‘How are the tickets already sold?’: Some Blue Jays fans voice frustration after ALCS tickets sell out fast

The queue to buy a ticket to Game 1 of the ALCS is seen here.

The Toronto Blue Jays are headed to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) for the first time since 2016, but some fans hoping to watch the home games in person struck out while searching for tickets Thursday morning.

All four games at Rogers Centre sold out, or were posted as verified resale tickets, quickly after they went on sale at 10 a.m. Fans were placed in an online queue—which grew to more than 100,000 people at one point—before they made their seat selections.

Only verified resale tickets remain on Ticketmaster, with prices soaring well above face value.

The cheapest seats are going for around $500, while premium listings have climbed past $9,000.

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While those lucky (and fast) enough to snag a pass will watch the Jays take on the Detroit Tigers or Seattle Mariners in the next round, which starts Sunday, others weren’t so lucky.

“I joined the waiting list this morning on Ticketmaster as early as I could and ended up being number 12,457 in line,” Shawn Teekah, of Milton, Ont., told CTV News Toronto in a phone call. “I foolishly thought, ‘Oh that’s not terrible, I’ll be able to get tickets somewhere for sure.’ Boy, was I ever wrong. Tickets were all gone and posted back (on Ticketmaster) as verified resale.”

Teekah said he saw tickets for resale for as much as $600 in the 500 level and ultimately decided he wasn’t willing to spend that much. He said that was the same reason he was unable to watch the Jays take on the Yankees in the Division Series.

“I was looking online and trying to see what people were selling tickets for and people were selling general admission tickets (with no seat) for $300 a pop,” he said.

“It’s something that is a one-in-a-lifetime experience, but I don’t make that kind of money and I’m not in a position where I think I want to spend that kind of money.”

Hyla Korn, of Thornhill, Ont., had a similar experience while trying to purchase tickets for Game 6.

“I was placed in the waiting room at 9:45 a.m., then placed in the queue at 10 when ticket sales opened,” she said over the phone. “I was number 9,099... I had been waiting since the minute the waiting room had opened. I don’t know how that many people entered the waiting room before me. By the time I got in, there were no tickets available.”

Korn said it was a “real disappointment,” as she’s been a die-hard Blue Jays fan since she was a young child, is a former season ticket holder, and has never been to a playoff game before.

“I’m annoyed. I feel like probably a lot of the bandwagon fans got the tickets.”

“I was very excited for this moment,” Joseph, who asked that his last name not be used, told CTV News Toronto in an email. The Toronto resident said he had six tickets in the 100 level secured, while a loading screen told him to wait as his payment was processed.

“It timed out and the tickets were gone,” he said. “This happened to me with over three sets of tickets. Each time the Ticketmaster system failed.”

Others who tried to buy tickets said they were met with a message that read, “These tickets are no longer available,” after they selected their seats, including one person who said they received the same message after 15 separate attempts.

“I’m incredibly disappointed as a longtime fan who actually wanted to go to the game. Now others are reselling them at two to three times the price.”

Jenn, who also asked for her last name not to be used, said she logged on to buy tickets about an hour before the sale began and was placed into a virtual lobby before the queue.

“I was still 19,000 in line. I knew the chances were so low there would be tickets left by the time I got in,” she said in an email.

“When I got in at 10:28 a.m., there were tickets showing, I got excited, but they were all verified re-sale. I was like, ‘How are the tickets already sold and back up for sale again in 28 minutes?’”

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Just before Game 1 sold out, the cheapest resale tickets Ticketmaster was offering for the Sunday matchup was $429.

Tickets are still available on resale sites like StubHub, where $450 will get you a seat in the middle of the 500 level.

Fans can still potentially get their hands on general admission tickets through the Jays’ “District Drops” program by texting “BLUEJAYS” to 25835.

CTV News Toronto has reached out to the Toronto Blue Jays and Ticketmaster for comment.

With files from The Canadian Press