Bring Back The Tickets!

As I get older, the nostalgia bug bites in so many ways. Most of the time, it's just reaching for straws from what we perceived to be simpler times. But every once in a while, it hits with an appropriate, honest thought.

As a sports fan, concert-goer, or attendee of any kind of ticketed event, I believe we've all had this feeling rush through us: bring back physical tickets! Who else kept their ticket from that big game, the first time seeing your favorite band, or even just a random movie night with the boys? For anyone rummaging through old boxes who stumbles upon a pile of ticket stubs, those slips of cardstock paper act as time machines. No one can argue that seeing those tickets doesn’t just trigger a flood of memories.

No, no, no...it’s like flipping through a family photo album or watching old home videos. These tickets bring out a reaction that’s almost chemical, almost addictive. You remember your first game with your dad. Your first concert with friends. And suddenly those old tickets become conversation pieces, and into a rabbit hole of naming old players, games, and records. We ALL know Barstool college football expert Brandon Walker would agree with this, in fact he should be leading the charge of this!

Now, I get it, this might not be for everyone. Some people are all in on the paperless, phone-only ticketing system. So I’m not here leading a revolution to bring back will-call windows or waiting for tickets to arrive in the mail. And no, we’re not meeting at the 7/11 to grab a transfer from Roger Kendall on the Gametime app. But with the extra fees being thrown at us nowadays, why not get a physical ticket as well out of it too!

Still really what I’m proposing isn’t a full reversal, just an opportunity. Maybe it’s through Gametime, maybe it’s each league-led, or even could be an independent creator. We stay in the digital age for venue entry, but...here's the new spin: around the arena, ballpark, or stadium, there are kiosks where you can scan your digital ticket and print out a retro-style ticket on card stock to take home. It could even give you different options to choose from on what you want it to look like, but just like in the old days it has it all on it, your seat, section, game, time, teams, all of it!

Yes, in the spirit of capitalism, maybe it's a $1 service...or maybe it’s just folded into the already-insane ticket fees we’re paying. Either way, this gives fans a chance to physically hold onto a memory that they’ll want to revisit someday. You could even frame it for your man cave one day to show off all of the events you have been too. That would always be an intro into naming random players with the boys, a cherished hang out activity. Or lets go more family oriented, imagine having a stub from your kid’s first game or the first time you saw your team play in a postseason matchup, I went to the Dbacks walk-off win vs the Phillies in 2023, and I would love to have that ticket today.

This may be a niche idea for a certain age group, but it has traction. If you're the right age, you remember holding onto those tickets after seeing your team absolutely dominate. It was always: keep the ticket, grab the program. Everything else was extra, but those two things were musts.

Sure, programs take up space, but tickets? You can keep those in an old Amazon Fire Stick box in the closet and stumble across them on a rainy Sunday when you’re deep in your nostalgic feels. WE NEE THEM BACK!