Going to the USA help needed

matty83

matty83

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Hi guys,

Doing a big trip over to the states for a month (Jan-Feb) next year. Definitely locking in some sports. NHL and NBA games have been pencilled in.

For guys and girls that have been and done this could you please offer some advice for the purchase of tickets, stadium tours to do, ways to maybe get that extra experience, say like meet and greets.

Also I guess sports aside what else can you recommend.

The trip starts off in San Francisco then Toronto, New York, Boston, Washington, Miami, the Bahamas, Dallas, Houston and Austin, Vegas and then back to San Francisco.

Cheers, Matt.
 
For the VIP experience @Aronzo33 is the undisputed master!

Just for buying tickets you can get pretty good deals online from regular ticket holders who can't attend. Forget the name of the site...stub hub?

The other tip is that for value for money it's best to spring for good seats at the worst venues. i.e. seats close to the action in say toronto or Brooklyn will be a fraction of the price for the same seat at Madison Square Garden.

NO matter what you do, you'll have an absolute blast anyway.

Skip
 
matty83 said:
Hi guys,

Doing a big trip over to the states for a month (Jan-Feb) next year. Definitely locking in some sports. NHL and NBA games have been pencilled in.

For guys and girls that have been and done this could you please offer some advice for the purchase of tickets, stadium tours to do, ways to maybe get that extra experience, say like meet and greets.

Also I guess sports aside what else can you recommend.

The trip starts off in San Francisco then Toronto, New York, Boston, Washington, Miami, the Bahamas, Dallas, Houston and Austin, Vegas and then back to San Francisco.

Cheers, Matt.
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went and seen cavs play knick at msg and knicks v charlotte at msg...absolutely loved it..Also try get to a jets game (if they are still alive at the time) one of the best atmospheres ive been to
 
haha thanks @skip20 I don't know about that but thanks all the same! :D maybe I should write a book or something haha

Your visiting some great places, so many NBA games you could go to! I guess in short there's a number of ways to meet players:

1. Contact the clubs and find out dates of team player appearances. This is pretty generic, sure you'll meet a few players (usually off the bench players) but it won't be so special.

2. Find out when they have any special events like dinners and you have to buy tickets. Tickets will be more expensive but you'll have full access to all the players.

3. Or like me write an email. I guess this took some luck and the key here is making your story totally stand out from the hundreds maybe thousands of emails they would receive every week. I basically researched the Miami Heat departments and tried to find the people who could most likely help me arrange a special experience. Long story short I was fortunate enough to connect with the right guy who arranged for me after the game to meet all my favorite Miami Heat players after the game outside the locker room. I was even interviewed by Miami Heat TV personality Jason Jackson and aired on Fox Sports after an NBA game. I got to hang out for a bit with Wade, Bosh, Birdman, Deng etc one by one as they came out. It was ridiculous, not in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined meeting all these guys, I nearly had a heart attack haha :rofl:

I guess as well I am a massive Miami Heat fan so my story was also authentic and my passion felt in my email. So that definiately helps. I was told by the camera man that apparently my email was passed around the Miami Heat organisation. My angle was I was Papua New Guinea's biggest Heat fan, and I posted all these exotic photos of PNG and all these tribesmen etc and that really caught their attention!

NBA clubs are always looking to fulfill the dreams of fans, I guess some luck plays a part too. Hope that helps and good luck! :)
 
First of all, congrats on planning such an awesome trip, you can't go wrong.

Some tips for game tickets. Stubhub is definitely the go.

You have a few options with how you go about it.

1. Buy your tickets after the tip off of the game and they become incredibly cheap (great way to get amazing seats, especially at any lower key match up of ANY team). Obviously you'll miss the intros ans start of the game. But you could end up courtside for $200.

2. Buy lower level seating tix which will give you access for shootaround, these tickets can run from $50 +. Amazing opportunities for Autographs and a quick g'day. At worst you'll get very close to the players.

3. Buy nosebleed and pay $20. There really isn't a bad seat in the house.

Best luck.
 
Thanks for the replies guys, can't wait to get over there and get stuck into it and use all this info.

Unfortunately I found out today that the all star weekend is starting on the day I leave, absolutely stupid timing on my part. That would have been incredible to attend.

Anyone heard of hype tours?
 
matty83 said:
Damn man all tickets are so expensive for sports over there.
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I wouldn't rush in to buying them yet, they'll price them high early, I paid $200 for Lakers vs Cavs but could have gotten better seats for $100 the week of the game. And that was with Kobe and Bron playing.

There will be plenty of options even on the day of the game.
 
matty83 said:
Damn man all tickets are so expensive for sports over there.
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drobfan8 said:
I wouldn't rush in to buying them yet, they'll price them high early, I paid $200 for Lakers vs Cavs but could have gotten better seats for $100 the week of the game. And that was with Kobe and Bron playing.
There will be plenty of options even on the day of the game.
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What drobfan8 said! Pick em up at the last minute if you can stomach the uncertainty (I knwo I;d have problems with that too!)
 
Landed some warriors vs Sacramento tickets @ oracle for about $650 reasonably decent seats.

Got Brooklyn and the spurs @ Brooklyn

Houston and bulls @ Houston

Rangers vs someone at msg

Toronto vs someone at air Canada

Funny thing is I'll be in Texas while the superbowl is on.

Looking forward to the trip, have lined up all the tourist stuff as well. Leave in about a week. Spending about 5 weeks over there.

Can't wait for the -12° and get out of this 40+ bs.

I'll post some pics, plenty of free wifi. Plus a USA sim.
 
Just did a big NFL trip back in November, but managed to squeeze in the Bulls at Lakers and Oilers at Kings. We got most of our tickets through the NFL Ticket exchange (Ticketmaster) the NBA tickets were through the NBA version. The Hockey tickets we got through the team itself who use Flashseats.com I think. Good thing about the exchange sites is there's a lot of variety in position and pricing so you can find something that suits your budget. Would certainly use Ticketmaster Exchange again, we had no issues at all.

Don't think you can really got wrong with the NHL tickets, ours were down pretty low (Staples Center Sec 101 R9) and the view was pretty great... For the Lakers we were way up high. (Staples Center Sec 320 R1) But we spent big on the NFL tickets, these games were just a bonus for us.

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A couple of tips -

If you go cheaper seats up in the higher levels, try and get Row 1. We did this a good bit, and it pays off not having people in front of you, you get a much better view and it's easier to get photos.

Get yourself an approved size "Clear Bag". This make it a lot easier getting through security. Chuck all your metal, camera etc into the bag as you go through the metal detectors at security. I only took my baby camera to the NBA and NHL, but took two cameras to the NFL games, the baby one and a bigger one (which had they looked at too closely, mightn't have been allowed)

Yell out if you have any specific questions... I've started posting a journal of my trip in the NFL section - http://www.ozcardtrader.com.au/threads/nfl-extreme-2016.203330/ but haven't got to LA yet !
 
Update: Brooklyn Vs spurs was a great game mainly because of the seats not the actual game itself.



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Spurs played very well and so they should, get a great idea of how physical it is up close lots of solid off ball afl type bumps. Stadium was insane never have I seen something go up so steep so quick. The hangover dude Justin batcher? Was 3 rows directly in front of us but couldn't get a great pic
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Anyway hope this warm up video works
View: https://youtu.be/BXVbzhAX8MI


So that was two nights ago and we went to Madison Square Garden tonight to watch Rangers Vs Philly. Now that's a bloody (happy Australia day) atmosphere.
I'll upload some vids and pics soon
 
Bit more of an update:
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View: https://youtu.be/YKqciELPlR8

A weird floating drone ball camera thingy. Pretty cool tho.
View: https://youtu.be/6O1x9D1D-R4

This is some of the graphics intro before the players came out. Very cool.
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Pretty spectacular place. The next photo didn't happen at msg but I thought I would upload it.

At breakfast at the plaza hotel yesterday
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Ask the girl to marry me and she said yes.
 
Great graphics dude, thanks for sharing! And most importantly congratulations to you both on starting the next chapter of life together ! I know you didn't propose at the game but it reminded me of this poor fellow...

 
skip20 said:
Great graphics dude, thanks for sharing! And most importantly congratulations to you both on starting the next chapter of life together ! I know you didn't propose at the game but it reminded me of this poor fellow...

Click to expand...

Haha that thought had crossed my mind but I remember seeing a video of a dude dropping the ring or something... Thanks man.
 
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