Bruins make switch to 100% electronic ticketing - no paper (PDF's) accepted

cbcwpg

Registered User
May 18, 2010
20,100
20,377
Between the Pipes
Jets went with this last season and had all the issues that go with going 100% electronic.

- One thing they do allow is... if you have no phone, you can go the the main ticket office at the arena and have them print out the ticket for you at no cost. You just have to have a TM-Account and photo id.

Their reasons for this as stated by the Jets...

Mobile Ticketing Benefits:
  • CONVENIENT: Manage, transfer, donate or sell your tickets from anywhere using a mobile device
  • IMPROVED CONTROL: Improved control and distribution when sharing tickets.
  • EASY ACCESS: Allows for quick and easy entry to the Bell MTS Place
  • PROTECTION: Eliminates counterfeit or stolen tickets; Reduces the risk of lost or forgotten tickets
  • ECO-FRIENDLY: Reduction in paper by printing less paper

The one reason they don't mention is... To track everyone that attends a game so we can email you ticket offers and undercut our Season Ticket Holders from trying to resell tickets that they can't use.
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
84,982
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Bojangles Parking Lot
I don't get why everyone is upset about needing wifi on the phone etc.

Doesn't it clearly say that every STH get a STH contactless card that gives you access to the stadium?
If I understand it correctly it works the same way as for my soccer team Tottenham Hotspur. All STH have an access card that we 'beep' at the gates to get access. If I cannot attend a game I can either pass on my card or transfer the ticket digitally to another member of the club (they need to have a membership in the club website). Then I can sort out the payment via paypal, bank transfer or any other way of payment I find suitable. If I don't want to go through the hassle of finding a buyer myself I can mark which games I can't attend and the club will sell my tickets for me on the club ticket exchange for a full refund (provided it get sold).

We've only had it for a season but so far there have been absolutely no problems. It just gets more secure for the buyer as they don't risk ending up with some faked pdf that they won't know if it works or not until game day.

That’s all well if you’re an STH with a card. *beep* you’re done.

But the person who is coming to the game as a one-off has to go through an unfamiliar and finicky process with their phone, within seconds of having their phone taken away for security check. As an STH, you’re still going to have to deal with those people and the chaos around them.

Even airports are smart enough not to do this to people who are already stressed out. Not only do they have a physical infrastructure designed to separate ticketing from security, they also give people the option to print at home or pick up a paper ticket at the counter — avoiding unnecessary confusion and stress at the security bottleneck.

Not to mention, this system is explicitly designed to take money out of your pocket as an STH. You are effectively handing the team an extra cut of the value of your STH package, especially if you’re giving them the tickets to sell “for you”... which they certainly aren’t doing as a charity. That alone should irk you as a customer.
 

BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
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Las Vegas
That’s all well if you’re an STH with a card. *beep* you’re done.

But the person who is coming to the game as a one-off has to go through an unfamiliar and finicky process with their phone, within seconds of having their phone taken away for security check. As an STH, you’re still going to have to deal with those people and the chaos around them.

Even airports are smart enough not to do this to people who are already stressed out. Not only do they have a physical infrastructure designed to separate ticketing from security, they also give people the option to print at home or pick up a paper ticket at the counter — avoiding unnecessary confusion and stress at the security bottleneck.

Not to mention, this system is explicitly designed to take money out of your pocket as an STH. You are effectively handing the team an extra cut of the value of your STH package, especially if you’re giving them the tickets to sell “for you”... which they certainly aren’t doing as a charity. That alone should irk you as a customer.

yup, as well as not having physical copies of the tickets means you shell out thousands of dollars for something you dont really own.
 

BruinsFan37

Registered User
Jun 26, 2015
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1,667
This is a misnomer...

The link Fenway posted is talking about season tickets only.

They've eliminated print-at-home, but for single-game tickets (through Ticketmaster) you can get still get an old-fashioned paper tickets by mail (or fed-ex if you rush them).
 
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tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
84,982
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Bojangles Parking Lot
This is a misnomer...

The link Fenway posted is talking about season tickets only.

They've eliminated print-at-home, but for single-game tickets (through Ticketmaster) you can get still get an old-fashioned paper tickets by mail (or fed-ex if you rush them).

That's a little better. Still kind of silly that you can't just print them.
 
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GuelphStormer

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Mar 20, 2012
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Guelph, ON
Season Pass

A quick primer on usage, beginning with the exhibition season home opener Sept. 23:

<snip>

Walk-up customers, by the way, must have smartphones in order to accept the tickets they purchase at the box office.
This is a misnomer...

The link Fenway posted is talking about season tickets only.

They've eliminated print-at-home, but for single-game tickets (through Ticketmaster) you can get still get an old-fashioned paper tickets by mail (or fed-ex if you rush them).
but not at the box office?
 

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
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Sep 26, 2007
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Cambridge, MA
This is a misnomer...

The link Fenway posted is talking about season tickets only.

They've eliminated print-at-home, but for single-game tickets (through Ticketmaster) you can get still get an old-fashioned paper tickets by mail (or fed-ex if you rush them).

XUGSL6UMNMI6TIXZ3L3SBRO3NE.jpg

If you’re holding any Bruins ticket stubs from the 2018-19 season, consider them even more of a collector’s piece. The Bruins notified their season ticket holders in recent weeks there no longer will be printed tickets for anyone.

The decision to dump the paper ducats, said Glen Thornborough, the chief revenue officer on Causeway Street, came after some three years of weighing the pluses and minuses of the digital ticket age. In the end, the technological ease of ticket “transferability” carried the day.

“This year we thought was the year to do it,” said Thornborough, adding that nearly one-third of the league’s 31 teams have gone to paperless tickets.

A quick primer on usage, beginning with the exhibition season home opener Sept. 23:

■ Each season ticket holder (STH) will be issued what amounts to a credential, a credit-card-sized ID typically clipped to a lanyard that is placed over the neck.
“Sort of a badge of honor,” mused Thornborough.

The credential, or pass, will allow the season ticket holder to enter the building, along with companions, up to the total number of seats purchased in the season ticket holder’s account.

If the season ticket holder opts not to attend that game, he or she simply can hand over the credential for someone else to wear into the building.

Thornborough said he doubted that would be a common practice, but it’s possible, noting that the credential takes the place of 44 tickets, representing all games in a season, sitting in a drawer.

■ More typically, noted Thornborough, season ticket holders (representing 12,400 tickets per game in total) will transfer tickets digitally from their STH accounts. It only takes a matter of seconds for the account owner to “flip” the tickets, sending them to a smartphone via a designated e-mail address or text.

The recipient, with that game’s barcode on a handheld device, then will present the digital ticket for entry for that night’s contest.

Voila. Nearly a century after printing tickets — for season ticket holders and walk-up customers alike — the Original Six Bruins have jumped the digital ducat shark.

Walk-up customers, by the way, must have smartphones in order to accept the tickets they purchase at the box office.

As for those old-timers who cherish their ticket stubs, Thornborough said the Bruins will continue to print thousands of free posters, termed “roster cards”, that will be handed out each game. The posters, 11 inches by 17 inches, will serve as new-age stubs, and actually provide far greater space if the holder is lucky enough to score an autograph.

Thus far, said Thornborough, customer pushback has been minimal, and has been more than outpaced by those who like the new-age process. Nearly 50 percent of last season’s customers, he noted, entered the building via tickets on handheld devices.

“It’s a decision we don’t make lightly,” said Thornborough. “Our lifeblood is our season-ticket base, and everything we do we try to do around customer experience and how we can manage expectation. Any decisions involved with our season ticket clients are done with tremendous care — we know the value they provide. They are very emotional toward our brand, as are we.”

As we discussed on the Bruins board you must have a smartphone when you buy at the box office. There are NO printed tickets.
 

BluesOne31

We going insane
Dec 31, 2011
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Blues did this as well this year. No access card though. Tickets were accessed through the My Blues Account with Ticketmaster/NHL App.

It was kind of annoying when transferring tickets to other people because it would take them a bit to understand how to "accept" the tickets.

Also, if you have to use your account on your phone, make sure you download them to Apple Wallet if you can before you leave for the game. I forgot one game last year and because I wasn't connected to wifi yet, the tickets wouldn't load. Missed the first 10 minutes of the game before my phone finally connected to wifi.
 
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CharasLazyWrister

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Sep 8, 2008
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Northborough, MA
Blues did this as well this year. No access card though. Tickets were accessed through the My Blues Account with Ticketmaster/NHL App.

It was kind of annoying when transferring tickets to other people because it would take them a bit to understand how to "accept" the tickets.

Also, if you have to use your account on your phone, make sure you download them to Apple Wallet if you can before you leave for the game. I forgot one game last year and because I wasn't connected to wifi yet, the tickets wouldn't load. Missed the first 10 minutes of the game before my phone finally connected to wifi.

Why couldn’t you just use cellular service for a second to complete the download?
 
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GuelphStormer

Registered User
Mar 20, 2012
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497
Guelph, ON
Why couldn’t you just use cellular service for a second to complete the download?
some people choose not to have data on some devices because of the costs. i do not have data on all of my cellphones and I know a lot of people who don't have data as well, we use wifi. call us luddites if you like but it's a bad assumption of any company to presume everyone has data.

again, this is the problem with this whole process ... a lot of assumptions are being made. frankly, it's bad for the bruins or any other team/venue to assume that patrons even have smartphones. most do, but many do not and simply refuse to get one.
 
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NCRanger

Bettman's Enemy
Feb 4, 2007
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Charlotte, NC
some people choose not to have data on some devices because of the costs. i do not have data on all of my cellphones and I know a lot of people who don't have data as well, we use wifi. call us luddites if you like but it's a bad assumption of any company to presume everyone has data.

again, this is the problem with this whole process ... a lot of assumptions are being made. frankly, it's bad for the bruins or any other team/venue to assume that patrons even have smartphones. most do, but many do not and simply refuse to get one.
And even if people DO have data, there's no guarantee that the signal strength is strong enough to download data in a reasonable amount of time. Especially when 15,000+ people are in a confined area hitting one or two "towers".
 

Fenway

HF Bookie and Bruins Historian
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Sep 26, 2007
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And even if people DO have data, there's no guarantee that the signal strength is strong enough to download data in a reasonable amount of time. Especially when 15,000+ people are in a confined area hitting one or two "towers".

Downtown Boston the most reliable LTE coverage comes from Verizon and the other 3 networks (AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) are iffy. TD Garden has a deal with AT&T and they supply extra towers in the building.

A couple of years ago I was in Buffalo and my phone was locked into Bell from Canada as cell towers in Ontario were stronger than the US carriers - I also saw this in Detroit at Joe Louis.
 

Warden of the North

Ned Stark's head
Apr 28, 2006
46,263
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Muskoka
Folks are suggesting the team is cheaping out by going this way but Im not sure that this new approach is any less costly than printing (and mailing) hard tickets. The Bruins (or someone) will surely pay a fee for each ticket, and STH passport, issued electronically and there is likely a tremendous cost of infrastructure. Add to that the extra time staff will devote to STH complaints and dealing with confusion at the box office and I can see this actually being more expensive, at least in the beginning.

I work for a company that pretty much did the same thing as this and it was 100% a cost saving measure.
 

Skinnyjimmy08

WorldTraveler
Mar 30, 2012
22,483
11,943
I hate this. So friggin annoying

I am from Canada and dont use my cell in the US cause the roaming charges and everything is ridiculous(i bring it with me incase emergency but leave it off in my hotel) We usually hit up a game when we go down there to different cities and i fear all teams will soon do this.

I know quite a few people in Edmonton that despise this new system too. Its awful.

Plus one thing i remember as a kid was seeing how cool the actual ticket to an NHL game was. I kept my first game ticket still to the day and will never forget it. One of my favorite souvenirs of all time
 

LeHab

Registered User
Aug 31, 2005
15,956
6,259
TORONTO — Kijiji Canada is removing the option to sell event tickets on its platform because of challenges it has encountered in the shift to digital from physical tickets.
The company, owned by eBay Inc., says it has cut the option to sell tickets as of Monday, while listings already posted will stay up until they expire. All postings will have expired in 60 days.
Ebay, however, will still have a significant stake in the ticket-resale market as the owner of ticket site StubHub.
Kijiji says it made the move as digital tickets have created issues around authenticity, especially as they can be bought and sold directly online.
“The shift from physical tickets to digital over the years has made it hard, it’s posed some challenges for Kijiji,” said general manager Matthew McKenzie.
“There’s always risks related to purchasing tickets from private sellers. And there’s also just an emotional piece too. If you’re looking to go to a concert and maybe time is of the essence and you make that decision that you might not typically have made.”

Kijiji Canada cuts ticket option from site as digital issues prove challenging

Kijiji (Craigslist equivalent owned by eBay) is stopping ads for selling tickets citing shift to electronic ticket challenges.

Translation: We don't like you selling tickets where we don't get paid. Please use ebay or SH where we can get a nice cut.
 
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