By Jessica Volpe
When you go to college in Boston, it’s pretty likely you will end up at a Boston sports game one way or another. And if you’re lucky, one might be a Red Sox game.
Everyone wants to see Fenway Park. Many members of Red Sox Nation want nothing more than to watch the game from on top of the Green Monster and eat a Fenway Frank. Many say the Sox are an important aspect of Boston culture, and attending a game is something that, some college students say, is a must while you live in the city.
“Something is always happening at a Sox game,” said Jessica Rousselle, a recent graduate of Boston University. “My favorite part of going to a game is singing Sweet Caroline … I love that almost everyone in the park sings along. Going to a game is definitely something everyone needs to experience.”
Some college students love attending games, but don’t always know how to get tickets.
“I’ve lived in Massachusetts all of my life and I’ve never been to a game,” said Christina Simmirano, a senior psychology major at Northeastern. “I would go to a game if I could get tickets, but I don’t know where to get them.”
Getting tickets to a game can be challenging for some students, though informed fans know it’s possible to find tickets from a variety of places.
“I look for them anywhere I can get them,” said Rousselle, who added that she loves baseball and has been a die-hard Red Sox fan for as long as she can remember.
“I usually get my tickets from stubhub.com but I recently got a gift certificate from Ace Tickets,” she said. “Stub Hub has always worked for me.”
Stub Hub is a website that allows people to buy and sell tickets to sporting events, as well as concerts and performing arts events. Ace Ticket is a company that resells tickets while Stub Hub is a website where people create an account to buy and sell tickets online.
“Tickets aren’t cheap or easy to find,” said Elise Droste, a middler international affairs and political science major at Northeastern. “My mom uses Ace Tickets. When I was younger, my dad used to take me to Red Sox games all the time.”
While some students purchase tickets on their own, others rely on friends and family.
“The only time I’ve ever gone to a Red Sox game has been with my parents,” said Annalisa Amicangelo, a recent graduate of Boston University. “I wouldn’t be able to afford the tickets otherwise.”
For fans with last-minute plans, it’s possible to get tickets the day of a game.
“I also know that if you go a few hours before the game and you go to a special gate you can get unused tickets at face value from the Red Sox,” Droste said.
According to the Red Sox website, a small amount of game day tickets go on sale for face value at Gate E on Lansdowne Street two hours before the game. Fans can start to line up five hours before a game. If you manage to get tickets, you have to enter the park immediately.
Thrifty fans may also be able to find a deal on the streets from ticket scalpers. The scalpers often ask if anyone is selling tickets – it’s illegal for them to sell the tickets so they act like they’re looking to buy them instead – so keep an eye out for that. Fans may get lucky and score a deal, but it’s more likely they’ll wind up paying a lot, especially if you’re trying to get into a major ballgame, like when the Yankees are in town.
