Ticket Glossary and Encyclopedia
2 + 2 – Seats that aren’t in the same row, but are piggy-backed (e.g. Seats 1 & 2 in Row 17 with Seats 1 & 2 in Row 18).
4 – Pack – Four tickets seated together.
6 – Pack – Six tickets seated together.
Aisle Seats – Seats located at either end of the row, next to an aisle.
Backstretch – Seats located on the other side of the start/finish line of the racing track.
Badge/Patch – A form of entrance admittance used instead of a ticket. These are common for golf events and are usually attached to a lanyard.
Bar Code – Information lines on a ticket, which are scanned in order to give you event admittance.
Between Baskets – Seats located on either side of the basketball court.
BLCH – An abbreviation for bleacher seats.
Blinks – Fake tickets. Often found distributed by street scalpers.
Blinkers – The distributors of fake tickets or blinks.
Box Office – The first distributor of tickets for an event. All sports teams and most major venues have box offices to do this.
Broken pair – Seats located in the same row, but not seated together. For example: Row 13, Seat 1 & Row 13, Seat 5
Broker – A secondary distributor of tickets for an event. A broker acquires tickets from a primary distributor or another broker with the intent to resell the tickets.
Broken Order – A ticket order that goes unfulfilled.
Buried – Bad seats.
BX – The abbreviation for Box Seats.
Championship Events - Sporting events that feature a title match of some sort. College Bowl Games, the NBA Finals, the World Series and the Stanley Cup Final are all example of this.
Consignment – The act of selling tickets on behalf of someone else.
Cream – Great seats.
Daily Grounds – Refers to a pass or ticket that only gives you access to the grounds (usually not the stands) for an event.
Etickets – Tickets that are emailed and printed out.
Event Admittance – Getting in to an event.
Face Value – The original price of a ticket. This price is usually printed on the ticket.
Facility Fee – A fee added to the cost of the tickets.
Fake Ticket – A counterfeit ticket that will not allow you access to an event.
Floor Seats – Seats located on the floor level.
Frontstretch – Seats located on the side of the Start/Finish line of a given race track.
Full Strip – A set of tickets for all days of an event. For example, a playoff strip would include tickets to every one of the team’s playoff games.
General Admission -Tickets that give you event entrance but don’t always guarantee a seat.
General Admission Show – An event with no designated seats. If seats are available, they are first come, first serve.
Get Ins – Cheapest tickets available. Great for people who just want to “get in” to an event.
GS – The abbreviation for Grandstand seats.
Handling Fee – An additional charge on top of the face value of the tickets. This is added by the box office or ticket provider.
Hard Ticket – Physical ticket. NOT etickets.
In-Hand Tickets – Tickets that are ready to be shipped.
In-Stock – Tickets that are available for purchase.
Intermission – Period of time between quarters (Football), periods (Hockey) or acts (Theater).
Invoice Number – Also known as order number. The number assigned to a given purchase.
Keep the Chair – Refers to venues that allow you to take home the chair for certain events. These are rare.
Limited View – See Obstructed View.
Last Minute Services (LMS) – A service provided by Stubhub that allows people who bought tickets at the last minute to pick them up near the venue or stadium that the event is appearing at.
Local Pick Up – A ticket purchase that needs to be picked up near the event.
Luxury Suite – A private box at an arena or stadium. Usually offers a clear view of the court or field and includes catering and other benefits.
Market Value – The price of a given ticket based on the supply of available tickets and the demand for the event. This price can be above or below face value.
MB – The abbreviation for main box seats.
MR – The abbreviation for main reserved seats.
Mezzaine Level – One of the upper levels of a venue.
NATB – National Association of Ticket Brokers.
No Oddlot Tickets - A group of tickets that can be sold in even number increments (e.g. 2 tickets, 4 tickets), but not sold in odd number increments (e.g. 1 ticket, 3 tickets).
No Split Tickets – Tickets that can only be bought as an entire group.
Nosebleeds – Seats located at the very highest levels of the stadium or arena.
Obstructed View (OV) - Seats where a person’s view could be partially obstructed or blocked due to a scoreboard, column, pole, camera, roof or other stadium fixture.
Onsale – The primary and public distribution of tickets from a team or artist. This can be handled by a company like Ticketmaster or by the box office.
On-Site Pickup – Tickets that must be picked up either at the venue where or the event is taking place or at a location nearby.
Open Stage – The stage can be seen from all seats in the venue; there are no stage obstructions.
Order Number – The number assigned to a given purchase.
Parking Pass – A ticket or voucher that provides reserved parking close to the venue.
Personal Seat License (PSL) – A purchased license that gives you ownership of certain seats at a given stadium or venue. Tickets to an event must be purchased in addition to the PSL.
Piggyback Seats – Tickets seated in front of each other spanning multiple rows. Usually these tickets have the same seat numbers in adjacent rows (example: Row 12, Seats 3&4 and Row 13, Seats 3&4).
Presales – A ticket sale where an allotment of tickets is set aside for insiders, VIPs and/or fan club members. The presale gives you access to buy the tickets before they go on sale to the general public. Usually a password is required to enter the presale. We created an entire page dedicated to presale passwords here.
Price Per Ticket – The cost of one ticket. All ticket listings on TicketStumbler show the price per ticket.
Primary Ticket Market – The first and original distributor of tickets for a team or event. Examples include the box office, Ticketmaster.com and Tickets.com.
Quantity – The number of tickets for sale in a given listing.
Reseller – A secondary distributor of tickets for an event. A broker acquires tickets from a primary distributor or another broker with the intent to resell the tickets. See also, ticket broker.
Reserved Seating – A seating area where seat locations are assigned.
Row – The location of your seats within a section of the stadium. The hierarchy of seat location is: Section, Row, Seat.
Scalp – Another word for reselling or broker tickets.
Scalper – Another word for a ticket broker. Usually people who resell tickets on the street are called scalpers while people who resell tickets online are called brokers.
Season Ticket Holder – A person or company who has tickets to every game, event or show for a particular team or venue. Usually the seats are situated in the same location for each event.
Season Tickets – Tickets to every game, event or show. For example, season tickets to the Dallas Cowboys would include tickets to all 8 Dallas Cowboys home games.
Seat Number – The location of your seats within a row within a section of the venue. The hierarchy of seat location is: Section, Row, Seat.
Seating Chart – A map showing the sections and seating locations within a stadium.
Secondary Ticket Market – The after market for tickets. The secondary ticket market is created naturally after the primary ticket sale. Tickets sell for market value instead of face value. For more information on the primary and secondary ticket markets click here.
Section – The location of your seats within a given stadium or venue. The hierarchy of seat location is: Section, Row, Seat.
Service Charge – Additional fees that are added on to the price of the tickets.
Singles – A single ticket. Singles tickets are usually easier to purchase than pairs for events in high demand.
Sold Out – When no more tickets are available within the primary market or at the box office for an event. However, tickets are almost always still available on the secondary market. TicketStumbler helps you find the best prices when an event is sold out.
Spoilage – Unsold tickets for an event. If you’re willing to risk potentially not being able to go to an event, waiting until the last minute to buy tickets is a great way to find cheap tickets and deals. Sellers want to cut their losses as once an event starts the ticket’s value declines rapidly.
Squatters – People who sit in seats that are different from the ones on their tickets.
Standing Room Only (SRO) – An area of a venue where there are no seats. SRO tickets only give you admittance in to an event. Once that happens it’s your responsibility to find a place to stand.
Stage Setup – How the stage is arranged within the venue. Depending on the show or performance, this can vary significantly.
Start/Finish – The seat is located at the start/finish of an event.
Suite – See Luxury Box.
TB – The abbreviation for tier box seats.
Ticket Auction – Tickets set up in an auction format (as opposed to fixed prices) where the tickets are sold to the highest bidder.
Ticket Broker – A secondary distributor of tickets for an event. A broker acquires tickets from a primary distributor or another broker with the intent to resell the tickets.
Ticketfast – A delivery option offered by Ticketmaster where tickets are sent to you via email.
Ticket Stub – The part of the ticket you’re left with after entering an event.
TR – The abbreviation for tier reserved.
Tout – Another word for scalper.
Venue – The structure that holds the event.
Walk – The path leading to or around the venue where scalpers normally are selling tickets.
Will Call – Tickets that must be picked up. Usually venues have a will call section located near or at the box office.
