Bill Brady will surf the high fees of the Internet this week for two more seats (best available, of course), these to an August game between the White Sox and the Blue Jays in Toronto.
In recent years, Brady, a 40-year-old fan from Schaumburg, Illinois, has become a most loyal PayPal to scores of eBay ticket sellers and other electronic ticket vendors. Last year alone, he said, he bought about US$25,000 worth of sports tickets online, more than a quarter of his yearly salary, and attended more than 100 sports events, many with his 8-year-old son, Jimmy.
"Some guys like to spend their money on expensive clothes or fancy cars, others on big houses," Brady said. "But I'd rather live modestly, and spend my money on entertainment like sporting events or concerts."
By day the director of business services at a mental health institute in Schaumburg, by night the ticket master of the sports and entertainment universe, Brady said he spent an additional US$5,000 on concert tickets last year.
Jennifer Swanson, the director for communications at TicketsNow.com, an online ticket marketplace based in Crystal Lake, Illinois, said Brady had spent US$7,000 with the company in the past year. "He buys a lot of tickets from us, a lot of expensive tickets," she said. "For him, it's all about the experience, about getting into these events and being a part of the show."
EBay lists 200 completed transactions for Nevrmore10, the identification tag Brady uses to bid on tickets.
"Most times, if you're looking for tickets to a big event, like a World Series game, you know you are going to pay way over the face value," Brady said. "But as long as I'm having fun, I don't care about spending money."
Despite the fact that he is a season-ticket holder for the Chicago Bears and the Schaumburg Flyers, a minor league baseball team in the Northern League, and has a partial-season plan for the White Sox, Brady continues to feed his appetite for sports entertainment by purchasing tickets to games around the country.
Last year, Nevrmore10 plunked down US$2,500 for two seats at a White Sox World Series game.
"I took Jimmy to Game 2 against the Astros," he said. "It was a rainy night, Paul Konerko hit a grand slam, and Scott Podsednik hit a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth to send us home really happy."
Earlier, Brady said, he spent a good portion of his salary gambling on sports. But he said he had not placed a bet in 13 years and now worried more about seats with a view than can't-miss point spreads. Two years ago, he began going to even more games, mostly with Jimmy, after his wife, Tara, died of breast cancer at age 34.
"Jimmy was just 6 at the time," Brady said, pausing to take a deep breath. "All of the games became a nice way for us to spend quality time together, a nice way for a father and son to bond."
Scattered around the Brady home are hundreds of ticket stubs from years past, reminders of trips to places like the old Tiger Stadium, Fenway Park, Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field and, as Brady put it, "the old Comiskey and the new Comiskey." There are still more stubs, from football stadiums like Lambeau Field, Texas Stadium, the Metrodome, the RCA Dome and Sun Devil Stadium.
Tacked onto a bulletin board in Jimmy's room, next to a picture of his mother, is the ticket stub from that memorable World Series game.
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