first time season ticket buyer

[mrpistol]

I've been a Hawks fan since I was a kid and have wanted to purchase season tickets for the last few years. I inquired a couple years back, when they were hot, by emailing the official email address and didn't get a response. I'm thinking this may be a good year to try again.

Can any season ticket holders here give a newbie some advice? I'm looking for a couple level 200 seats. I started to look at the official team site and became discouraged pretty quickly. What is the normal process? How common is it to 'take over' current season ticket holder's tickets, and where can that be done? Any advice is much appreciated!

[JTB]

Season tickets?!....for this season?!

...... oh I just LOVE a true hawks fan when I see one! 

 

 

Good luck ! I won’t be much help here but you came to right place, I’m sure one our members can assist you.

[lethalweapon3]

The 200 sections are my favorite, especially seats hugging the exits.

It's a shame that with all those fancy website graphics, a few clicks don't take you to where you want. Season tix are one of those things where you'll want someone who's like a barber, with personal accountability (a name and number you can reach anytime you have Qs).

So I'd start by calling the Hawks' catch-all sales number (it's 866-715-1500), survive the button-pushing exercises until you get the operator, ask to speak with any one of their legions of Membership Associates (they're all good, by my limited experience; a little friendly nagging, but that's their job), and ask away until you've got the seat location(s) you want.

The Phase 2 arena renovation is probably the biggest variable, so if you're trying to lock-in for 2018-19 now, ask about whether the reno this summer affects the specific location you're interested in (access, viewpoints, will the section+seat numbers be exactly the same, that kind of thing). They might have to get back to you on that, but for the money you're dishing out, it's worthwhile knowing in advance. Also, the major season ticket holders get a swanky jacket that seems perfect for this time of year, so ask if they're still giving those out once you've made your purchase.

The NBATickets.com resale marketplace site ("The ANDERSONS got tickets to the game? How'd they get tickets?") worked well for me when getting seats for individual out-of-town games (in Charlotte/DC/Orlando/etc) whenever I'm on travel. But I don't know how that site (or any other) fares when it comes to buying groups of resale tickets from season-ticket holders. So whether it's direct sales or resales, with the arena changes coming, I'd be especially inclined to work it out through the Hawks' "membership service" staff rather than pressing my luck online.

~lw3

[dalamchops]

are season tickets negotiable?? i am attending the members event his saturday @ phillips

[LamarHampton]

I had two half season tickets back a couple years ago in the lower bowl for two seasons. Wouldn't do it again. They discontinued the half season package (but maybe that changed again) and I just couldn't commit to a full season. if I couldn't go to a game and wanted to sell tickets, I could never get my cost per ticket back unless we were playing the Cavs, GS, or Boston. Not even close. So I would lose money and it was irritating to deal with. On top of that, when I had friends come and needed more than the two tickets in my plan, my buddies would just get on stubhub or whatever and could always find MUCH cheaper tickets than my cost per ticket under the plan. And apparently they have gone up on ticket prices, but I still don't know how much that has trickled down to the secondary market. Maybe the spread wouldn't be so bad in the 200s, but may be still bad. Plus, the having the ticket agent guys phone number was handy at times, but the guy straight up misrepresented things to me and my wife during our arena tour. Might have been an accident or whatnot, but still I was pretty upset about things and documented it on here way back in the day. All in all I had fun taking my kids and friends to the games, but I wouldn't even consider it again. It was way too expensive then (and more so now from what I uderstand) and honestly it turned out to be really aggravating trying to make it to all those games or losing money on the ones I couldn't attend. I would just get tickets for the games I really wanted to go to and save the money and trouble. Or just get a much smaller package and see how it goes; that'd be my recommendation to you. But that's just crotchety ol homebody me. And maybe you really want that jacket (which wasn't offered to me as only a HALF season ticket buyer). And good on you for trying to get season tickets to the dumpster fire. I admit you beat me out in fandom, for sure.

[mrpistol]

I appreciate the responses and the insight. Here is/was my naive thinking...

I recently bought a couple seats in the 200 level (aisle) off Stubhub for $90. I know these seats and I like them. I started to think how nice it would be to have those seats for any game of the year. The kicker is, I don't even live in Atlanta. I realistically wouldn't make it to more than 10 games in the year. So, my (probably faulty) logic was that I could sell the remainder of the games on Stubhub and make a profit! The Hawks will be good again in a few years, I would have season tickets to a more appealing team to sell on Stubhub and make an even bigger profit! 

So, it really comes down to: do seats in this area cost substantially less than $90, would they sell on Stubhub consistently? I really have no idea, but I do have a better perspective now. I may hold off on the season tickets for now. 

[mcleitsy]

So I've had season tickets on and off over the years...I'll put it this way...if you know you are going to go to a lot of games, it can be worth it. Get them to throw in concessions and parking. That was the only reason I renewed this year, since to park in the same location is 20 bucks. And I've never been to a game where I didn't buy at least two beers (I've tried, I never made it happen). Once they comp that, it makes the tickets a lot more reasonable.

On top of that, you can buy up 6 additional tickets for each game. I bought 6xGolden State and cleared around 600 bucks. Probably around 200 for each of the cavs games. So, for example, say your tickets were 6k for the season. Get comped parking and a 25 dollar beer credit (that, again, I have tried to not spend. I've snuck pocket shots into the arena and still end up buying beers), that's 1600 off the top. So you're looking at 4400. Then you go and make some money selling tickets for the big games. Lets say conservatively you clear 500 selling 18 tickets to Cle x2 and GS x1. Now you're down to 3900 for the tickets themselves. And if you're going to at least 75% of the games, its not a bad deal.  

The first year I had them I was in the 200 level section, loved my seats. I would occasionally sell my tickets back to the hawks and then upgrade (for my price point, it actually ended up being a good deal). It was after doing that a few times that I realized that I cannot go back to sitting in the 200s and wanted to upgrade. Also, next season, most of the 200 section is no longer going to exist (the sideline sections are going to be gone is what I've been told). And it might seem dumb, but I like knowing I don't have to scramble on stubhub or worry about where I'm gonna park or the logistics of finding my seat. Its worth paying for that convenience. 

 

For your situation, it doesn't sound like it would be worth it, but I figured I would post for anyone else who wants to know. You can message me directly if you want more specific information, I'm happy to tell you the positives and negatives I've experienced.