How to get tickets to Philly events without Ticketmaster, plus other ticket discounts

We’ve all seen the headlines — $5,000 Bruce Springsteen tickets or Taylor Swift tickets sold for upwards of $45,000. Nationwide ticket seller, Ticketmaster, is in the hot seat by concertgoers and the U.S. Senate as their business practices have seemingly surged ticket prices in recent years.

While it seems like there are plenty of venues to go around to avoid Ticketmaster, the tricky part is that the ticket seller giant is owned by LiveNation, which, after the two merged in 2010, has come to control an estimated 70% of the ticketing and venue market in the U.S. Many of the larger venues in Philadelphia are either already partnered with Ticketmaster or owned by LiveNation, like Lincoln Financial Field or Theater of Living Arts.

Unfortunately, in cases of a venue being partnered with Ticketmaster or owned by LiveNation, the primary way to get official tickets is through those online ticket sellers — for the most part. But there are ways to avoid buying tickets through either platform.

Instead of looking online, it might be time to go back to the old-fashioned way of getting tickets — heading to the venue’s box office in person.

Often time, tickets are cheaper at the box office, avoiding the additional fees tacked onto online ticket purchases. Additionally, because many box offices are only open for a couple of hours before the show starts, they need to offload extra tickets before they become worthless once the show’s over. The downsides? Ticket availability can be limited at box offices, so try these alternatives at your own risk.

You can go with a third-party reseller, but you could run into shady business practices, as seen in the latest lawsuit settlement between one of Pennsylvania’s largest online ticket resellers, Secure Ticket Purchase LLC (boxofficeticketsales.com), and Pennsylvania’s Office of Attorney General. The reseller was forced to fully refund any Pennsylvania consumer who purchased a ticket to a canceled event due to COVID-19 and didn’t receive their money back.

In recent years it’s gotten worse, according to Brett Hambright, press secretary for the state Attorney General. In a typical year, their offices receive 150 to 200 Pennsylvania consumer complaints associated with ticket purchases. Last year, when the Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco occurred, the OAG received close to 2,800 complaints, the majority over Swift ticket sales.

Keeping all that context in mind, you can try looking for cheaper tickets on other mainstream reseller platforms like SeatGeek, StubHub and Vivid Seats, which are similar to Ticketmaster, but sometimes will have a little bit cheaper prices, like in the case of Bruce Springsteen’s latest show in Philly.

Here’s a snapshot of what a single Springsteen ticket went for during the afternoon a day before the show:

None of the above prices listed are the final price though, as all these online ticket platforms come with additional fees once you get to checkout. The best way to avoid the minefield of service fees is to stay offline altogether.

For smaller venues in Philly, like PhilaMOCA or Underground Arts, official tickets aren’t sold on Ticketmaster but are available through smaller, independent sellers that charge less than bigger ones. You may be in the clear if you go to a show at a smaller or independent venue. But for mid-sized to larger venues, you’ll be dealing with Ticketmaster.

Here’s a breakdown of how to get tickets in person at the box office to larger-sized Philly venues instead of using Ticketmaster.

Lincoln Financial Field: For non-Eagles events, there are a limited number of tickets made available at the Lincoln Financial Field box office. These are available the day of the show and vary by event. (It’s a toss-up sometimes, but it could be worth it?) Otherwise, according to an Eagles spokesperson, most of their ticketing operations are run through Ticketmaster.

Wells Fargo Center: You can buy tickets in person at the box office any day the Wells Fargo Center is open for an event. The box office opens three hours before an event.

Citizens Bank Park: You can buy tickets in person at the box office at Citizens Bank Park. The box office is located at the First Base Gate Entrance on Pattison Ave. between Citizens Bank Way and Darien St. During the Phillies season, on non-game days the office and ticket windows are open on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On game days, they are open from 10 a.m. until the 5th inning. Availability can be limited.

Theater of Living Arts: You can only buy tickets to a specific event in person at the box office on the day of the show. The box office will be open for two hours before doors open for the show. Availability can be limited.

The Met Philadelphia: You can only buy tickets to a specific event in person at the box office on the day of the show. The box office will be open for two hours prior to doors opening for the show. Availability can be limited.

Fillmore: You can only buy tickets to a specific event in person at the box office on the day of the show. The box office will be open for two hours prior to doors opening for the show. Availability can be limited.

Union Transfer: You can buy tickets to upcoming events in person at the box office every evening Union Transfer has a show from 5 p.m. until closing time. They guarantee no service fees when buying in person. You can also buy Union Transfer tickets at the record store Long In The Tooth six days a week at 2027 Sansom St. This venue also doesn’t use Ticketmaster.

Underground Arts: You can buy tickets to events in person at the box office any time Underground Arts is open for a show. They guarantee no service fees when using cash and reduced service fees if using card. This venue also doesn’t use Ticketmaster.

The Kimmel Cultural Campus sells tickets online directly through its own website, not through Ticketmaster — but there are still ways to save even more. For select performances at Kimmel Center venues, a limited amount of discounted tickets (or in some cases, early access) are made available to the public in a promotion called “Community Rush” tickets. Each Monday at noon, a new list of events eligible for Rush tickets goes live on a first come, first served basis. To get the tickets, you need to check the webpage early and use the provided promo code to get the discount. For the Philadelphia Orchestra, their Rush tickets go live on Wednesdays at noon.

Get rush tickets at kimmelculturalcampus.org/events-and-tickets/ticket-deals/community-rush

Some things to remember are that these tickets sometimes have a limited or obstructed view of the performance, but are much cheaper tickets than they would typically be.