The Endless Hunt For Cub Tickets

Every year the Chicago Cubs draw more people, and every year fans try to get those tickets. The demand to get into Wrigley Field is second only to the Yankees, and possibly the Mets. The Cubs have certain games, such as the series with the White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers, where the tickets not only are soldout but the ticket brokers have trouble getting tickets as well.

Now, this year will be no different. With the arrival of Soriano and Ted Lilly, plus the possibililty of a healthy Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, and the continued dominance of Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs are looking to make some noise. Oh, and the pick-up of Jason Marquis from the Cardinals won't hurt, either. The team will be good, and the demand will be great.

Who is pushing to get into the doors at Wrigley, anyway? Well, let's break it down. First, you have the true fans. The fans that live and die, the resolute Diehard Cub Fan. These are the season ticket holders, but many of the Diehards do not have season tickets, but they do come to a lot of games. Next up is the see and be seen crowd. This sad, and usually financially well off group shows up from downtown Chicago, the northside neighborhoods, and from dozens of suburban towns, usually from the North or West of the city. They are high school kids, college kids, party guys and gals, and people who just want to have fun. Then you have the business groups and the business travel gang. This group uses more tickets than you would think. Also, many visitors to Chicago take in a game at Wrigley, partially just to say they were there, or maybe to see one of the last remaining baseball fields from the dead ball era. All in all, the Cubs draw like mad.

That leaves the average fan at a disadvantage. How to get tickets to the Cubs game, when they are soldout for most games? Or, how to get decent seats when all that is left are bad seats behind the Upper Deck pole?

This lens is dedicated to providing a course of action to take, assuming you want to get to the Cubs and the game you want to attend is in high demand. Here are the steps to take...

First, check with the Cubs Box Office, and make sure they do not have any seats (or any seats you want) available. It is unlikely, but it doesn't hurt to try. If that fails, your next bet is to look at the STUBHUB website. Visit STUBHUB and type in your game and how many tickets you need to that game. Usually the results are pretty good, because this has become the main market for tickets once they are sold from the box office.

If you still are having no luck your next stop is eBay. Everyone knows this company and they do sell tickets, too. Below are some tickets available at eBay as well. Next, assuming nothing has worked, you can call a ticket broker or better yet search their website. There are quite a few quality ticket brokers in Chicago, and some that are not in Chicago can still come up with great tickets. Of course, the price will be a little higher, but if you need the tickets they will have them. One last resort place to look is the Chicago Tribune Classified section, they always seem to have a few ads for tickets, usually packs of four or six tickets.

So that is it. Take those steps, in the order given, and you should land some tickets. They might not be the greatest and you might need to pay some decent money for them, but you can get to the game!