Rockies Switch To Online Sales Only For World Series Tickets

DENVER (AP) _ The Colorado Rockies have abandoned their plans to sell World Series tickets in person by a lottery system, opting instead for online purchases only. <br/><br/>The team announced the new

Wednesday, October 17th 2007, 1:00 pm

By: News On 6

DENVER (AP) _ The Colorado Rockies have abandoned their plans to sell World Series tickets in person by a lottery system, opting instead for online purchases only.

The team announced the new plan on Wednesday, saying online sales would be the more fair.

Tickets were to go on sale at Coors Field and Rockies' Dugout Stores in the Denver area at 10 a.m. MDT Monday, as well as online. The online-only sales will still begin at 10 a.m. Monday.

Prices range from $65 to $250. Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) are scheduled in Denver Oct. 27-29.

Club president Keli McGregor said the Rockies consulted with Major League Baseball before making the change.

Rockies spokesman Jay Alves insisted the club's computers were ready to go and said the staff is prepared for any crashes.

``We don't anticipate that, but if something happens, we're ready for that too,'' he said. He declined to give details.

The switch was made in part due to the team's experience with the Wild Card tiebreaker game and the first two rounds of the playoffs, when online sales reached 500 tickets per minute at one point, Alves said.

Peter Bishop, 32, had planned start work late Monday so he could be in line at Coors Field at 7:30 a.m. for the lottery. Along with friends and family members, he wants eight seats, ideally for Game 3.

``We're certainly not being picky. Any ticket is a blessing as opposed to no tickets,'' said Bishop, of Denver.

Bishop also posted four ads on Craigslist seeking to buy from season ticket holders. As of Wednesday morning, he hadn't heard anything.

Bishop had mixed feelings about sales being totally online.

``If 250,000 people are online trying to get tickets, I can't imagine the Rockies' Web server can handle that sort of load,'' he said.

One season ticket holder who identified himself only as Jim offered two Game 4 tickets on Craigslist for $1,500 each.

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