I'm trying real hard to give the NOG the benefit of the doubt on their new "digital" ticket initiative. Basically, they are sequestering a bloc of $12 Upper Bleacher seats for select games to keep them away from secondary marketers. You know, the guys who jack the price up way beyond $12. The tickets can only be purchased with a credit card, and that same card must be swiped at the gate to get in. Sounds good, right? Stand-up guys looking out for the little guy fan, right?Except, aren't the Red Sox already in bed with secondary ticket brokers (ACE with their own deal and StubHub through MLB)? Not that there's anything wrong with that—we here at FenwayNation have multiple ads from ticket brokers. But, then, why would the team announce this "Digital Ticket Initiative"? Aren't they robbing Pedro to pay Pedey?
Could an alternative interpretation be that they know fans in 2012 will not shell out, say, $95 dollars for a bealcher seat that's almost in Allston? Maybe the only way they can unload these priceless ducats is to forcibly price them at face value. It's better than empty seats during a consecutive "sellout" streak, right? I guess I'm too cyncial. I hope the NOG really is doing the right thing for the right reason.