can be returned up to 48 hours before tip-off for credit equal to the per ticket purchase price. However, tickets returned more than 48 hours in advance of tip-off get you an additional 15%  bonus credit. 
• No ticket returns are permitted after February and a maximum of 10 games can be returned total during the season.
• Credit for premium games (vs. the Clippers, Lakers, Warriors or the March 21 Milwaukee or April 3 Philadelphia games) get an additional 50% credit over the per game purchase price (not the price listed on your printed ticket). 
• Unused credit at the end of the season is returned to the team.

So at first pass here, the terms and conditions look about the same as they did last year. I don't remember if there was bonus credit available last season but it makes sense. Generally speaking the team wants that inventory back to they can re-sell. Considering how poor the Warriors record is right now and how many people they have out, it might actually make sense to return that game, although I haven't yet.

But checking out the program this year I've noticed one big difference from two years ago: the inventory seems to be way bigger. In fact, the inventory seems to be about every seat that's available. And that makes this year's program way way better. To be fair to the Wizards, the inventory may be identical to last year's selection; I just wouldn't know because I sat out the program last year.

It's been a few years since I've wanted to attend every Wizards home game. The performance of the team combined with other interests in life have combined to get me down to about 20 or so games per year. But the resale market for some games just isn't attractive. No way do I want 25 or 30 cents on the dollar for a mid-week game; I'd rather take some team credit for some upgrades If they are available. But without an attractive inventory of alternate seats, the program is useless. That seems to have been solved this year.

So far this year, I'm at five games returned, including tomorrow's sort of matinee against the Magic. I've got an all-inclusive game sitting out there in March or so that I'm looking forward to and a little credit to spend. No idea how I'll spend that but maybe another VIP game is in the cards. 

As we turn the page into 2020, the Wizards are about as bad as I thought they would be. Ticket prices on the resale market are still miserable and while it feels like trading second round picks away to get rid of bad contracts, I'm looking at my season ticket investment as sunk cost at this point. At least this year's version of the Fluid Tickets program allows me some options.

Fluid Tickets v. 3

Two years ago, the Washington Wizards rolled out a program called the Fluid Ticket Program, a way for season ticket holders to trade in their seats which they couldn't or didn't want to use for whatever reason and get store credit, so to speak. Today, the Wizards announced the continuation of that program for the third year but just like last year, they tweaked it a little bit.

During the first year of its existence, the program was awesome because it allowed season ticket holders to trade in below market value games (like say...Phoenix on a Tuesday) and recover the full value of your purchase price for later use. The bad news here was that you no longer had tickets to that game; the good news is you could easily trade in a few games or throw in few extra bucks and get an upgraded seat to a different game. 

Now this all wouldn't work very well if there wasn't a pretty good inventory of available seats. Fortunately during the first year, there was, including a boatload of all-inclusive VIP seats. It allowed folks like me who wanted the occasional VIP experience to get it fairly affordably, especially since the Wiz had been finding any way and every way to limit common riffraff 100 level season ticket holders like me from getting any sort of access to all-inclusive lounges.

Last year, the team tweaked the program a little, including placing a cutoff date for returns at the end of February. That meant pretty much no available inventory during the last six weeks of the season which meant no opportunity to upgrade. Last year's inventory in my opinion was less attractive than the first season, primarily because the people in the VIP sections weren't trading in their tickets as much. My suspicion here was that some people got caught with a balance on their accounts at the end of the year which quite clearly according to the program rules got returned to the team. The other realization I'm sure some of the VIP ticket holders had was that there was nothing to upgrade to. They already had the best seats in the building; what were they trading in their tickets for? Credit? For what? Worse seats than they already had?

Now the program is back and it's worth covering the new rules and what it likely means, good and bad, for season ticket holders. I'm writing this assuming VIP experiences are essentially not available. Over the summer the Wizards cut back the number of VIP seats dramatically which effectively raised the price point on these seats significantly. Unless the team is offering VIP upgrades that don't come with seats (i.e. just buying wristbands but sitting in your regular seats), I'm thinking the Fluid Tickets Program is unfortunately all-inclusive free this year. Time will tell on that one.

Can't imagine I'm getting an upgrade like this out of the Fluid Ticket Program this year; too bad.

Before we get to this year's rules, you access the program the same way you did the last two years: by using the Wizards app on your smartphone. Open the app, click on "Arena" at the bottom of the screen and then hit the Fluid Ticket Program tile shown in the picture at the top of this post.

If you used the program the last two years, you'll know the Wizards gave each season ticket holders some seed money to start them off with some discounted upgrades. That was a nice touch. It appears that perk is gone this year. It appears this year you gotta buy in with your own cash. That, quite frankly, sucks if its true. I checked the app earlier today and saw no obvious balance in my account. It appears it's true.

Some parts of the program are the same as last season, including the cutoff date of February 28 and the fact that any balance you have at the end of the season gets returned to the team. My prediction here is that there will be limited inventory at the end of the season but at least there's some time for you to use your leftover balance by that point in the season.

The timing of returning your tickets has changed for the better and for the worse. First, there are no returns allowed within 48 hours of tipoff. That means no more last minute returning for credit when your tickets don't sell on the secondary market. Planning on doing that for tomorrow's game? Better drop the price now, because it's already too late to get team credit. However, if you plan ahead and return your tickets to the team more than seven days before tip time, you will get a 15% bump. Assuming there's a decent inventory, that might allow you upgrade easier than in past seasons.

The last advertised change is that there's a limit of 10 games per season to trade in. I can't imagine this is a big deal. There are only 28 games before the February 28 cutoff date anyway and if you are using the program that much, you should probably consider getting your tickets some other way because it's likely cheaper. I also assume that this rule means there's a limit of 10 transactions. I have two sets of tickets on my account, I assume if I can't make it to a game, I would need to trade in two sets of two and that might count as two transactions even though it's just one game. I can't imagine my situation is anywhere near typical.

If, other than the rules above, the Program works just like it did last year then I can see only two ways season ticket holders could possibly use this in a smart way: (1) to use money you already spent to buy extra tickets to games when you need more tickets than are on your account and (2) to trade in a few games you can't attend for the change to get an upgraded seat to a future home game. This last one only works if there are better seats than yours available, meaning folks in the 400 level (and maybe the 200 leave) are likely the only ones who can realistically take advantage of the program in this way.

There is one unknown here and that is it appears you can use this program to upgrade your tickets the day of the game but won't see available inventory for an hour before tipoff. It might be worth keeping an eye on this feature which I believe is new to the program this year.

My expectations for this program are pretty low this year. I got a lot of value the past two years by smartly trading in some worthless tickets for some pretty cool upgrades but I'm assuming the change in the all-inclusive profile across the arena is going to significantly affect this program. We'll see what happens over the course of the season but if it's going to work the way I think it's going to work, it's just one more case of declining benefits for those of us who show up year after year. Oh well...

What Is A Fluid Ticket Anyway?

Every so often the Washington Wizards see fit to change up the benefits they offer their season ticket holders. Generally speaking, the benefits offered to us crazies that shell out money every year to watch this team play varies inversely with the team's on court performance (and ticket sales). Like the free group seats offered when JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche were walking the halls of Verizon Center? How about the special reception with Wizards players based on your level of tenure as a ticket holder during John Wall's first few years? And VIP access via the Monumental Rewards program just two years ago? All gone as the team got better or sold more tickets or got complaints from the biggest spenders.

So imagine my level of skepticism when the Wizards rolled out their latest enhancement for Wizards season ticket holders: the Fluid Ticket Program. I know what you are thinking: what the heck is a fluid ticket? And how can it possibly benefit me as a season ticket holder? Exactly my reaction when I first got the email announcing the feature. But after a few weeks exploring, I'm loving this benefit. Let me explain.

So the Fluid Ticket Program is essentially a ticket exchange feature on the team's official app that allows you to return your unused tickets to the team (as long as you do it before the game time listed on the ticket) for the full price you paid. You don't get the cash back; your return comes in the form of credit to buy additional or future tickets. And I know what some of you are thinking: I already have enough tickets to see this team play, why on Earth would I want more. Read on.

Foreshadowing. Cuban night by the way.

Why is this program awesome? Well, prior to this feature being available, missing a Wizards game left me two options: eat the cost of the ticket or try to sell it, which was a wild gamble based on who the opponent was and how indifferent the city of Washington is to the Wizards' performance. Can't make the Golden State or a Cleveland game? No problem; you'll make a tidy profit. Tied up at the office when the Wiz are hosting the Bucks or Jazz on a Tuesday? Better drop that resale price to the bare minimum and hope someone bites. And I mean really hope for that $5.

That message rings especially true this season because honestly the secondary market has been abysmal. I looked at tickets on StubHub the week before the Wizards-Celtics game earlier this month and I could have picked up lower level tickets in the center five sections for $30. Remember here that's the resale price; the season ticket holder selling admission to the game is getting less than that. Honestly for most games this season, season ticket holders had two choices: get 25 to 30 cents on the dollar on the resale market or turn your tickets back over to the team and receive full price credit. Given that choice, I'm taking some credit and trying my luck at some improved tickets later on in the year.

Now I realize this perk doesn't help those who want to attend every game much or at all. And I should explain at this point that I am in a unique position to use this benefit because I have two pairs of season tickets: one in the upper deck and one downstairs. The idea that my friend Mike and I came up with here was that we could bring extra people to a game now and then and not force the other person to miss out. But that also leaves us with a lot of extra tickets which we need to sell at a loss. This year, I've been trading them in for full credit.

More foreshadowing...

So what? Again, most people already have too many Wizards tickets. The last thing they want is more. Well the hidden benefit for me in this program is that VIP seats are available (which gets you access to the all you care to eat and drink Etihad Lounge under the stands) and the team gives you $100 free dollars to incentivize you to use the program. This is important. Let's do some math. 

Let's say you see some VIP tickets available on the Fluid Tickets Program for the Sacramento Kings game; the price is $195 per ticket, so you'd need $390 to buy a pair. The Wizards are giving you $100 for free. Trading in your Kings upper and lower level tickets (assuming you are like me and have both) gets you an additional $80 per lower level ticket and $30 per upper level ticket (just what you paid even though you know the uppers are overpriced). That gives you $320. Trade in two more upper level games which are utterly unsellable gets you an additional $120. 

You can now afford VIP tickets, which in my opinion are really valuable because I like to (a) eat, (b) drink and (c) watch Wizards hoops. Instead of watching the Kings game from the lower level while getting $5 for my upper deck tickets and spending at least $20 on beer, I'm eating and drinking for free at the game on the floor just for sacrificing what would likely be another couple of $5 sales on the resale market. Make sense? Too much math? Well, re-read these last two paragraphs as much as you need to so you understand. Or ask a friend for help.

Last night, I attended my first Wizards game with VIP access in about two seasons and it's because of this new benefit. I love this stuff so much that I'm doing it again next week when the Nuggets are in town and all that one cost me was a few tickets that would have been somewhat to totally unsellable on the secondary market. It's a total win for me. For a moment in time, I'm making out well with the Wizards.

The Etihad Airways lounge. LOVE this place. 

So there's a glass half empty side to this, right? Totally. There always is, even though I'm generally a glass half full guy. My top six takes (because there are six beers in a six pack) on the dark side to all this are below.

1. This program is only awesome because the Wizards secondary market sucks right now. If the team was actually drawing fans, I wouldn't need to trade my unused tickets in for team credit; I could just get some cash from ticket sales. Or I could just not spend my money on tickets to begin with.

2. If you have credit on your account at the end of the year, it disappears. Yep, that's right, if you have a few hundred bucks in credit when the last game ends, your money goes poof. Trade in tickets wisely, kids. Don't want to be stuck burning a bunch of money. $30 in way below cost sales is better than $150 in unused credit.

3. Not all games have VIP or even good tickets available in advance. Check this carefully. When I searched the games (and I did search every game) for VIP availability, I found four and all were before mid-December. That's not to say others won't be available later. Just don't bank on it. Weekend games (including Friday) had especially poor availability for additional tickets in all parts of the arena no matter the opponent.

4. The best time to maximize return from this program is before the Super Bowl. Trust me on this one: the Wizards resale market is always awful before football season is over and it's especially bad if Washington's NFL team still has a chance. Trading in tickets is wiser for tickets before Christmas than after February 1. I have the data to prove it. Wizards tickets sell better once football is done.

5. If you buy extra tickets to a game, the app prohibits returning unused tickets for that same game. I have no idea why it does this but you might want to think about this when you are considering upgrading your tickets through the app by buying first and returning later. I learned this one the hard way. I actually lied in my example story. I bought VIP tickets for the Kings game and tried to return my seats in 109 after the fact. Couldn't do it so I ended up sitting in my regular seats for that game because they are better than sitting behind the basket.

6. Extra tickets you buy are at the gate price, not the season ticket holder price. Want some extra upper deck tickets vs. the Cavs (if they were even available)? You'll be paying $79, not the season ticket price of $30. Just something to keep in mind.

If you are a Wizards season ticket holder like me who is tired of getting pennies on the dollar for tickets you can't use, I'd encourage you to check out this feature, even if you just end up spending the $100 the team gives you. I know this is going to prove extremely valuable for me this year. We'll see if it sticks next year. If it doesn't, I got two VIP games out of it without spending an extra dime, which I consider awesome.

One final note here: while the Wizards app is thinking about the absurdity of you buying extra tickets, it displays some "did you know" facts about the team's history. Unfortunately, the folks programming those messages can't spell Earl Monroe's last name right. I told someone at the team about it. I hope it's fixed by the time I press the "Publish" button on this post.

Paper Tickets Are Back!

Two years ago, I wrote a post in this blog lamenting the death of actual paper season tickets in favor of a swipe/scan card system adopted by the Wizards for home games at Verizon Center. I was upset at the time on a number of levels but first and foremost among those was the loss of a critical game day souvenir for those of us who tend to save such things. And I really really used to save basketball tickets.  Until the Wizards stop sending them to me that is.

I wrote that post in the fall of 2013 after the second consecutive year of receiving nothing in my Wizards season ticket package except an electronic card, a couple of advertisements from Verizon Center sponsors and some lanyards which used to be for holding tickets but now somehow were for the one electronic card delivered to me. Why I needed four lanyards for one card I still to this day don't understand. It's not like these things wear out quickly. At the time I thought it was the end of an era and that I'd never again hold a paper season ticket in my hand.

I remember the day I got my first delivery of printed, full-color, high quality graphic Wizards season tickets. After my first season using monochromatic Ticketmaster tickets (no real idea why it happened that way), I finally felt I'd arrived. At last, I'd be able to enjoy the cache that came with presenting a genuine season ticket to the folks guarding the doors at Verizon Center. No more would I be some scrub buying individual game tickets. The ticket taking staff would recognize my commitment to our local five instantly, even if it did take five seasons before we even made the playoffs.

One of the thrills of receiving my season ticket package used to be discovering which players made it onto the season tickets. Look, after two months being starved for basketball happenings, this is big news. The guys on the tickets were the guys that the franchise intended to build around, or at least we thought so. Jared Jeffries? Al Thornton? Andray Blatche? JaVale McGee? Steve Blake? Jarvis Hayes? Yep, all those guys made it onto season tickets in the past. OK, so maybe getting your mug put on the tickets was the Wizards' equivalent of the Madden NFL curse.

But two days ago, my world changed. My 2015-2016 season tickets arrived and THERE ARE PAPER TICKETS INSIDE!!! Yep, for some reason (and I assume it's not my blog post from 2013), the Wizards decided last spring during season ticket renewals to offer the option to fans of receiving actual tickets that you can hold for their loyal fans. And of course, I jumped at the opportunity. Yes, that likely means I'm killing trees by requesting these things and I really truly feel bad about that. I promise I'll re-think this every year. Promise.

Over my 15 prior years of Wizards season ticket holder membership, the Wizards have delivered some pretty OK packaging ideas. I don't think anything has topped the paint can delivered prior to the 2002-2003 season and sure some have been total duds (much like the on-court performance some years) but I look forward each early fall to what's going to show up at the concierge desk of my condo building from Monumental Sports and Entertainment. 

This year's package is a telescoping box featuring a panoramic photograph of Verizon Center during a Wizards game with the tickets, lanyards, a note from the Wizards and a couple of advertisements inside. The note promised at least one lapel pin which appeared to be missing from my box. I'm sure the Wizards can fix that omission pretty easily for me. The team's new primary logo (which I love and have already bought two shirts which feature it prominently) is front and center of the box when in the closed position and I guess the packaging is a pretty decent idea this year. It's not 2002-2003 but it's better than some other years.

But the big excitement of course is who's on the tickets???

Well, this year the Wizards opted to go with four players: Marcin Gortat, John Wall, Otto Porter and Bradley Beal. I think this is a pretty smart choice. The four players divide perfectly into the 41 regular season plus three pre-season game schedule although honestly I think Nenê is getting slighted here. I get that Wall and Beal are the stars of our team, Otto's poised for a breakout year and Marcin is here for another four years (in theory). But Nenê was the first man in to making this team credible and he's still a super important part of this squad. I would have put him on the tickets.

Actually, if it were up to me, I'd just have everyone on the team have their own individual ticket. I suppose that may present issues if someone got cut from the team but heck, we already put Chris Whitney on the 2002-2003 tickets and then let him go before the season started so it's not like we've had issues with that in the past. It's not up to me and so given that, I'm fairly pleased with these season tickets. I know they are not the best I've ever had but I can touch them and hold them and they will be so much faster than the card I've used the past three years. Thanks, Wizards! Can't wait for preseason game number one in five days. FIVE DAYS!!!! Are you kidding me? It's that time of year…

What I've waited for the last four years...

Ticketmaster Strikes Back

The Washington Wizards 2014-2015 home opener is scheduled for one week from today. The opponent is the Milwaukee Bucks, which seems like the easiest home opener opponent we could have been handed, and that's a good thing. Of course, it looked that way last year when we drew the Philadelphia 76ers in this same spot and that didn't work out so well at all. If there are two relatively easy things the Wizards could do to improve their record over last season, it would be getting off to a better start (like better than last year's 2-7 record over the first nine) and stop losing games to clearly inferior teams at home (think Philly, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Boston and Cleveland again).

The start of pro basketball in the District again means it's time for the secondary market for Wizards tickets to start heating up again. Last year, I tracked the price of seats similar to my season tickets in the upper and lower decks of Verizon Center vs. prices on StubHub. I priced equivalent tickets one week ahead of time and then the day of the game to see how the cost of the tickets I have bought from the team for the last 14 years compared to a la carte buying on the open secondary market. The results, which I thought were interesting but lacking of any sort of long term trending data, were posted on this blog in July of this year.

I'm intending to track similar data this year using pricing on both StubHub and nbatickets.com. StubHub's pricing is easy to track; the price shown on their website is the price you pay. I'm not sure how I will track pricing on nbatickets.com because there are a series of hidden fees you can only see upon checkout. Not surprisingly, since the words "hidden fees" were used, nbatickets.com is a Ticketmaster enterprise. I've decided to track prices on both sites this year because I perceive a change in market share away from StubHub and towards nbatickets.com. I'm not tracking pricing anywhere else because my perception is these two sites get the lion's share of the NBA secondary market business.

Big picture-wise, there are some small but potentially significant differences between the two sites. As of the beginning of the 2013-2014 NBA season, StubHub charged sellers 15% commission, whereas nbatickets.com charged only 5%. I assume most of the commission difference was collected by nbatickets.com from the buyer, although I could be wrong. I'm not sure it matters. StubHub this summer decided to change the seller commission to just 10% but then make it up on the buyer side. My belief on this change is that it will not lead to more money for the seller because the market won't tolerate prices going up and will self correct itself when sellers realize they are just going to have to cut their prices (and thus lower their commission) to last year's prices.

The bigger difference between the two sites is on the risk side. Ticketmaster owns the tickets that are being re-sold so they have the ability to cancel the original tickets and re-issue new tickets to the buyer, meaning there is no chance of the buyer's tickets being fake or having been re-sold multiple times on multiple outlets. There is less risk for the seller also; there's no way the buyer can come back to the seller and claim the tickets are invalid. StubHub can't offer this assurance; they put measures in place to combat this sort of risk but it's not guaranteed. Few things in life are, I guess.

I have bought and sold tickets on both sites and while I have always been nervous about the tickets I bought on StubHub working, I have never (repeat, NEVER) had tickets fail. There has never ever been a problem. On the seller side, though, I have had issues. One was my fault: I accidentally uploaded the wrong tickets once and the buyer didn't notice until they got to the gate. I lost a sale on that one but to StubHub's credit, they didn't punish me financially like they could have. The other was strictly a false claim by the purchaser. I sold some New York Jets - New England Patriots tickets a couple of years ago and received an email from StubHub that the buyer claimed my tickets didn't work just as the Jets went down 35-0 in the second quarter. Once again the customer service from StubHub was exemplary and they resolved the claim without my input after looking at the facts (I assume they told the buyer that they didn't believe him). I love StubHub. Their customer service is fantastic and they aren't a sort of inherently evil monopoly sort of thing like Ticketmaster but the guarantee isn't there. Just saying.

During the 2013-2014 NBA season, both StubHub and nbatickets.com offered buyer instant access to their ticket purchase. This year, that has all changed. Ticketmaster, it seems has a new policy that is affecting ticket availability on the market (and not just the secondary market). Instead of offering Wizards season ticket holders the ability to download and print the tickets they have spent their hard earned money on, this year we can only download three days before the event. While Ticketmaster's stated reason for this is to control the number of copies of tickets out there and increase security for ticket purchasers. I have to speculate this is in part or in whole aimed at producing a re-selling advantage over StubHub.

When purchasing tickets on StubHub, there is sort of a reassurance behind the "Instant Download" note next to the tickets you are buying. Maybe it's an instant gratification thing but I think it's more related to the fact that if I buy something, it's mine right there and then. I think that kind of emotional connection is important and positively affects purchases on StubHub. This year, you can't get that unless it's 72 hours or fewer before the event. If you buy or sell earlier than that, the Wizards season ticket holder has to remember to upload three days before the event time. That has to, in my opinion, affect sales on StubHub.

Just a couple of other notes about this policy. First it's clearly not NBA wide. I bought some tickets for the Wizards - Raptors November 7 game on StubHub and have had the pdf tickets for weeks now. Secondly, it appears this policy is being applied to the primary market in some areas. I am planning a trip to south Florida in mid-December and bought tickets to see the Wiz play the LeBron-less Heat while I'm in Miami. I paid my money, but Ticketmaster says I can't have my tickets until 72 hours before the event. That is surely going to inconvenience me because I will be in a hotel for a couple of nights before the game and I'll likely have to get my tickets printed some other way. That for sure doesn't increase my ticket security because I'm asking someone else to print them for me.

So why do I care about all this? There are a couple of reasons. First, I am very concerned about the Wizards one day pricing me out of my seats. There is a trend in sports ticket selling toward market driven pricing (the team calls it "dynamic pricing" which adjusts the price of tickets up or down depending on market demand and which sounds way cooler than it really is) and I think that is dangerous for the season ticket holder if applied the wrong way. I have sat through many many many bad Wizards seasons in the 14 years I have bought season tickets and dutifully shown up game after game to watch my team win or (mostly) lose while spending far above market value to do so. I think that's worth something. I am not a guy who just bails on the team when they start losing. I show up.

If we move to a clearly market driven pricing structure, that means that when the team is really good (if we ever get that far), the price of tickets could skyrocket and that could potentially hurt the season ticket holder. There are people out there willing to spend all their basketball dollars for years just to see one important game. I believe it's important to see every game, so I have less money to spend on just one game. I'm hoping we never get there; I love the season ticket holder discount based on buying an entire season at once. But if we do, I'd really like to see how my tickets' worth measures up to the market.

Secondly, Ted Leonsis has talked a few times in meetings with season ticket holders about the value of our tickets on the secondary market as a benefit to the season ticket holder. As the team gets better, the cost of tickets should increase (I agree with this) and therefore will be worth more on the secondary market. There is much about this statement that is true but if the value of my tickets is ever less than the market value of the tickets, then I think the team and our owner should know. I'm hoping he reads My Swag Was Phenomenal in his spare time before he goes to bed at night or something.

I'm hoping me tracking ticket prices this year results in the same findings as last season, namely that buying season tickets offers a 15% or so discount over market value. The cost of my lower level seats rose 10% in the offseason and the cost of my upper level tickets increased by 25%. That's a lot of escalation to overcome but our team may just be good enough to do it. I'll let everyone know the results in about July or so next year.

Requiem For The Paper Ticket

My 2013-14 Washington Wizards tickets showed up in the mail today. Well...not really. For the second straight year my season ticket holder packet contained no actual tickets. Instead, all four of my seats are again loaded electronically onto a single plastic card. If there were anyone else with me when I opened up the package, I am sure they could have cut the disappointment with a knife. Again. Even though I knew this year there weren't going to be any actual tickets inside.

I know we are moving towards most things in life being virtual but I'm not sure I'm on board with this electronic ticketing yet despite the obvious environmental benefits. I know three of the four major sports teams in the Washington D.C. area (the Wizards, Capitals and Nationals) are all electronic now but that still doesn't make it any more palatable. One of the most exciting things about receiving my season ticket package each year was seeing what the tickets looked like and who was important enough to the team to be featured on them. Now that anticipation is ruined. I mean I don't really care which players show up on the plastic card. In case you are wondering, last year it was John Wall and Nenê; this year it is nobody at all (just the Wizards' monument ball logo). 

I remember when I first bought Wizards season tickets before the 2000-01 season. I'd seen people at games with these gorgeous oversized glossy cardboard tickets and couldn't wait to stop using the crappy printed Ticketmaster tickets I always had and show off my own full graphic season ticket when I went through the turnstiles. Unfortunately, I must have ordered tickets after the main season ticket printing that year so I ended up with the same crappy Ticketmaster tickets that I didn't want. But the next year I was rewarded with what I really craved: full color tickets in four designs, all prominently featuring Michael Jordan's profile on the left of the ticket and one of our four "stars" on the right, Richard Hamilton, Kwame Brown, coach Doug Collins or Courtney Alexander. I'd finally got what I wanted and felt like I'd arrived. I'm not messing with you on the last player by the way; it's true.

Over the years there have been some great season ticket designs. I loved the 2002-03 season tickets which featured alternating blue and gold tickets with a single large font word (either "Pride", "Courage", "Passion" or "Commitment") and a single player in silhouette on them. My absolute favorite tickets (pictured above) were the following season's tickets which featured pretty much everyone on our team in black and white game photographs on 41 unique ticket designs. I also loved the playoff tickets we used to get, which featured multiple connected tickets which formed a single picture. My favorite playoff tickets were the 2006 playoff tickets, which featured our "big three" of Antawn Jamison, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler with the Larry O'Brien trophy.

There have also been some terrible ticket designs in the past fourteen seasons. I'd put the first ones I got in the fall of 2001 that I described two paragraphs ago into that category and not just for the inclusion of Doug Collins and Courtney Alexander. I also wasn't crazy about the 2006-07 tickets which featured our team slogan that year ("Go All In") and a half inch by two inch (barely) photograph of either Jamison, Arenas or Butler. We've also had some questionable player selections to grace our tickets over the years: Andray Blatche and Al Thornton were two of the five players selected for the 2010-11 tickets (the last tickets to feature players), Jarvis Hayes made it onto the 2005-06 tickets and I think I've already mentioned Courtney Alexander, right?

The 2006 playoff tickets. Just missing Gilbert's signature.

I think the thing I miss most about paper tickets is the souvenir quality. I have saved my ticket from every concert I have ever been to (where it was possible) and I keep those in my CD jewel boxes. I also still have a lot of my old tickets from attending basketball games.  They bring back memories. Some of these basketball tickets are the same Ticketmaster tickets that I loathed, some are the Wizards tickets I described above and some are other NBA teams' full color picture tickets that I bought for Wizards road games on the secondary market through StubHub.

I don't really do anything with all my old basketball tickets: a couple of them are on display with some signed basketballs in my condo but most just sit either in my file cabinet or a box of souvenirs that I have in one of my closets. I've had a bunch of tickets signed by players and those signed tickets are sitting generally in the same place as my unsigned tickets. I just like to have them. If nothing else, they have helped me remember a lot of the facts that I have put into this blog. For that alone, it has been worth saving them.

Road tickets to Wizards games vs. Chicago and Indiana featuring Derrick Rose and Roy Hibbert. No Andray Blatche caliber players on these teams' tickets.

Admittedly, I'm resisting the transition from paper tickets. If you know much about me, you'll understand. I was pretty much the last person I knew to get a cell phone (and when I got it, I refused to turn it on); I didn't own a computer until 2009; I still pay bills by signing and mailing checks; I don't buy electronic music or books; and I still balance my checkbook by hand each month. But I know I'm not alone in my longing for paper tickets and the souvenirs that they can become. There was a mini uproar from some fans when the Washington Nationals introduced electronic only tickets this past spring. The Nationals thought they accommodated the upset fans by offering commemorative tickets for sale, but I can tell they just didn't get the emotional attachment fans had to paper tickets. See the awesome article from Dan Steinberg to understand what I'm saying.

I know I'm senselessly clinging to the past in some respects here but paper tickets make me feel good although I'd admittedly give all those saved tickets up if I could get a team on the floor that could contend for an NBA championship. The home opener is November 1 and I'll be there with my plastic card in hand to start another season. Go Wizards!!!