DCI Championships Ticket Purchasing Tips

[btracht]

I thought it my be of benefit to start a topic that provides DCI Championships ticket purchasing tips for people who haven't yet purchased tickets. How to best purchase tickets - Best seats - Rows and seat numbers to stay away from if you don't like looking through plexiglass, etc.

Here are a few of my tips.

When purchasing your tickets for any DCI through Ticketmaster, do it by phone so you can pick exactly what tickets you want are not just stuck with the options that show-up online. Their national sales number is 800-745-3000 and I think it works for all states. Recently I checked for tickets for all three nights. For example a Thursday street level online inquiry brought up section 237 but when I talked to a real person I found they had tickets in sections 141 and 139 which I prefer over 237. Also know what seat numbers are closer to the 50. There can be a 10-15 yard difference between seat 1 and seat 20.

You can purchase tickets from many corps through the corps' websites. DCI gives the corps some decent seats and you don't pay any Ticketmaster fees but a shipping and handling fee is charged. For example Bluecoats shipping and handling fee is a buck less than Ticketmaster's. Plus I think the corps that sells the tickets makes a few bucks on the sale (maybe through the shipping and handling fee). I think when most corps start selling tickets they don't have tickets in hand, so if you buy early you are gambling on location a bit but theoretically they should be better than what is available elsewhere. However, at some point the corps do actually have tickets in hand and can tell you the location if the location information is not posted on their websites.

Keep you eye on what is available on Ebay. If you are a gambler, the best deals seem to show up in July or even the week before Championships. I have purchased some great tickets this way - even great tickets a discounted price because many sellers seem to get panicked as an event approaches. Sometimes they are tickets a Friend of DCI can't use or comped tickets and are really, really good!

Seems like you can always get tickets at the show from someone who is selling but I would suggest never purchasing tickets printed on someone's computer. You could be purchasing just a piece of paper. And try to stick with a drum corps person if at all possible and stay away from the scalpers.

If you want to get an idea what your view from your seat looks like, you can goto a Lucus Oil View From seats site . With some of the photos, you can get an idea where that annoying plexiglass is and how high and how far over your seats need to be from an aisle to avoid the plexiglass if that is important to you (personally I could not stand sitting in one of the seats that had even the slightest plexiglass obstruction).

My preferred seating area: I was one of those people who tried to experience seats all over the stadium last year and in my opinion is the best section for sound (always my first priority if I have to choose) was section 140 with 141 and 139 also being pretty decent. Those sections also seemed to provide to have much better crowd energy that other areas of the stadium. Right now I think there are still tickets available in 141 and 139 through Ticketmaster for Thursday and Friday with 142 and 138 (sound clarity diminishes but still better many other places in the stadium IMO) being available for Saturday.

Edited March 17, 2010 by btracht

[Peel Paint]

Just to second a part of the above, we had a number of complaints from people posting on DCP in 2009 that they bought tickets for Lucas Oil by going online to Ticketmaster and selecting "Best Available". These people paid a lot of money and hated their seats which for the most part were well away from midfield. One of the factors that made many of these folks really angry was they later saw much better seats available for much less money. Moral of the story: whatever you do, don't get your seats by choosing "Best Available" from Ticketmaster online. The best seats have already been purchased by corps, donors, and fans who ordered early, and some of their seats will become available near face value price.

I also post this tip annually. If money is really tight and you can only afford to see one show, by far the best bang for your buck is to buy seats as cheaply as possible for Thursday quarterfinals. With rare exception of a corps catching fire on finals night, the performances are as good Thursday as they are Saturday, and of course, you get to see the most corps. The ticket prices are very reasonable (half of Saturday prices) and you can get great quarterfinals seats at or below face value from someone who bought a package seat for Thursday-Friday-Saturday but can't go Thursday (though they may go to a cinecast in their hometown). Though there is no guarantee of this, generally, it hasn't mattered where the seats are located for tickets you buy for Thursday. You can buy 10 yard line seats and sit near midfield if you want. If you sit at midfield and halfway through quarterfinals the real ticketholder shows up to claim his seat, you just move over. This works Thursday because most Thursday tickets go unused. This tactic doesn't work nearly as well at midfield on Friday and it doesn't work at all between the 30s on Saturday, when people are increasingly likely to be there and sit where they're ticketed to sit.

Two caveats: the excitement level from the crowd is of course highest Saturday, and it's a much more celebratory atmosphere than Thursday, so you do miss that if you only go to quarterfinals. And a special caveat for Lucas Oil: many people last year thought the echo was worst on Thursday when there were fewer people in the seats to absorb sound. That MAY be less of a factor this year IF the weather is perfect and the roof is open Thursday as promised, but there are many people (including me) who believe that Lucas Oil will still have an indoor echo-ey, boomy sound even with the roof open, because the open area is a relatively very small part of the structure that causes echo.

[Peel Paint]

One additional Lucas-specific warning, based on experience from people who were there last year. While it may seem like a great idea to be in rows 1, 2 or even 3 of the decks, figuring you'll have fewer people standing up or blocking your view, it didn't work out that way in a lot of areas of the stadium last year, because many of these areas had glass panels in front of row one of the various decks. I wouldn't even like that for football, but for drum corps, glass panels block the sound, and it's a dealbreaker for most people, so be careful about buying seats down low on any of the decks.

EDIT: I did read btracht's post, but overlooked the fact that he made this point as well when he was talking about using the Lucas Oil View From Seats website before selecting your seats until I read it again and noticed now. Sorry, BT.

Edited March 22, 2010 by Peel Paint

[glory]

One additional Lucas-specific warning, based on experience from people who were there last year. While it may seem like a great idea to be in rows 1, 2 or even 3 of the decks, figuring you'll have fewer people standing up or blocking your view, it didn't work out that way in a lot of areas of the stadium last year, because many of these areas had glass panels in front of row one of the various decks. I wouldn't even like that for football, but for drum corps, glass panels block the sound, and it's a dealbreaker for most people, so be careful about buying seats down low on any of the decks.

Second that...

Unless you have serious difficulty with stairs, or unless you're sure you in the first row and in a seat that is not fronted by plexiglass, choose the upper rows of any of the middle and above sections. The plexiglass isn't just an impediment to the sound, it hurts the vision too.

HH

[glory]

...Keep you eye on what is available on Ebay. If you are a gambler, the best deals seem to show up in July or even the week before Championships. I have purchased some great tickets this way - even great tickets a discounted price because many sellers seem to get panicked as an event approaches. Sometimes they are tickets a Friend of DCI can't use or comped tickets and are really, really good!

Seems like you can always get tickets at the show from someone who is selling ...

While I'm not going to suggest that anyone impoverish themselves to see finals or banish themselves unnecessarily to the end zone, may I just say that buying tickets in the secondary market doesn't actually help drum corps. So unless the price is a real value or the seats are truly great, buy your tickets from DCI or from the corps. Better to put the money back into the activity than into the back pocket of a stranger.

HH

[Perry S]

While I'm not going to suggest that anyone impoverish themselves to see finals or banish themselves unnecessarily to the end zone, may I just say that buying tickets in the secondary market doesn't actually help drum corps. So unless the price is a real value or the seats are truly great, buy your tickets from DCI or from the corps. Better to put the money back into the activity than into the back pocket of a stranger.

HH

But the Third Party didn't sell them to Begin with ???

[glory]

But the Third Party didn't sell them to Begin with ???

DCI ultimately sells them all. The question is whether your purchase puts more money in the pot.

Two seats are open. One is on the right 20. The other on the left 20. The one on the right is open because DCI hasn't sold it yet. The one on the left is open because Joe Schmoe decided to spend the evening in the lot, then go directly to the bar. If you buy the seat on the right, DCI gets X more dollars. If you buy the one on the left, DCI gets zero more dollars.

Set whatever value parameters are appropriate for you, then buy the ticket that does the most good for you and for drum corps.

HH

[perc2100]

I thought it my be of benefit to start a topic that provides DCI Championships ticket purchasing tips for people who haven't yet purchased tickets. How to best purchase tickets - Best seats - Rows and seat numbers to stay away from if you don't like looking through plexiglass, etc.

Here are a few of my tips.

When purchasing your tickets for any DCI through Ticketmaster, do it by phone so you can pick exactly what tickets you want are not just stuck with the options that show-up online. Their national sales number is 800-745-3000 and I think it works for all states. Recently I checked for tickets for all three nights. For example a Thursday street level online inquiry brought up section 237 but when I talked to a real person I found they had tickets in sections 141 and 139 which I prefer over 237. Also know what seat numbers are closer to the 50. There can be a 10-15 yard difference between seat 1 and seat 20.

You can purchase tickets from many corps through the corps' websites. DCI gives the corps some decent seats and you don't pay any Ticketmaster fees but a shipping and handling fee is charged. For example Bluecoats shipping and handling fee is a buck less than Ticketmaster's. Plus I think the corps that sells the tickets makes a few bucks on the sale (maybe through the shipping and handling fee). I think when most corps start selling tickets they don't have tickets in hand, so if you buy early you are gambling on location a bit but theoretically they should be better than what is available elsewhere. However, at some point the corps do actually have tickets in hand and can tell you the location if the location information is not posted on their websites.

Keep you eye on what is available on Ebay. If you are a gambler, the best deals seem to show up in July or even the week before Championships. I have purchased some great tickets this way - even great tickets a discounted price because many sellers seem to get panicked as an event approaches. Sometimes they are tickets a Friend of DCI can't use or comped tickets and are really, really good!

Seems like you can always get tickets at the show from someone who is selling but I would suggest never purchasing tickets printed on someone's computer. You could be purchasing just a piece of paper. And try to stick with a drum corps person if at all possible and stay away from the scalpers.

If you want to get an idea what your view from your seat looks like, you can goto a Lucus Oil View From seats site . With some of the photos, you can get an idea where that annoying plexiglass is and how high and how far over your seats need to be from an aisle to avoid the plexiglass if that is important to you (personally I could not stand sitting in one of the seats that had even the slightest plexiglass obstruction).

My preferred seating area: I was one of those people who tried to experience seats all over the stadium last year and in my opinion is the best section for sound (always my first priority if I have to choose) was section 140 with 141 and 139 also being pretty decent. Those sections also seemed to provide to have much better crowd energy that other areas of the stadium. Right now I think there are still tickets available in 141 and 139 through Ticketmaster for Thursday and Friday with 142 and 138 (sound clarity diminishes but still better many other places in the stadium IMO) being available for Saturday.

Thanks for the head's up. With all of the unhappy spectators, and reports to the effect that seating location can make or break your experience, I'm sure first-timers to LOS are much appreciative for the insight and advice.

[LoveKathyG]

In 25 trips to championships, I have bought tickets from DCI or Ticketmaster only once or twice. I've never had a problem getting excellent seats between the 40's (usually between the 45's) at my preferred elevation (between 35 and 50 rows up) from a private party...almost always from another DCP or RAMD poster. On one hand, I want to kick anyone's butt who buys from any other source. On the other hand, if everyone did what I do, I'd have a much more difficult time getting the tickets I do. : )

[Matt_S]

I may have waited too long, but I'm looking to buy tickets for Finals. Seems like the push doesn't hit me until the weather starts to warm up a little. Last year I sat in the 400s, which was nice, but seemed cut off from the rest of the crowd. For those who sat higher - 500s or 600s - how was your ability to hear the sound of the corps? For those who sat lower - say 200s - how was your ability to see the drill? I'd like a good mix of both, but at live shows I most prefer to be able to see the drill clearly.