Like many other Brewer fans, my family and I braved the weather — thank you American Family Field for the roof — to attend the 2024 home opener on Tuesday, April 2.
Games, especially one as big as a home opener, are meant to be a fun, stress-free time at the ballpark away from work. But such was not the case on Monday. Aside from the usual Milwaukee traffic and unpredictable Wisconsin spring weather, my family and I experienced greater electronic issues.
The first stemmed from our online tickets.
My mom purchased our tickets from StubHub and had experienced problems before pulling up the digital tickets at the gate. She was more prepared this time, pulling the tickets up before we left Monroe and had them prepped the whole car ride, while we used my phone as a GPS.
But just as we got to the gate — BOOM — the tickets disappeared. My dad and I huddled around her in the torrential downpour, shielding her phone, so she could attempt to pull the tickets up again. It took a couple, slow-going steps before the tickets appeared again.
Did I appreciate standing out in the pouring rain in near freezing temperatures to wait for my mom’s phone to load? No. Did I eventually dry off and warm up in the two hours before first pitch? Yes.
What was more upsetting was the pre-paid parking that the Brewers and other media heavily promoted.
With the new system, fans could bypass the long wait for parking and cash handover by paying for parking ahead of time or scanning a QR code in the parking lot day of. The only information required was a license plate and payment.
So, immediately after entering the park, my mom attempted to pull up the app on her phone to pay. She, and my brother who drove separately, attempted to connect for 30 minutes as the circle of death kept spinning on their screens. After much frustration, both gave up and said if they got a parking ticket, they’d dispute it.
It wasn’t until the beginning of the game that it was announced on the big screen that fans would not be charged for parking that day. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel later reported that the connectivity issues arose with the Milwaukee-based Interstate Parking Company — not the Brewers or MLB Ballpark App. AmFam returned to regular parking sales the following day.
Listen, I’m all for going paperless and utilizing technology. I do a lot of work from my phone — reading softball and baseball statistics, play-by-play recording and interviews. I’ve experienced similar parking payment methods at the UW Oshkosh campus and for state track at UW-La Crosse. I think the idea was one that should be explored more, but the execution was lackluster.
I’m sure Interstate Parking Company did a soft- or medium-launch before promoting and rolling out the app, but did they accurately anticipate the volume of people on Opening Day? Not even close.
Yes, the weather was poor, but Brewers fans are dedicated. We show up for our team, and on Opening Day nonetheless. Outside of a playoff clinching game or the playoffs themselves, this is probably the most attended game of the season, and app developers weren’t prepared. Could more research have been done? Maybe, but I’m not the right person to decide that.
From a fan perspective, connectivity issues surrounding AmFam needed to be addressed before thinking of bringing the app back — for greater parking and digital ticket experiences alike.
— Natalie Dillon is the sports editor of the Times and can be reached at ndillon@
themonroetimes.com.