The great Bears training camp ticket giveaway came and went on Wednesday with fans gobbling up what little opportunity they had to obtain free tickets and complaining about the obvious.
All of the tickets are gone, and were gone in about five minutes, although the Bears said through their website that it's possible more could be given out at a later date.
Fans can sign up here to be notified when and if this happens.
Rookies report to camp July 19, veterans July 22 and practices begin July 23.
There simply isn't enough room to bring enough people to Halas Hall for a series of events like these the way they did in the old days at Bourbonnais and even before that at Platteville, Wis.
Although that Wisconsin trip was more like a journey to the edge of the planet.
There is limited seating and viewing around the fields, the fans need to rely on a shuttle bus from down Route 60 in Vernon Hills to get there and the autograph opportunities are nothing like they were at the old camps.
The fans do get to experience the beautiful facilities players have to some extent, at least the few fans who are able to get in to the practices by getting lucky to obtain tickets when they're released.
At least they are free, although there were plenty of problems reported by fans trying to get them off the website. It seems to be tougher to negotiate than the Chicago Sports Network app, if that's possible.
On the other hand, it will set up a good, lucrative after market for people to make money off the sale of these free tickets.
The reaction to the quick dispersal of tickets was an easy one to predict as fans made their opinions known on social media.
There will be a practice at Soldier Field on Sunday, Aug. 3 at 11:30 a.m. if fans do not object to paying for the tickets. The team announced those tickets will go on sale July 11 and will cost $10.
There is a discount with a cost of $35 for a four-pack of tickets.
The practice at Soldier Field runs until 1:55 p.m. The Bears say there will be tickets available at the stadium box office located outside of Gate 10 starting at 9 a.m. There is more information available here for that practice:
In all, there are 11 free practices for the general public and one with paid admission, although it seems some people will pay for the free practices now.
The Bears also are holding special private community days by invite only for groups on July 28, Aug. 5, and Aug. 20.
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