Sports Event Freebies

Sporting events are one of the many forms of live entertainment; they’re also a great opportunity for sports event freebies. All sports have downtime during the game. Moments of downtime, when the athletes are not playing, include timeouts, the end of a quarter or period, referee reviews, injuries, and halftime. When the games are at a professional level and people are paying certain prices for the tickets, the team organization will coordinate certain promotions and activities to keep the audience entertained. And, lucky for the audience, many of these games and activities involve free stuff.

How To Get Into Sports Events For Free

There’s a valid argument that if you have to pay admission for a game, then all the stuff they give away at the game is not actually free. So, let’s take care of that argument up front by explaining ways to get into the game for free. If admission is free, then all the free stuff they give away during the game is actually free.

Be alert on Craigslist. People who have tickets and can’t use them often give them away. They know it’s a shame to waste the tickets when someone can still enjoy the game. You could also post ads on Craigslist asking for tickets.

Hang out outside the stadium or arena. Sometimes people have a last-second change of plans and they’ll give their tickets away as they’re walking back to their car. If you’re really shameless, you could make a sign and beg for tickets outside the game. It doesn’t look as a bad as actual begging since it’s a time-sensitive issue. It would be more reasonable if the game was sold out. Also, if you have a sign, you might have to deal with people who want to sell their tickets. You especially don’t want to look like a scalper in places where scalping is illegal.

Join clubs, associations or non-profits that get into the games for free. Teams will often give tickets in bulk to these organizations as a donation and tax write off. It also keeps the stands full, especially during less popular games.

Listen to morning radio and be the one of the first to call in. Sometimes you’ll have to answer trivia or guess a quote, movie line, or the name of a song to win.

Show up late, sometimes they’ll open the doors after halftime and it won’t matter who comes in or out, or you’ll catch someone leaving early and they’ll give their ticket stub then. This is more likely at less popular games or games that aren’t going well for the home team.

It’s much more likely to get into the games for free when the home team isn’t very good, the visiting team isn’t very good, pre-season games, less popular sports, and minor league games. If the team, or the game is really popular, then everyone will be trying to get in and it’s much less likely to obtain free admission.

Sports Event Freebies

There are a few different ways or places where you can get freebies within sports events.

Door prizes – Door prizes are often given away to a certain number of the first attendants. Often the door prizes are some type of memorabilia or something that you might use to cheer for the team, such as a t-shirt or #1 foam hand

The back of the ticket – sometimes the back of the ticket will have a coupon for a prize. The prize may be something that you could claim during the game or after the game at a sponsor’s establishment.

Downtime activities and random drawings – during the game downtime the team will have random drawings and activities to keep the audience entertained. They select a specific seat in the stadium to win a prize. In baseball they might have a mascot race. In basketball they’ll give someone a chance to make a half-court shot. One of my favorites is when they bring out the air canon and shoot t-shirts into the crowd.

Team success freebies – If the team does really well then a team sponsor might give away a freebie to everyone with a ticket. For example, Circle K gives away a freebie when the Arizona Diamondbacks get a certain number of strikeouts during the game.

Do you know of other freebies that they give away during the games? Let us know.

Fan Packs

Fan packs are not necessarily a freebie that you can get during the game, but they’re still given away by the team. A fan pack is a freebie that the team will send you in the mail if you request it. Not all teams give away fan packs. Some fan packs are better than others. It just depends on what someone on the team’s marketing department decides to include. It may be a large package of team memorabilia, or it will simply be a certificate with a pocket-sized game schedule. To request a fan pack, go to your teams website and use their contact form to request it. Give them your name and address so that they can mail it to you. It helps when you praise the team and give them support as a fan.

Read more about Fan Packs on the Free Samples & Gifts page.

Other Sports Event Freebie Tips:

Again, go to the minor league games or games that are less popular. Not only are you more likely to get in, you’re also more likely to win stuff when you get inside. You can also try the less popular college athletics events (anything besides Football or Basketball). There may even be freebies at high school games.

If you want the door prize, then show up on time. They’re only a limited number, not for everyone who shows up. One of the reasons they’re even offered is to motivate people to get there and control traffic better before the game starts.

Certain places in the house may have better chances than others. It’s possible the teams secretly choose to award the higher-paying attendants. The seats lower down are the ones in range of the t-shirt canon. Also camera angles are a factor. If you don’t have a good seat, you might be able to move down later in the game (if you can avoid the ushers). But if someone shows up with the ticket to match the seat, then you’re caught.

Bring someone cute with you, like kids or a significant other. This helps draw attention for the mascots, cheerleaders, camera crew, etc and make it more likely to win stuff. For attention you can also stand up and dance whenever there is music.

Do you have more advice or tips on Sports Event Freebies? Let us know.