The Life Of A Ticket Broker

For those of you keeping up with the topic of ticket reselling, Sunday’s Boston Globe Magazine had a fantastic story about this topic, following the life of Jim Holzman, chief executive at Boston-based Ace Ticket. While the story focuses on the popular sports teams in Boston, it’s an interesting peek inside the industry. The story’s writer, Daniel McGinn, shares some tips for the ticket buyer:

HOW TO GET IN? A BROKER’S TIPS

After nearly 30 years as a ticket broker, Jim Holzman knows the ins and outs of every Boston-area sports and music venue. (He also knows how to sell.) Here are his tips for getting good seats at a great price:

* Exploit the weather. For outdoor events, demand ebbs and flows based on the forecast. If meteorologists predict rain, prices dip – and sometimes it’s worth taking a gamble that the rain won’t come. For the Pats, a forecast of rain makes ticket prices dip more than winter weather.

* Exploit the calendar. Generally speaking, weeknight tickets are cheaper than weekends or Sunday night events, which are popular, since people figure they’ll face less traffic and parking headaches.

* Find value at Fenway. Some of the best deals are in the infield grandstand, where tickets carry a face value of $50. “That has the same perspective [as a seat] 10 rows in front of you that costs $100,” Holzman says. For families, look in grandstand sections 32 and 33, alcohol-free zones.

* Don’t sit. The best way to see the Patriots for less is to buy standing-room-only tickets, which carry a face value of $49. “If you get there early enough, you can grab yourself a pretty good spot,” Holzman says.

* Cross your fingers. While Celtics tickets will be hard to come by now, the team always sells a few tickets to every regular-season game for $10. The other consolation: “There’s really not a bad seat in that building – you get a clear view for the price,” Holzman says. Ditto for the Bruins.

* Think outside. For music, Holzman’s favorite places to see a band are at the Bank of America Pavilion on the waterfront and the Comcast Center in Mansfield. He also suggests looking into seeing bands at the smaller Paradise, where tickets are often less than $20.

* Forget about market timing. Want tickets to the 2009 Super Bowl, regardless of who’s playing? Brokers are already selling them; at midsummer, prices started at $2,800. But there’s no ideal time to buy a ticket to a big game like this. “You never really know – it’s almost like buying a stock,” Holzman says. His advice: Buy a ticket at a price you’re comfortable with for a seat you’ll be happy to sit in, then don’t stress out over whether the price moves up or down after you buy. – D.M.

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