Advice for starting a ticket group?

[Baseball is Life]

Great discussion - thanks everyone.  The thread has kind of changed to a discussion of the pros and cons of being a SPH, but I'm still curious about some of the nuts and bolts of running a ticket group.  After you do your draft, can the group leader create My Nats Ticket accounts for all members and then transfer tickets to each member?  That way each member can manage/exchange/sell their own tickets without messing with other people's tickets.

I imagine that things can get messy when the playoffs roll around.  Some of you say you have up to 8 members in your group.  As we all know painfully too well, the Nats can be booted out of the playoffs with as little as one or two playoff games.  That must make your drawing for who gets first dibs pretty dramatic.  It sucks having to put down money for a full playoff strip and then not get any of that back since the Nats keep it for the following season.

What about RCR points?  Does every member have their own Access account?  If so, can each of them use the RCR codes that lylegreen kindly provides us every day?  That would be pretty cool.  If you have 8 members in your group, you're essentially getting 8x the RCR points (collectively) each game, but maybe that's not how it works.

After you do your draft, can the group leader create My Nats Ticket accounts for all members and then transfer tickets to each member?  That way each member can manage/exchange/sell their own tickets without messing with other people's tickets.
Yes, you can set up each person with their own account that they can manage online. I would not do this for someone with less than 10 games because the Nats have a limit of 8 partners per account, I believe.


I imagine that things can get messy when the playoffs roll around.  Some of you say you have up to 8 members in your group.  As we all know painfully too well, the Nats can be booted out of the playoffs with as little as one or two playoff games.  That must make your drawing for who gets first dibs pretty dramatic.  It sucks having to put down money for a full playoff strip and then not get any of that back since the Nats keep it for the following season.
I draw for all the playoff games and let people choose. If the Nats get booted early, such is life.

What about RCR points?  Does every member have their own Access account?  If so, can each of them use the RCR codes that lylegreen kindly provides us every day?  That would be pretty cool.  If you have 8 members in your group, you're essentially getting 8x the RCR points (collectively) each game, but maybe that's not how it works.
If you set them up with their own accounts, they can manage their own RCR points, exchange tickkets, resell on SH, etc. You divide all the RCR points by 8. yes, they can accumulate RCR points from lylegreen's thread.

[bluestreak]

I think there is a limit on the number of partners now, and it is around 8.  The main account SPH can allocate RCR points to the partners and they can manage the points for themselves.  They can also earn points through various bonuses like the codes lylegreen puts up.  I'm not 100% sure if they can do their own exchanges, but I think so because I can't recall the tickets I allocate.

So I could get 8 partners? Have them put in the codes and get 8 times the points and have them transfer them all to me. This makes me angry if this is the case. No wonder I can't win an auction.

[Baseball is Life]

So I could get 8 partners? Have them put in the codes and get 8 times the points and have them transfer them all to me. This makes me angry if this is the case. No wonder I can't win an auction.

You get 8 partners and they get no points. You decide how many points to give them from your allotment, if any, and you transfer the points. Yes, they can accumulate their own points after that (I don't why they would give them back to you). That's why I'm very picky about who gets accounts/cards in my ticket group. You need to buy at least 10 games. If everybody gets cards not only would the auctions be problematic but lines at the e-cash machines would be too.

I'm not sure how many people even bother to accumulate points. Most of my partners don't even want the points that I offer them as part of the partnership.

[dcpatti]

So I could get 8 partners? Have them put in the codes and get 8 times the points and have them transfer them all to me. This makes me angry if this is the case. No wonder I can't win an auction.

Why would your partners give you their points though? Anyone who does all the work of typing in the codes everyday isn’t going to just hand them over. “They may be hard to redeem but dammit they’re still mine!”

[varoadking]

Why would your partners give you their points though? Anyone who does all the work of typing in the codes everyday isn’t going to just hand them over. “They may be hard to redeem but dammit they’re still mine!”

Could be useful to pool for a mutually beneficial Jefferson Suite.  I'm sure that's what bs was thinking... 

[Baseball is Life]

What has gone unnoticed is that the Red Carpet Rewards points system looks like it's here to stay. Seems like it's unchanged for next year. The conventional wisdom is that the Nats would phase it out over time as the ticket base got built up. Not so.

I find the RCR points system really useful for getting extra tickets that I usually give away. Seems easier to give away these tickets than my regular seats.

[bluestreak]

Could be useful to pool for a mutually beneficial Jefferson Suite.  I'm sure that's what bs was thinking... 

A suite would be an example of this. I won’t ever have enough points on my own to get a suite, because by the time I accumulate enough, they are taken. Or some of the other experiences. Or just “I’ll get you this year, you get me next.”

[dcpatti]

A suite would be an example of this. I won’t ever have enough points on my own to get a suite, because by the time I accumulate enough, they are taken. Or some of the other experiences. Or just “I’ll get you this year, you get me next.”

In that case, want to give me 4500 points and I’ll repay them at the start of next season? My husband and I really want to do that new cocktail class thing , but I don’t have enough for 2 passes.

[bluestreak]

In that case, want to give me 4500 points and I’ll repay them at the start of next season? My husband and I really want to do that new cocktail class thing , but I don’t have enough for 2 passes.

PM incoming.

[brianstash]

I'm in a full plan with 3 others.

We don't do a draft, the holder just gives everyone every 4th game. Is that fair? (I have no issue with it... should I?)

[bluestreak]

I'm in a full plan with 3 others.

We don't do a draft, the holder just gives everyone every 4th game. Is that fair? (I have no issue with it... should I?)

I mean I would, I’d want to make sure that the allocation of weekend games and he games against good teams are equitable.

[dcpatti]

I'm in a full plan with 3 others.

We don't do a draft, the holder just gives everyone every 4th game. Is that fair? (I have no issue with it... should I?)

It’s fair as long as you think it’s fair. It wouldn’t work logistically with my ticket group, but every group is different.

[Natsinpwc]

When I had my own group we always had an even number of games for each person.  And we did the snake draft.  However, I later joined a group that had people with all different number of games.  So they weighted the draft and then the playoff draft.  The only playoff game I ended up with was a wild card name we knew there was a 99% chance they would not play.  And yet the people with about half the number of regular season games ended up with two playoff games. Of course since the Nats always lose first round it didn't matter that much.  I believe that was 2014.  In 2012, in contrast, we ended up with games 4 and 5 of the NLCS and attended both.  (Also went to game 3).  My advice is to not join a group with unequal shares and don't start one that way.  It's just too confusing and too much discussion of the weighting rules.  To complicate that it was a group of lawyers.   

[Baseball is Life]

When I had my own group we always had an even number of games for each person.  And we did the snake draft.  However, I later joined a group that had people with all different number of games.  So they weighted the draft and then the playoff draft.  The only playoff game I ended up with was a wild card name we knew there was a 99% chance they would not play.  And yet the people with about half the number of regular season games ended up with two playoff games. Of course since the Nats always lose first round it didn't matter that much.  I believe that was 2014.  In 2012, in contrast, we ended up with games 4 and 5 of the NLCS and attended both.  (Also went to game 3).  My advice is to not join a group with unequal shares and don't start one that way.  It's just too confusing and too much discussion of the weighting rules.  To complicate that it was a group of lawyers.   

Whoa, that's way too complicated. I keep my groups super simple. Eight partners, 10 games each, snake draft. Can't think of any other way to make it simpler.

Drafts always seem to work out if you have partners with different interests and needs. Some prefer weekend games vs. weekday games, certain teams preferences, etc.

[Baseball is Life]

I'm in a full plan with 3 others.

We don't do a draft, the holder just gives everyone every 4th game. Is that fair? (I have no issue with it... should I?)

It could end up being an issue...what if you end up getting all weekday games when you prefer weekends? Or the other way around. Or you end up getting way too many division games, etc. I find drafts to be the fairest way to distribute games.

[tomterp]

I'm in a full plan with 3 others.

We don't do a draft, the holder just gives everyone every 4th game. Is that fair? (I have no issue with it... should I?)

I would want everyone to pick their games - a chance to avoid vacations or other "can't make it" dates.  We have 10 total (including me) and do the standard serpentine draft.  I buy opening day typically and take the exhibition game we're forced to buy and trade it for a much more marketable game later in the season.

[PowerBoater69]

I would want everyone to pick their games - a chance to avoid vacations or other "can't make it" dates.  We have 10 total (including me) and do the standard serpentine draft.  I buy opening day typically and take the exhibition game we're forced to buy and trade it for a much more marketable game later in the season.

I thought that exchange tickets are no longer eligible for resale, a big part of why I've determined that my plan is no longer worth the money and hassle.

[tomterp]

I thought that exchange tickets are no longer eligible for resale, a big part of why I've determined that my plan is no longer worth the money and hassle.

 

I've got a pair of Cubs tickets out on Stub Hub now that I got trading in the exhibition games.  Am I going to get my wrist slapped?   No idea.

[PowerBoater69]

I've got a pair of Cubs tickets out on Stub Hub now that I got trading in the exhibition games.  Am I going to get my wrist slapped?   No idea.

As long as you don't use StubHub you are fine.

[CowherPower]

If anyone is looking to move to Section 213, front row, directly behind home plate, let me know.  My friend is looking to split up his two season tickets there next year.  Ideally he's looking for someone to take a half-season (which would include Opening Day), but he's open to shorter plans if we can find a few people.  Shoot me a message if you are interested or have questions.