OT: Big East Tourney Tickets

[OrangeinOmaha]

So as probably one of the few Syracuse/Creighton fans in the world this whole new BIG EAST thing has been a little akward, on one hand its very exciting thinking about the Jays playing St. Johns, Nova, Marquette and I still get to hate GT year in and year out. On the other hand it's the Big East without Pitt, Cuse and ND so how good can this league be.



My question is for the tourney at the Garden how easy or difficult is it to buy single session tickets and does it make more sense to just tickets to the sessions your team is playing in rather than the whole package the BE is trying to sell. I know CU is leading the pack right now with about 2,000 packages sold and word around the fan base is to expect around 2,500 to 3,000 in NYC with quite a few just buying tickets to the session CU plays in. I heard that SU only sold 1,800 packages last year so I'm figuring a lot of fans just bought tickets to the sessions SU was playing in.



I am going with a group of 4 guys and we figured getting single session tickets to the Thursday game would be easy but then depending on if we advance and who we play on Friday and Saturday night it could be a little tougher. Any insight would be helpful.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I think you have to buy the whole package, if you do it officially. I think the only way you can get single session tickets is through the secondary market.

 

[jordoo]

They can call it whatever they want, but there is no longer a BE or BET. I really think they should have changed the name. Still its an interetsing league with some good teams and traditions. Not sure how long they can last and stay competetive against the fball money conferences on the east coast but we shall see.

 

[Frozen]

 

[OrangeinOmaha]

I think you have to buy the whole package, if you do it officially. I think the only way you can get single session tickets is through the secondary market.

I kind of assumed this. I'm not worried if CU is playing a Butler or Depaul but my concern is if CU plays GT or St. Johns. What do you guys think the secondary market prices could be around.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I kind of assumed this. I'm not worried if CU is playing a Butler or Depaul but my concern is if CU plays GT or St. Johns. What do you guys think the secondary market prices could be around.

It depends on the round they meet. Early session tickets are usually cheap, sometimes even below face value.

It sounds like you haven't been to a BET before. My strategy, when I've gone is get a ticket outside for an early session, and then once you're inside, you go into the section of the team that just lost, and you ask if anyone has tickets to sell for tomorrow. I did that at a few tournaments and wound up with great seats. People will want to be sure you're not a scalper, and then you'll often get them at face value.

 

[NKR1978]

http://syracusefan.com/threads/the-...ts-game-and-sulking-thread.47199/#post-575099

This thread provides some guidance about what went on with the 2013 BET. Fortunately, I doubt there is any combination of schools that could push prices that high in the future.

 

[sutomcat]

So as probably one of the few Syracuse/Creighton fans in the world this whole new BIG EAST thing has been a little akward, on one hand its very exciting thinking about the Jays playing St. Johns, Nova, Marquette and I still get to hate GT year in and year out. On the other hand it's the Big East without Pitt, Cuse and ND so how good can this league be.



My question is for the tourney at the Garden how easy or difficult is it to buy single session tickets and does it make more sense to just tickets to the sessions your team is playing in rather than the whole package the BE is trying to sell. I know CU is leading the pack right now with about 2,000 packages sold and word around the fan base is to expect around 2,500 to 3,000 in NYC with quite a few just buying tickets to the session CU plays in. I heard that SU only sold 1,800 packages last year so I'm figuring a lot of fans just bought tickets to the sessions SU was playing in.



I am going with a group of 4 guys and we figured getting single session tickets to the Thursday game would be easy but then depending on if we advance and who we play on Friday and Saturday night it could be a little tougher. Any insight would be helpful.

The League Formerly Known as the Big East (LFKBE) has no large fan bases, at least not any for schools located near NYC. I can't imagine they will come anywhere close to selling out the Garden for any session. Hope I am wrong. It will be very sad to see Marquette play Georgetown in front of 15K of empty seats.

 

[StopCoolio]

I would just walk up for it. Having been to 15 BET’s or so, more than a few of those schools don’t have enough fans to fill up the Blarney.

Even a dream semifinal(always the toughest ticket) from a fan standpoint is probably something to the effect of Georgetown, SJU, Creighton, Nova and that might not even have a full house. Every other game, I would say there’s close to a zero percent chance of it being full and thus the tickets will be pretty easy to procure.

You scalp the games and you also limit all the downside of your team losing early too.

 

[OrangeinOmaha]

It depends on the round they meet. Early session tickets are usually cheap, sometimes even below face value.

It sounds like you haven't been to a BET before. My strategy, when I've gone is get a ticket outside for an early session, and then once you're inside, you go into the section of the team that just lost, and you ask if anyone has tickets to sell for tomorrow. I did that at a few tournaments and wound up with great seats. People will want to be sure you're not a scalper, and then you'll often get them at face value.

Yeah never made it out to NYC for the tourney, always just used my excuse to go to NYC for the Metlife game for football so I could see a Mets game also (My family gave me some real winners to cheer for). Going to do the tourney this year and hoping to get to an Islanders game also if the Jays get eliminated. (Once again just love winning teams)

Thanks for all the help though.

 

[SJUBall]

They can call it whatever they want, but there is no longer a BE or BET. I really think they should have changed the name. Still its an interetsing league with some good teams and traditions. Not sure how long they can last and stay competetive against the fball money conferences on the east coast but we shall see.

Sure the Big East is still there. Most of the founding memebers still make up the league. Fsiw, BET will be a tough ticket like it usually is. Creighton already sold all of their allotment and and you know there will be more Creighton fans. That doesn't not included the allotment for all of the other schools as well as casual fans, corporate sales etc.

Speaking about staying competitive, the Big East has almost as many top 100 players signed from the 2014 class as the ACC does, and with only 10 schools. Recruiting is the lifeblood of the league, and the Big East's recruiting not only hasn't dropped off, but looks to have stayed stronger than most BCS conferences.

 

[sutomcat]

Sure the Big East is still there. Most of the founding memebers still make up the league. Fsiw, BET will be a tough ticket like it usually is. Creighton already sold all of their allotment and and you know there will be more Creighton fans. That doesn't not included the allotment for all of the other schools as well as casual fans, corporate sales etc.

Speaking about staying competitive, the Big East has almost as many top 100 players signed from the 2014 class as the ACC does, and with only 10 schools. Recruiting is the lifeblood of the league, and the Big East's recruiting not only hasn't dropped off, but looks to have stayed stronger than most BCS conferences.

Not sure if you have ever attended a BET. I have. The biggest fan bases were Syracuse, then UConn, then UL, Pitt, WVU and ND.

The loss of these schools is going to have a major impact on attendance with the Small East Tournament. Denying that is just foolish.

As for comparing the ACC to the Small East, you are a little delusional if you think your little conference, maybe the 6th or 7th best in the country, is anywhere close to the level of the ACC, which will be the best basketball conference ever next year with the addition of UL.

That being said, I wish St John's success in the future and hope we can continue to play your team on a regular basis.

 

[cuseincincy]

Not sure if you have ever attended a BET. I have. The biggest fan bases were Syracuse, then UConn, then UL, Pitt, WVU and ND.

The loss of these schools is going to have a major impact on attendance with the Small East Tournament. Denying that is just foolish.

As for comparing the ACC to the Small East, you are a little delusional if you think your little conference, maybe the 6th or 7th best in the country, is anywhere close to the level of the ACC, which will be the best basketball conference ever next year with the addition of UL.

That being said, I wish St John's success in the future and hope we can continue to play your team on a regular basis.

I think the denial will last at least through this year. I can see the BET being very popular and well attended this year because of the novelty for the Butler, Xavier and Creighton fans. a trip to NYC for a conference basketball tournament? The trouble will start next year because the folks in Nebraska, Indiana and Ohio won't be traveling to NYC every year, likely a one time gig for most of them. SU, Uconn fans went every year. ND fans live in NYC so they went every year. It is still a good basketball league with strong eastern bases. 5 of the original BE teams are still there. NYC, Philly & DC are still there and they've added some of the best mid major programs.