The Bears training camp ticket system through Ticketmaster continues to frustrate fans, with problems worsening in 2025. Though the event is supposed to be free and open to the public, tickets are quickly snatched up by scalpers/bots and resold for over $70—frustrating many longtime fans.
On July 9, 2025, tickets for the 11 open practices disappeared within minutes of release at 10 AM CT. Fans encountered long digital queues, error messages, and ultimately, sold out notices. I’ve spoken with several fans who logged onto the website at 9:30 and were placed in the waiting room, but still couldn’t get tickets. They waited in the queue for over 30 minutes, only to be told everything was sold out. The process seems flawed, and the Bears need to address it. With Halas Hall’s daily capacity capped around 1,000 attendees, bots and scalpers exploit the system, flooding resale sites with inflated prices. While the Bears have a no-resale policy, enforcement is minimal and unfortunately hard to monitor on social sites.
The switch to Ticketmaster was intended to simplify access, but it’s made the problem worse. Many fans miss the days at Bourbonnais, where training camp was easily accessible and welcoming for families. Now, the growing inaccessibility is eroding the community spirit of what training camo is supposed to be.
Proposals like expanding capacity could ease the issue, but the Bears have yet to take meaningful action. Until changes are made, fans will continue to be locked out of what should be a free, fan-centered tradition. It’s time for the team to step up and restore fair access to training camp.
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