A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 375

야구단 신입이 너무 잘함 375화

85. Dog Fight (3)

With the World Series just five days away,

and the official ticket booking schedule managed by the league office concluded, news outlets were flooding the airwaves with excited reports.

[Huge Success Predicted! WS Ticket Presales “Completely Sold Out” in 1 Minute]

[“No Tickets Available”… Secondary Market Also “Empty” Due to Surging Baseball Fans]

[Phillies Official “Working to Secure Tickets… Measures Coming Soon”]

The articles described the competition among baseball fans to get World Series tickets as being akin to war.

Tickets for Games 1, 2, 6, and 7, held at the Philadelphia Phillies’ home stadium, were almost sold out even on the secondary market.

As Phillies fans who couldn’t get home game tickets turned their eyes to away games in St. Petersburg-

“Wow, Phillies fans are really something.”

In a Hong Kong-style Chinese restaurant not far from Tropicana Field,

John Ramer, who had devoured his beef noodle soup, looked surprised as he stared at his phone.

“It’s quite a flight from Philadelphia to here… and they’re still willing to come?”

“There’s a reason they’re called one of the MLB’s three biggest fanbases.”

The Boston Red Sox, the Chicago Cubs, and the Philadelphia Phillies.

David Wilson sighed as he mentioned the three most notorious fanbases in Major League Baseball.

“I was secretly hoping the Dodgers would make it. It’s not that Dodgers fans don’t have tempers, but at least they have a ‘line.’”

A line as humans.

A line of common sense.

David Wilson continued.

“But those Philly fans don’t have any of that, do they? From pre-game swearing, throwing trash, drinking and fighting… and their voices are so loud, my ears ring just thinking about Citizens Bank Park!”

“Haha, but don’t they have some basic conscience? They not only bash the opposing team but also tear into their own team if they don’t perform well.”

“Well, that’s true….”

David Wilson seemed quite concerned about the Philadelphia Phillies, as he smacked his lips.

Then, as if something suddenly came to mind, he turned to John Ramer.

“Ah, right. Ramer, did you get the tickets? The ones Brett Evans was getting for his friends….”

“Ah, yes. I got them. Barely.”

John Ramer let out a ‘whew’.

“It wasn’t easy. Even the ticket sales people were sweating. So many people were trying to get tickets from every direction.”

“They said our home game tickets weren’t being released on the secondary market… I guess that’s really true?”

How strange.

David Wilson scratched his chin.

“If they were already sold out, that’s one thing, but for no tickets to be released at all? Could it be that only people who really want to watch the game bought tickets this time….”

David tilted his head, then turned his gaze to another employee sitting across from him.

“Steve, do you know anything about this?”

David asked.

“You’ve worked in ticket sales for quite a while, right? You know a lot of people.”

“Ah, that?”

Steve seemed hesitant at first.

Perhaps he wanted to keep his loyalty to his former department colleagues.

But when John Ramer ordered a $15 bottle of beer and waved it around, his flimsy loyalty quickly crumbled.

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you, right? Kim and Taylor are close to the general manager anyway.”

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

Steve took a glass of beer that John Ramer poured for him and opened his mouth.

“Of course, this isn’t confirmed. The situation might have changed since I left the ticket sales department.”

After setting up that shield, he finally dropped the bomb.

“Maybe… there might be some issues with the ticket brokers.”

“Ticket brokers?”

It was the first time Jiseop had spoken that day, as he had been quietly devouring the braised pork.

“What are ticket brokers?”

* * *

Steve Westland had worked in the Tampa Bay Rays ticket sales department for three years.

The Major League ticket sales system he described was quite different from what Jiseop knew.

“General fans might find this quite unpleasant to hear….”

Steve lowered his voice as much as possible.

“Actually, when it comes to the World Series, the tickets that general fans can buy from the official site are less than 20% of the total.”

“Less than 20%?”

If something like that happened at the KH Cannons, the entire stadium would be turned upside down.

“Then who has the other 80%?”

“In short, it’s the people who have been helpful to the team’s management.”

Steve continued.

“The team’s sponsors, partner companies, related organizations, and fans who have purchased season tickets… Usually, those people are given ticket purchasing rights. The more money you’ve put into the team, the better seats and more tickets you can secure.”

“……A very capitalist system, I see.”

“Haha, isn’t America the land of capitalism?”

Steve rubbed his thumb and index finger together.

“That’s why the secondary market is so developed in Major League Baseball. Season ticket holders are one thing, but for partner companies and related organizations, those many tickets are a nuisance.”

So, they put the tickets provided by the team on the secondary sales site to earn extra income.

It was at this moment that John Ramer quietly raised his hand, having listened to the explanation.

“Then… what do these ticket brokers do?”

John Ramer blinked.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s any room for them to get involved? They just have to put the tickets they received from the team on the internet.”

“That’s right. That’s why there aren’t many teams that use ticket brokers. We use them a lot in relatively unpopular teams like Tampa Bay.”

Steve continued.

“Some of our partner companies don’t even bother buying tickets. They’re not very interested in Tampa Bay, and they don’t get excited about the small profits from selling tickets.”

Ticket brokers go around to those companies and buy the ticket purchasing rights.

“And then, using those collected purchasing rights… they buy a bunch of tickets on the day the tickets open. Then they put them on the secondary sales site to make a profit.”

“Wait, is our team allowing them to do that?”

David showed a sharp reaction.

“You make it sound good, but when you think about it, aren’t those people making general fans pay extra for tickets?”

If the ticket brokers hadn’t bought the ticket purchasing rights.

If the purchasing rights allocated to the partner companies had simply disappeared.

More fans could have bought tickets at face value from the official site.

Jiseop was nodding in agreement, but Steve’s answer was unexpected.

“No, it’s not just allowing it.”

Steve grinned, revealing his white teeth.

“We’re actually encouraging it. The team gave those people the list of partner companies and their contact information in the first place.”

“What? But why….”

David looked puzzled, and Steve sighed briefly before continuing.

“That’s why I told you, ticket brokers only operate in unpopular teams like us.”

“So why? Why are you helping those people?”

David Wilson’s voice rose slightly, but Steve showed no agitation.

He simply quietly took out his phone and seemed to manipulate something, then turned the screen to show it to the others.

“You’ve all seen the articles, right? World Series tickets sold out in 1 minute! Championship Series tickets sold out in 2 minutes!”

Didn’t you think it was strange?

He looked at everyone.

“Think back. When have we ever sold out before the game? Wasn’t our team only able to sell out after the game started?”

“No, this is the World Series! Of course, people’s interest will be greater….”

“Yes, that may be true. But is it really possible to sell out in 1 or 2 minutes? It seems like it would take that long just for ordinary people to log in and look at the seating chart?”

At Steve’s words, David and John Ramer narrowed their eyes.

“Th, then….”

“Yes, it’s the role of the ticket brokers.”

Steve nodded.

“They hire professional staff to buy tickets all at once. To make it sell out in a short amount of time, to give the feeling that the Tampa Bay Rays’ postseason is a big hit.”

How many minutes it sold out in affects the advertising rates throughout the series.

Beyond advertising rates, it also greatly affects attracting sponsor companies for the next season.

It’s a merit that Major League teams, which live off image, can never give up.

“So our team uses ticket brokers. To somehow promote ourselves as a team that is a big hit, and therefore worth investing in.”

“……Hmm.”

When Steve finished speaking, John Ramer and David fell into heavy silence.

Unpopular team Tampa Bay. Tropicana Field with flies buzzing around. They had heard it quite often, but this time it seemed to come as quite a shock.

“This is really something, to have to use people like ticket brokers because we’re not popular.”

“It didn’t work even with Vincent? I thought it would be different this time….”

Jiseop was just as bitter, but he was regaining his composure faster than the other two.

Okay, what can we do about the reality? The problem is the upcoming World Series, and the fact that tickets for the home games have disappeared from the market.

“Steve, you said earlier that something might have happened to those ticket brokers?”

Jiseop asked.

“Yes, I said that.”

“What exactly could happen? I can’t really imagine it.”

“Ah, well….”

Steve scratched his cheek.

“To be frank, I wasn’t making any great predictions. I just thought, looking at the way things are going, that this could be possible….”

“This?”

“Yes, think about it. After all, these ticket brokers end up holding 80% of the total tickets, even if it’s for a short time.”

Steve continued.

“What if they were to be recruited by the opposing team? And then, if they were to sell the tickets in a surprise attack at a time directed by the opposing team?”

Jiseop’s eyebrows twitched.

“Wouldn’t it be possible for the opposing team’s fans, who received the information in advance, to monopolize those 80% of the tickets?”

There would have to be a passionate fanbase large enough to absorb the demand for 80% of the tickets.

Before that, someone who knows Tampa Bay’s ticket brokers well would have to be on the opposing team.

If those two conditions were met simultaneously-

“Our Tampa Bay players may have to play in front of tens of thousands of spectators cheering for the opposing team.”

Steve continued.

“From Game 1 to Game 7… throughout the series.”