Brooklyn Barclay ticket question

[BattierBeliever]

Hi all. I am so psyched to be going to the ACC tournament in Brooklyn next month. I'm trying to figure out how to do my tickets. I want to see all the Devil games, of course, but I want to see a few of the other games too.
I've seen full tourney passes for sale online from places like Vivid Seats, but they seem really expensive and pretty high up in the third deck. How is the scalper situation at Barclay? Is that a viable option?
Do they empty out the stadium after every game?
Can anyone help me with the lowdown on the ACC tournament seating options? I would really appreciate it.

[Native]

Hi all. I am so psyched to be going to the ACC tournament in Brooklyn next month. I'm trying to figure out how to do my tickets. I want to see all the Devil games, of course, but I want to see a few of the other games too.
I've seen full tourney passes for sale online from places like Vivid Seats, but they seem really expensive and pretty high up in the third deck. How is the scalper situation at Barclay? Is that a viable option?
Do they empty out the stadium after every game?
Can anyone help me with the lowdown on the ACC tournament seating options? I would really appreciate it.

Duke grad living in NYC. I'm from North Carolina originally so I've done Greensboro a ton.

My friends and I did SeatGeek for semifinal tickets last year. After we beat the Cheats the market dropped a bit and we scalped for lower-level seats for the championship game. Scalper market is very active around the entrances to the stadium, and prices tend to go down if a big name gets knocked out.

The alumni bases are a bit different in NYC, though. I'd say there are orders of magnitude more Notre Dame fans here than in Greensboro, for instance. Same goes for Syracuse. If either of those teams gets knocked out, you might see the demand for tickets dip similarly to if, say, State or Wake Forest got knocked out early in Greensboro.

Tickets are session-based like they are in Greensboro — it should say on the bracket which sessions are which once the field is set. They empty the stadium out after each session.

Barclays as a venue doesn't actually feel that much different, size-wise, from Greensboro. The capacities back this up: Greensboro holds around 23K while Barclays holds 19K. High-up isn't too bad provided you aren't way up in the corners.

Travel tip: Barclays is super accessible via subway. There's a station directly beneath the stadium; when you exit to street level you're at the main entrance of the venue. Don't let travel time dictate where you end up looking at hotels. On an express subway line you could get from Midtown Manhattan to Barclays in around twenty minutes.

[duke2x]

I've never done this and haven't been to the ACC Tournament since 1998. I'll add what I know despite being a TV observer.

The outside the stadium method above is how most fans get tickets. You can start shopping on Tuesday outside the stadium. Just hope Syracuse loses early. Don't wear Duke stuff until Thursday.

You might be able to buy whole ticket books now from teams at the bottom of the standings, teams that are far away, and BC. Attendance hasn't been the same since the 9 team format ended. The novelty probably hasn't worn off for Brooklyn, but it should be less than last year.

[trinity92]

Just make sure you don’t sit in the upper level. Barclays is NOT like the Garden where there aren’t really any bad seats. Barclays is so tall that from the cheap seats, the floor is smaller than an iPad screen. Waste of time and money.

[BattierBeliever]

These are great tips! Try to stay below the third level. Don't wear my Blue out by the scalpers until Thursday. Easy subway access.
I was at the PK80 in Portland, and this will be even more intense. I've never been to NYC before. This will be great!
Thanks for the help.
Let's Go Duke!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Just make sure you don’t sit in the upper level. Barclays is NOT like the Garden where there aren’t really any bad seats. Barclays is so tall that from the cheap seats, the floor is smaller than an iPad screen. Waste of time and money.
Sounds like watching the '99 Final Four in Tampa at the "Wopty-dome", as SAS(mac) called it at the time. From the upper left field corner near the top, I could barely see the ants playing on the court and the angle to the big screen was so severe that it was unwatchable. And the karma was bad.

TV is a much better option.

[Bluedog]

Just make sure you don’t sit in the upper level. Barclays is NOT like the Garden where there aren’t really any bad seats. Barclays is so tall that from the cheap seats, the floor is smaller than an iPad screen. Waste of time and money.


Sounds like watching the '99 Final Four in Tampa at the "Wopty-dome", as SAS(mac) called it at the time. From the upper left field corner near the top, I could barely see the ants playing on the court and the angle to the big screen was so severe that it was unwatchable. And the karma was bad.

TV is a much better option.

To offer an alternative perspective (albeit at a different venue so can't speak to the Barclay's center), I was in the 500-level of Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2010 national championship game (at center of court) which seriously must be one of the highest basketball stadiums in the country and the court was TINY, but I greatly enjoyed watching the game through binoculars and being in person for an incredible game. Wouldn't have traded that for TV, not even close. :D But perhaps being in person for a national championship is different than the ACC tourney, but I bet being at Barclay's for the win vs. UNC was a lot of fun. And center of court obviously much better than the corner.

[English]

To offer an alternative perspective (albeit at a different venue so can't speak to the Barclay's center), I was in the 500-level of Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2010 national championship game (at center of court) which seriously must be one of the highest basketball stadiums in the country and the court was TINY, but I greatly enjoyed watching the game through binoculars and being in person for an incredible game. Wouldn't have traded that for TV, not even close. :D But perhaps being in person for a national championship is different than the ACC tourney, but I bet being at Barclay's for the win vs. UNC was a lot of fun. And center of court obviously much better than the corner.

I had a ticket book for last year's ACCT in Barclays, and I highly recommend it. It's an incredibly convenient arena, and to echo others' thoughts, getting scalped tix is a breeze once a team or two are knocked out. They change over the arena between sessions, which are typically day session/night session. Last year, it was also super easy to move down sections to get a better view for some of the less thrilling games (e.g., Miami-unx).

I hoping to make a return trip this year, and I'll be going the secondary market/scalped tix route.

ETA: Barclays is nothing like a game in an NFL stadium--it's a modest size for a big-time basketball arena. You can see all the action unless you're tucked up in the corner rafters, and even then, you can leave the binoculars at home.

[ChillinDuke]

New Yorker here. Last year a bunch of us (alumni) tried to scalp. We exited the subway right out front of the stadium, and there were scalpers galore. But they were definitely sketchy. One fell through - just got too weird after he started walking us blocks away from the stadium. And then the next guy got arrested in front of our faces. So, it's totally doable and rampant, but just be careful.

What we ended up doing was purchasing seats in a suite off of the Stubhub app. Literally purchased on the app right outside the stadium. The suite had ~20 people in it, many of them Duke fans, but none of which we knew beforehand.

It was incredibly fun mingling with the different fanbases and of course the Duke fans. And the view was excellent. Barclays is a really great stadium (except for hockey...bye, Islanders). I know there are a lot of loyal Greensboro ACCT homers around here, and that's fine, I certainly look forward to the ACCT heading back there. But Barclays was lit last year, and IMHO totally exceeded expectations in terms of generating excitement both inside the stadium and around NYC. People were talking about it.

Good luck with your tix!

- Chillin

[Ballboy1998]

I wanted to bump this thread back up for those going to the ACC Tournament, as it already has some helpful info.

Does anyone know what sections the Duke blocks are in?

For Thursday on the secondary market, any guess whether prices are more likely to go up or down between now and game day?

[old_and_slow]

Thanks for bumping this back up. I just found out I will be in Brooklyn with free time on my hands both Thursday and Friday evenings, so the chance to see my first ACC tourney since 1988 is too much to pass up! Any advice on getting decent tickets is helpful.



I wanted to bump this thread back up for those going to the ACC Tournament, as it already has some helpful info.

Does anyone know what sections the Duke blocks are in?

For Thursday on the secondary market, any guess whether prices are more likely to go up or down between now and game day?

[Bluedog]

I wanted to bump this thread back up for those going to the ACC Tournament, as it already has some helpful info.

Does anyone know what sections the Duke blocks are in?

For Thursday on the secondary market, any guess whether prices are more likely to go up or down between now and game day?

Prices basically ALWAYS go down as you get closer to the game unless it's Super Bowl XLIX. Listen to the NPR Planet Money podcast about short selling by bookies for more info. That Super Bowl took a lot of them down... But buying from other fans whose team loses is certainly a different market that those looking to turn a profit so that's another variable (of course no teams have lost yet!). I suppose if there's a killer matchup that comes to fruition it's possible prices go up too. ND has a pretty large NY following, but not sure how it is for bball.

[duke2x]

I wanted to bump this thread back up for those going to the ACC Tournament, as it already has some helpful info.

Does anyone know what sections the Duke blocks are in?

For Thursday on the secondary market, any guess whether prices are more likely to go up or down between now and game day?

The evening sessions have teams with much higher demand and no time off work: Duke, Syracuse, ND, and UNC. Day tickets might go for $1 by comparison. Would it be more profitable to hold a Duke ticket to 8:00 PM if Syracuse or UNC is at 9:30? (I don't know.)

[msdukie]

Here is the seating chart by school. Once again, Duke has poor seats. The Iron Dukes are still trying to sell their uppers in 222 and 223 FYI:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/acc.sidearmsports.com/documents/2018/2/2/Map_School_Allocations.pdf

Face for all tourney uppers is $398. All lowers are $598. As with last year, the books include GA tickets for Tuesday.

[dkat]

FYI- I went last year to all Duke games. 1st game, scalped a ticket across the street. 5th row corner. Paid less than face value. When I got to my seat, there were many empty seats all around. I moved down 1/2 way thru first. Ended up 3 rows from court. Nobody ever claimed the seats. I think many tickets purchased by brokers. They ask too much and end up getting burned. Ended up with a ticket for every game. Once inside, fans of the losing team will sell off their tickets. I am doing this again this year. I have no doubt that I will end up with a ticket probably less than face value at least for the 1st game.

[MarkusOfDuke]

Great thread everyone, thanks for the thoughts/suggestions.

I have a follow-up question... assuming Notre Dame wins and we end up playing the V-Tech/ND winner, do fans of the losing team generally try and dump their tickets immediately after the game on Wednesday night? Thus, do you guys/gals recommend heading to Barclays Wednesday night to buy from the losing fans immediately after their game, or just arrive at Barclays an hour before tip-off on Thursday and buy from a scalper (or StubHub)?

Thanks everyone. Can't wait for Thursday!!!

[DU82]

It used to be that losing fans would sell to other teams, but the scalpers have “agents” that try to scoop up all those tickets, leaving fans to dealing with them the next session/day. That drives up the asking price.

So, by all means do what you can to get tickets right after a team loses, but try not to look like a vulture in doing so.

ETA: last week at the B1G tournament, they interviewed about the only scalper there. He talked about theBig East tournament the following week and said he’d still be at MSG while most of the other scalpers will head to Brooklyn and Duke, “where the money is”.

Our reputation is out there.