PHOENIX — Raymond Haas and Lisa Salyer didn't have to stand in line to get tickets for a recent women's basketball game.

        The friends went online and used Ms. Salyer's computer to print tickets for their group of five. Arriving at America West Arena, they went straight to their seats and watched the Phoenix Mercury beat the Sacramento Monarchs.

        “I had heard about it, so why not give it a shot?” said Mr. Haas, a Garden City, Kan., bank executive who was in town on vacation. “It worked out fine. We got good seats, and they won.”

Lisa Salyer's home-printed ticket contains a bar code that is scanned at the turnstile.

        Print-at-home ticketing is making appearances at sports arenas, concert halls and movie theaters. It promises more convenience for customers and new marketing opportunities for venues.

        But the personal information collected to make such options work worries some privacy advocates.

        To complete transactions, online buyers must provide names, contact information and credit card numbers.

        The concert you watch today could be linked with the baseball game you watch next month.

        “There's a lot of different uses for this information,” warned Richard M. Smith, chief technology officer for the Privacy Foundation at the University of Denver. Ticketmaster is hoping to outfit 100 venues by the year's end.

        The technology lets moviegoers avoid lines at the box office — and the possibility of a sellout.

        Fandango is considering add-ons such as express lines at the concession stand and reserved parking for online customers. America West Arena has a rewards program letting customers earn points for free merchandise.

        The technology works by including a bar code on the tickets you print at home. At the arena or theater, a ticket-taker scans the bar code to verify its authenticity.

        “The real power in any business is information,” said John Walker, vice president of ticket operations and sales for America West Arena. “These tools allow us to get more information than ever before.”

        With that information, the arena can adjust prices, check on season-ticket holders who miss a couple of games and manage staffing to satisfy customers more effectively. Venues hate empty seats — even if they've been paid for — because they mean lower concession sales.

        Today, consumers appear to be more willing to share information about their likes and dislikes, especially for special treatment or a discount in return.

        That's fine with the Privacy Foundation's Mr. Smith so long as arenas and tickets are honest about it and let consumers know they're being tracked.
       

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