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Beating the NBA: Tales From a Frugal Fan
Is there anyone who's been to an NBA game lately that hasn't felt ripped-off? Griping about the cost of tickets has become as routine as the opening tip-off. And it's no wonder; while America confronts a continuously bumpy economy, the Lakers, Knicks, and even the woeful Hornets peddle seats at hundreds - sometimes even thousands - of dollars, pricing out the majority of their fans. But just outside their glistening arenas, on the city pavements and internet classifieds, lurks a dirty little secret: Good tickets can be had for pennies on the dollar...if you know how to play the system. For one frugal fan, that's when the adventure begins. With years of professional experience as a value-conscious investor and years of semi-professional experience as a sports-obsessed haggler, Motez Bishara sets off on a madcap thirty-one game, cross continental quest to buy the best NBA tickets at the lowest possible prices. From Miami to Portland, hilarious anecdotes and insightful interviews combine to uncover the rapidly evolving ticketing industry. By maximizing those trends, Beating the NBA empowers fans to achieve the most elusive victory in all of sports: bagging a great deal.
334 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2013
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110 people want to read
About the author
Motez Bishara
3 books1 followerMotez Bishara is an award-winning author and contributing feature writer for CNN, ESPN, The Guardian and other publications.
He is currently a PhD candidate in sports sociology at the University of Leicester and has served as an adjunct professor of news writing at the Gulf University for Science and Technology.
He is currently a PhD candidate in sports sociology at the University of Leicester and has served as an adjunct professor of news writing at the Gulf University for Science and Technology.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 14, 2013
Is there a trend of guys from England taking ballpark trips to America and writing books about it? There was Brit at the Ballpark a couple years ago, where Peter Taylor took a summer trip in 2007 to see a game in every major-league park and a minor-league game in states without a big-league team. Now Motez Bishara (an American by birth and education, an Englishman by work) travels to the states to see as many NBA games as he can while buying tickets only from scalpers or online secondary markets such as StubHub.com.
While I couldn't get through Taylor's rather pedestrian book, Bishara's kept me a bit more engaged. I agree with him that the best deals aren't found at the box office. I commend him for financing the trip on his own, finding many female friends to go to games with, and self-publishing the book. There's not enough stories to really keep my interest, though. We get the idea after a few chapters -- Bishara heads to a city, tries to score tickets, meets up with a friend (or not), tells us how he got the ticket, writes a few sentences about the game, then heads to the next city. It's interesting at the beginning and end, pedestrian in the middle. And I have to admit I liked the bit of counterfeit-ticket karma delivered when he chose to bypass coming to Cleveland in order to stay in Chicago for a couple extra days.
Of course, I write all this with jealousy that I have not taken a trip such as this.
While I couldn't get through Taylor's rather pedestrian book, Bishara's kept me a bit more engaged. I agree with him that the best deals aren't found at the box office. I commend him for financing the trip on his own, finding many female friends to go to games with, and self-publishing the book. There's not enough stories to really keep my interest, though. We get the idea after a few chapters -- Bishara heads to a city, tries to score tickets, meets up with a friend (or not), tells us how he got the ticket, writes a few sentences about the game, then heads to the next city. It's interesting at the beginning and end, pedestrian in the middle. And I have to admit I liked the bit of counterfeit-ticket karma delivered when he chose to bypass coming to Cleveland in order to stay in Chicago for a couple extra days.
Of course, I write all this with jealousy that I have not taken a trip such as this.
January 22, 2014
I got this book free from Goodreads. The opinions expressed in this review are mine and were not influenced by Goodreads or the Author.
I read this book and I admit I like non-fiction. for all it's pedestrianess that the previous reviewer summed it as, I like pedestrian. It lets a reader almost be with the writer in his nefarious scalper hunting. The language is plain, easy to read and understandable. The way he presents his challenges is real life. It's what actually happens on the street. I have to admit I learned alot about Scalping from his book that I didn't even know about but there was room to learn more.
Now for the bad. What I didn't like about Bishara's book was that he is very jet setting while the average event goer is not so much. most event goers usually can attend a couple of games a year and usually in their own hometown Also, it's all about the NBA which is in the U.S. but he's opened his book up to a wider audience than that of the U.S. So I ask the writer...does this method work in Canada at a National Hockey League Game such as Vancouver Canucks? Calgary Flames? Does it work in Baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays? I have to assume that the writer has a passion and really loves the NBA, but really I think the moral of this story should be about nefarious scalping which would be far more interesting. The reason I'll cite as an example. For me, I enter contests. I try to win for free. If I win, I gained it free. If I don't win, I move on to the next one. In essence if I had to pay for a ticket with any money...I definitely beat nothing except the money out of my pocketbook. In other words, paying for an NBA game is not beating them. I would consider the title of the book a poor choice of words.
All in all, a decent book. Would I recommend it? Yes to certain persons (those who love NBA and those who want to know how to find tickets but still are not free). Would I read another book by Motez Bishara? Yes if it shows me an inside look at the shady world of Scalping in true to life non fiction and includes a more varied selection of Sporting Events.
I read this book and I admit I like non-fiction. for all it's pedestrianess that the previous reviewer summed it as, I like pedestrian. It lets a reader almost be with the writer in his nefarious scalper hunting. The language is plain, easy to read and understandable. The way he presents his challenges is real life. It's what actually happens on the street. I have to admit I learned alot about Scalping from his book that I didn't even know about but there was room to learn more.
Now for the bad. What I didn't like about Bishara's book was that he is very jet setting while the average event goer is not so much. most event goers usually can attend a couple of games a year and usually in their own hometown Also, it's all about the NBA which is in the U.S. but he's opened his book up to a wider audience than that of the U.S. So I ask the writer...does this method work in Canada at a National Hockey League Game such as Vancouver Canucks? Calgary Flames? Does it work in Baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays? I have to assume that the writer has a passion and really loves the NBA, but really I think the moral of this story should be about nefarious scalping which would be far more interesting. The reason I'll cite as an example. For me, I enter contests. I try to win for free. If I win, I gained it free. If I don't win, I move on to the next one. In essence if I had to pay for a ticket with any money...I definitely beat nothing except the money out of my pocketbook. In other words, paying for an NBA game is not beating them. I would consider the title of the book a poor choice of words.
All in all, a decent book. Would I recommend it? Yes to certain persons (those who love NBA and those who want to know how to find tickets but still are not free). Would I read another book by Motez Bishara? Yes if it shows me an inside look at the shady world of Scalping in true to life non fiction and includes a more varied selection of Sporting Events.
April 7, 2014
I had read this book when it first came out last year and was so enthralled after just one page that I didn’t put it back down till I had finished. I recently decided to read it again, and see if it was as good as the first time: wow I didn’t remember how much I really loved it!
The author takes you on an NBA tour de force without a single lull. And while I suppose the purpose of the book is to show how the market for basketball tickets is mispriced, and teach you how to get around it with scalpers or online, for me the best part of the book are the stories. Each chapter, each game is like a mini adventure so vividly described it’s like you were there yourself. It is rare to find a book so well written you can feel every win, every disappointment, the excitement; you can almost hear the crowds chanting. Once you finish the book you really do want to just go out to a game.
This is not just a book on sports, this is not a dry analysis of pricing or some documentary on scalping, this is true entertainment that everyone can enjoy (even non-sports fans). This is an ideal read for commuters: each chapter is a story in itself, so by the time you’ve reached your destination you’ll have read several short stories, rather than stopping and starting a long novel several times a day. And any guy that wants to get his girlfriend even slightly excited about going to a game with him should get this for her. Without a doubt anyone who reads this book will love it and must recommend it as highly as I do.
The author takes you on an NBA tour de force without a single lull. And while I suppose the purpose of the book is to show how the market for basketball tickets is mispriced, and teach you how to get around it with scalpers or online, for me the best part of the book are the stories. Each chapter, each game is like a mini adventure so vividly described it’s like you were there yourself. It is rare to find a book so well written you can feel every win, every disappointment, the excitement; you can almost hear the crowds chanting. Once you finish the book you really do want to just go out to a game.
This is not just a book on sports, this is not a dry analysis of pricing or some documentary on scalping, this is true entertainment that everyone can enjoy (even non-sports fans). This is an ideal read for commuters: each chapter is a story in itself, so by the time you’ve reached your destination you’ll have read several short stories, rather than stopping and starting a long novel several times a day. And any guy that wants to get his girlfriend even slightly excited about going to a game with him should get this for her. Without a doubt anyone who reads this book will love it and must recommend it as highly as I do.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews