The idea for the Milwaukee Brewers’ Timeless Ticket promotion started with a trip to the post office, team chief operating officer Rick Schlesinger explained back in 2015, when 1,000 special stubs went on sale. Inspired by forever stamps, he said at the time, “I wondered what we could do to offer our fans something where we could give them the promise of being able to go to any game.”
The Brewers landed on a $1,000, personalized bronze ticket, redeemable for a seat at any home game—even a World Series matchup. The club hadn’t made the Fall Classic since 1982, but hundreds of buyers held onto hope for a return. Eleven years later, the holders are looking to realize their investment and live out their dream of watching their team play for a championship.
“If they can redeem this ticket for me and get me to the game as I’ve pictured in my mind for the last 12 years, it would be the best thing ever,” one holder recently told Milwaukee’s ABC station.
But not everyone is completely happy about how the redemption process has played out after Milwaukee swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, according to conversations with four Timeless Ticket holders, including one who requested anonymity to discuss ongoing talks with the team.
Milwaukee resident Danny Fochesato told Sportico that last Wednesday, with the Brewers up 2-0 in the NLCS, he “was at the ticket office as soon as they opened.” But while he was expecting to choose between prime seats, the best available options presented were in American Family Field’s upper-level terrace, where he was offered one free entry plus the ability to buy three more at a face value of $1,000 each. The form indicated tickets would be doled out for either of two different games.
“Overall, I am not satisfied,” he said.
Another apparent Brewers fan posted on X that though his family had the option to get four tickets, they wouldn’t be redeeming them after hearing doing so could only net 400-section seats. “I refuse to burn that on a ticket I could’ve bought for face value,” he wrote. “Redeeming it lets them get away with it.” A third self-described Timeless Ticket holder called the World Series ticket redemption process “beyond frustrating” in a post on X.
Disagreement seems to stem from the terms of the original offer. “The Timeless Ticket and any additional purchased tickets may be redeemed for the best available seat location(s), subject to ticket availability at the time of redemption,” the team told fans back in 2015, according to documentation Fochesato has held onto. The Brewers also encouraged fans redeeming postseason seats to do so before the start of public sale periods. For early buyers, the vouchers came with access to nine regular-season Brewers games of their choice as well.
The web page promoting the offer specifically called out ticket-holders’ ability to attend a theoretical World Series Game 7—though it didn’t say where they’d be watching from. Fans recalled being offered better seats for the 2018 World Series, before the Brewers were eliminated in Game 7 of the NLCS. But the process changed ahead of last year’s playoff run, they said, when holders were shown a form with select areas available, rather than getting to choose seats from a broader set of available options.
After further discussion with team officials, Fochesato was offered a solo seat lower-down for Game 1, with the ability to purchase three face-value stubs in the higher level for Game 2, when he plans to attend with his dad and sister. One staffer told him that season-ticket holders were being given the opportunity to purchase additional tickets, and that some seats were being reserved for potential season ticket holders.
“With interest in postseason baseball at an all-time high, fans should strongly consider securing a 2027 season seat plan, which provides the best opportunity to access tickets for future postseason and World Series games,” Schlesinger said in a statement last week.
Fosechato said he originally bought the promotion on his birthday in 2015, with visions of a World Series in mind, even as the team endured a six-year playoff drought.
“It’s just unfortunate to be treated like this after, you know, being so loyal to them all these years,” he said. “I gave them $1,000 11 years ago. That should put me ahead of them banking on people who don’t even exist yet.”
Fosechato pointed out that had he instead invested the money in the S&P 500 back then, it’d be worth more than $4,000 now.
Certainly, some fans seem content with the reward for their investment and longheld belief that the Brewers would return to the World Series, even if they might not end up with the exact seats of their dreams. The cheapest tickets for Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Friday are more than $2,300 on secondary market ticketing platforms. Quickly snapped-up seats sold through the team were initially listed starting at more than $900, with season ticket holders previously offered lower-priced options. MLB and host franchises both have a role in how prices are set.
A team spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Dustin Buck bought two Timeless Tickets, believing that as an Iowa resident, he likely wouldn’t be given a chance to purchase Brewers World Series seats directly from the team without them. Sure enough, a presale last week was limited to Wisconsin residents.
Buck redeemed one of his two Timeless Tickets, buying two additional stubs as companion entries. He’ll take his 17-year-old and 13-year-old to Game 1 Friday.
“I’m absolutely stoked,” he said. “Not many dads get to take their kids to a World Series, and my kids will always have that story.”
Competing teams retain 15% of the ticket revenue generated for the first four World Series games they host, with 60% going to the players’ prize pool and the league collecting part of the gate too. It’s unclear how Timeless Ticket revenue will be allocated, and just how many of the longtime holders will be in attendance come the weekend.
Buck had the opportunity to convert both his timeless tickets, including putting one toward a hypothetical Game 7. Instead, he’s holding onto the second shot at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“When I bought those tickets, I had faith in Milwaukee that someday they would be in a World Series,” he said. “I have faith in that second ticket that I’m going to get to redeem it for a World Series sometime in the future.”
(This story has been updated in the third to last paragraph to clarify that teams retain 15% of the World Series gate revenue.)