Yes
Yes
I can't tell you the last time I went to a sporting event with tickets in hand (other than my Milw Bucks season tickets).
You will ALWAYS get a better price by negotiating on the street outside the event. You will get to pick your seat basically - and you can make the economic decision of the seat location/price you pay tradeoff.
Many events you can easily get seats under face value this way. High profile events (Super Bowl, etc), this won't be the case - but still will be less than paying a ticket broker ahead of time.
Ticket brokers make their money by playing on people's fears - "it is a sold out event"... "no tickets available" ... "you don't want to go down there without tickets".... blah, blah, blah...
Yes, it is takes some moxie and resolve to score great seats at a good price - but it can be done everytime. It is easy to spot the ticket scalpers - usually it is an african american male with 30 tickets in his hands.
I've gone to the Super Bowl, Final Four, Big 10 tourney, and countless Badger and Packer games and never have been shut out. AND I've always gotten great seats at a much better price than I would have gotten from a ticket broker.
The haggling with these guys is fun... just stand firm with the price you want to pay. Remember, you have the power - you have the $$$ - and they have tickets that they have to dump before the game starts. The pressure is on them.
Also - EXTREMELY important - take a seating diagram for the venue with you, so you can see exactly where the seats are that you are attempting to buy. Don't count on the scalper telling you the truth when he tells you they are midcourt or "on the 50".....
Good luck!
