Kings go to paperless tickets for this season

Tickets used to be a keepsake, a memento of a sporting event or concert, with a perforated edge where it was torn by an usher.

It’s becoming a relic, though, as more sports teams are going electronic, including the Kings.

They plan to go paperless for the 2017-18 season, team spokesman Mike Altieri wrote in an email, although they still offer a paper-ticket option for a fee.

They’re not alone. The Montreal Canadiens recently announced paperless ticket plans but still offer paper tickets at a fee, which some fans reportedly saw as greed more than an environmentally friendly security measure.

The Kings encouraged fans to go paperless last season but also produced a commemorative paper ticket because of their 50th anniversary year, Altieri said.

Some season-ticket holders renewed for this season with the paper option thinking it would be a special, non-generic ticket and were disappointed. This season marks 50 years since the Kings first dropped the puck for the 1967-68 season.

The Kings offer a paper ticket option for a $100 fee ($40 for the playoffs) covering the season, but the option states that the tickets are printed on “generic LA Kings ticket stock,” and doesn’t say they would be commemorative tickets.

Otherwise, all Kings season-ticket package holders (full, half and quarter season) receive a membership card with their seat account data and a team store discount, Altieri said.

Ticket delivery is free for Kings season-ticket holders who choose to the digital ticketing system.

The Ducks are encouraging mobile delivery of tickets through incentives for 2017-18 but will still send out a season ticket booklet with no extra charge, a team spokesman said.