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The leadup to Chicago Bears training camp is always exciting. It's the final few weeks of anticipation before football is (unofficially) back in our lives. And with that comes the excitement of securing training camp tickets for a handful of dates up at Halas Hall. But that excitement has turned to more frustration in recent years for many fans, and 2026 was no different.
Ever since the Bears moved their training camp home from Olivet Nazzarine University in Bourbounnais, IL back to Halas Hall, they have required fans to obtain tickets via Ticketmaster due to the limited capacity on the practice fields. It changed the way many fans experienced training camp. Instead of spending days out in Bourbonnais on your own schedule, you now needed to reserve tickets to see a single practice. And lately, those tickets have been going faster than a Caleb Williams pass.
On Wednesday, the Bears opened the window for fans to get their tickets to camp and many left empty handed despite waiting in the Ticketmaster queue. Some blamed bots for jumping the queue and securing tickets, while others simply pined for the return to Bourbonnais.
No matter how you look at it, the Bears' training camp ticket process isn't getting better for fans. Perhaps it's time to change how the process is done. And we've come up with a few options that though may not be perfect, could be better solutions what the Bears currently have:
The Bears currently allow fans to obtain up to four tickets at a time, which is great for families. Unfortunately, that also means less tickets are available and there have been instances where fans do not use all of their tickets or are trying to unload them at the last minute.
One change could be simply to lower the maximum amount of tickets from four to two. While it would limit families going to a practice, it would also mean more people would have the chance to get tickets. If 1,200 tickets are available for each practice, there's a chance 300 are only able to get tickets. Limiting people to two tickets doubles the amount of different fans who could get to go. It's not perfect, but would ensure more people could obtain tickets.
Back in 2021, the Bears first welcomed fans to Halas Hall with a lottery system. Fans signed up for days they wanted and the Bears randomly picked from the pool for each practice. That seemed to work well and would help get past the bot issue with Ticketmaster. To give even more people a chance, the Bears could put a limit on how many days fans can choose. For example, a person can sign up for up to three practices before the drawing is held.
It's a system that seemed to work in the past and may be worth re-introducing to give fans a better chance at snagging tickets.
It's great that the Bears don't charge for training camp tickets, but it also aids in the headaches we see now. Tickets can be hoarded with no consequence. But adding a small charge per ticket would make people think twice about the number of tickets they're getting. For example, the Bears could charge $5 per ticket. It's not a lot of money to spend on a two hour practice and it would help people commit to going to a practice.
While this problem only pops up once a year, it's about time the Bears look at other solutions to get more of their fans at training camp. It's understandable why they went back to Halas Hall given the renovations that took place 10 years ago, and for the ease of the players. It's a space that simply can't hold large crowds. Plus some of the issues are strictly a Ticketmaster problem that could be remedied if the Bears found another avenue to disperse tickets. Maybe things will change next year, but for now, many fans are scrambling to try and obtain training camp tickets to see their favorite team hit the field and it's proving to be quite frustrating.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears need to fix their training camp ticket process
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Ever since the Bears moved their training camp home from Olivet Nazzarine University in Bourbounnais, IL back to Halas Hall, they have required fans to obtain tickets via Ticketmaster due to the limited capacity on the practice fields. It changed the way many fans experienced training camp. Instead of spending days out in Bourbonnais on your own schedule, you now needed to reserve tickets to see a single practice. And lately, those tickets have been going faster than a Caleb Williams pass.
On Wednesday, the Bears opened the window for fans to get their tickets to camp and many left empty handed despite waiting in the Ticketmaster queue. Some blamed bots for jumping the queue and securing tickets, while others simply pined for the return to Bourbonnais.
I was in the waiting room 45 minutes before they went on sale. Got in the room at 10:02 AM. Sold out!
Make Bears Training Camp Great Again!pic.twitter.com/Ljv7ZLap3m
— JAY
No matter how you look at it, the Bears' training camp ticket process isn't getting better for fans. Perhaps it's time to change how the process is done. And we've come up with a few options that though may not be perfect, could be better solutions what the Bears currently have:
Limit the quantity to 2 tickets
The Bears currently allow fans to obtain up to four tickets at a time, which is great for families. Unfortunately, that also means less tickets are available and there have been instances where fans do not use all of their tickets or are trying to unload them at the last minute.
One change could be simply to lower the maximum amount of tickets from four to two. While it would limit families going to a practice, it would also mean more people would have the chance to get tickets. If 1,200 tickets are available for each practice, there's a chance 300 are only able to get tickets. Limiting people to two tickets doubles the amount of different fans who could get to go. It's not perfect, but would ensure more people could obtain tickets.
Sign up for lottery days
Back in 2021, the Bears first welcomed fans to Halas Hall with a lottery system. Fans signed up for days they wanted and the Bears randomly picked from the pool for each practice. That seemed to work well and would help get past the bot issue with Ticketmaster. To give even more people a chance, the Bears could put a limit on how many days fans can choose. For example, a person can sign up for up to three practices before the drawing is held.
It's a system that seemed to work in the past and may be worth re-introducing to give fans a better chance at snagging tickets.
Charge for tickets
It's great that the Bears don't charge for training camp tickets, but it also aids in the headaches we see now. Tickets can be hoarded with no consequence. But adding a small charge per ticket would make people think twice about the number of tickets they're getting. For example, the Bears could charge $5 per ticket. It's not a lot of money to spend on a two hour practice and it would help people commit to going to a practice.
While this problem only pops up once a year, it's about time the Bears look at other solutions to get more of their fans at training camp. It's understandable why they went back to Halas Hall given the renovations that took place 10 years ago, and for the ease of the players. It's a space that simply can't hold large crowds. Plus some of the issues are strictly a Ticketmaster problem that could be remedied if the Bears found another avenue to disperse tickets. Maybe things will change next year, but for now, many fans are scrambling to try and obtain training camp tickets to see their favorite team hit the field and it's proving to be quite frustrating.
Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears need to fix their training camp ticket process
Continue reading...
