The Chicago Bears found another way to screw over a fanbase that hasn’t seen their team win a playoff game since the 2010 season. Many Bears fans who want to attend training camp this summer and see rookie Caleb Williams live will have to pay hundreds of dollars to watch the team practice after scalpers got their hands on the tickets from Ticketmaster.
Chicago Bears training camp tickets were hard to get this year
I was among thousands of Bears fans who hopped onto the Bears website at 10 am. Tuesday morning to try to score a ticket to practice. I had no such luck last year, as enthusiasm soared following the Bears’ 32nd-overall finish in 2022. The fanbase was excited to see how DJ Moore and Darnell Wright would help turn around the team and propel it to a 7-10 finish.
On Tuesday, I figured I’d have better luck by trying to receive a ticket on a random day in August. Per Ticketmaster’s website, at 10 am, I was over 300 spots behind in line to receive a ticket. The screen refreshed to 155, then 66, then 12. The event ticket distribution website promptly informed me they were sold out when I finally reached the front of the digital line at 10:06.
The Bears offer fans free tickets for training camp. But the way they’re distributed online screws over those fans. Stub Hub and several other ticket sites started selling Bears practice tickets for hundreds of dollars immediately after Ticketmaster sold out.
Practice tickets are going for hundreds of dollars
Jeff Berckes posted a picture on X showing tickets going for $416 a pop.
The person selling these should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
(In all seriousness, these websites should ban the sale of free camp tickets bc f that) https://t.co/I4KOVUPqRn pic.twitter.com/6Lx0TErZWO
— Jeff Berckes (@gridironborn) July 9, 2024
Greg Gabriel with WC Gridiron blamed the Bears for using Ticketmaster.
The problem is the process. With having to get tickets thru Ticketmaster, all the ticket shops gobbled them up and then you’ll have to pay 200/400 for 1 practice. It was a mistake using Ticketmaster https://t.co/6JT5oBbwe9
— Greg Gabriel (@ggabefootball) July 9, 2024
One has to wonder how much of the problem is Ticketmaster and how much is with the Bears. CCS contacted the Bears for comment, but those messages were not returned as of this publication.
Why couldn’t the Chicago Bears make their tickets “face value “only?
Jun 5, 2024; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore (2) smiles during the team’s minicamp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
When I went to Noah Kahan’s concert last month, I learned that Ticketmaster has a feature that allows artists to request that tickets be exchanged for an event at face value only.
“To give fans the best chance to buy tickets at face value, the artist has requested tickets to this event be mobile only and restricted from transfer. If you purchase a ticket and can’t attend, you can list your ticket for sale at the price you paid on our Face Value Ticket Exchange. There will be no additional fees charged to Exchange users for buying or selling tickets on the Exchange”
Why couldn’t the Bears have made the exchange for their training camp practices at face value, so fans would still get a free ticket except for the fees they’d have to pay to Ticketmaster? Scalpers would have no incentive to snatch up tickets, and fans could use the service to give away tickets if they couldn’t make the event.
(Update)
Per WGN 9, on Wednesday night, StubHub will remove the Bears ticket listings as the resale of free tickets is prohibited on their platform. StubHub also plans to cancel any training camp tickets already sold.
It’s unclear if competing ticket sales sites will follow suit or if the Bears and Ticketmaster will take any measures to ensure ticket sales remain free for fans.
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