How does the post season schedule get decided? And how do the tickets (with the correct competing teams) get printed and distributed so quickly?
Consider the AL East where it was a fight to the finish (assuming the Yanks could have potentially swapped places with the Orioles). How did wildcard tickets get printed and distributed so quickly? And, how was it decided that the Orioles would open at home for two games / Yanks at home for three games in the AL East Division playoff?
Overall, it seems like there’s so little time for logisitics once post-season hits! How does this all come together?
Printing is a matter of someone at MLB typing the name of the teams in the designated place on the ticket and then someone in the box office hitting “Print” when a fan buys it. As far as distribution, I would imagine it’s either done via email or will-call.
And as far as deciding who would open at home, MLB decided this year that the team with the worse record would open at home for two games, and the other team would host for the final three games (in the best-of-five series).
Tickets were printed weeks ago. Each team that has a chance for the playoffs sells tickets in Sept. the tickets are labelled division series home game 1 and so on. There is no opponent team name on the ticket. The team will sell the tickets for the most possible home games in a series and then refund unused tickets. These days it is easy to refund to credit cards.
Last minute purchases are going to be print at home or at the park, so even easier.
When I had Yankee season tickets, they would hit our group up mid/late August for payment for playoff tickets. Hated the ‘scam’ - if the Yankees didn’t make it, refunds wouldn’t go out until it was time for the next season’s tickets, and they would ‘kindly’ offer to apply the payment (without accruing any interest) to the new season tickets.
We receive the physical tickets depending on when the team clinches. Sometimes, that meant they would FedEx them after game 162.