Immediately kicked out? Yes. Worth it? Yes. It was the principle of the thing… but on a regular day when I’m not blacked out? Not my style at all…

Full disclosure – I think the only place I’ve ever snuck into was a 2nd floor bar in Media, PA. (After the bouncer at the bottom of the steps told me I was too drunk to go in, I proceeded to the rear alley, scaled up some snowy patio steps, squeezed through the bar’s winterized back-deck plastic wrap, & made a bee-line to the top of the steps to wave down at said bouncer.)

I pay for my tickets, I follow the rules, I listen to security. I’m comfortable that way. Deal with it.

So the L-7-weenie-square in me was scandalized yesterday as I scrolled the interwebs & stumbled upon that video above by Trevor Kraus, an author from the St. Louis area with a penchant for “the spin-move”; sneaking into stadiums. The paranoid worrier in me was intrigued & wanted to know more, so I hit him up & he was kind enough to spill on those spin moves, handling nerves, virginity, dealing with loneliness, & how that all led to his book, Ticketless, How Sneaking Into The Super Bowl And Everything Else (Almost) Held My Life Together.

Here’s the interview with Trevor:

Kate: First off, do you have a list of all 32 events you’ve snuck into so far?

Trevor: Sure do! Full list with dates… 1. August 13, 2005: Cardinals 5, Cubs 2. Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL. 2. March 19, 2010: Gonzaga 67, Florida St. 60. HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY. 3. October 30, 2010: Nebraska 31, Mizzou 14. Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE. 4. December 22, 2010: Missouri 75, Illinois 64. Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO. 5. December 28, 2010: Blues 3, Chicago 1. Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO. 6. January 5, 2011: Russia 5, Canada 3. HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY. 7. February 7, 2011: Kansas 103, Mizzou 86. Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS. 8. July 2, 2011: Kvitova def. Sharapova 6-3, 6-4. Centre Court, London, England. 9. October 20, 2011: Rangers 2, Cardinals 1. Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO. 10. October 23, 2011: Rangers 4, Cardinals 0. The Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, TX. 11. October 28, 2011: Cardinals 6, Rangers 2. Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO. 12. November 5, 2011: LSU 9, Alabama 6 (OT). Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL. 13. December 3, 2011: Chicago 5, Blues 2. Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO. 14. January 21, 2012: Blues 4, Sabres 2. Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO. 15. February 4, 2012: Mizzou 74, kansas 71. Mizzou Arena, Columbia, MO. 16. February 5, 2012: Giants 21, Patriots 17. Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN. 17. February 25, 2012: Kansas 87, Mizzou 86 (OT). Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS. 18. May 17, 2012: Boca Juniors 1, Fluminense 0. La Bombonera, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 19. October 19, 2012: Giants 5, Cardinals 0. Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO. 20. February 2, 2013: Indiana 81, Michigan 73. Assembly Hall, Bloomington, IN. 21. October 19, 2013: Mizzou 36, Florida 17. Faurot Field, Columbia, MO. 22. January 11, 2014: Seahawks 23, Saints 15. CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WA. 23. April 13, 2014: Bubba Watson (280). Augusta National, Augusta, GA. 24. May 8, 2014: Bruins 1, Canadiens 0 (OT). Bell Centre, Montreal, QC. 25. February 18, 2015: Duke 92, North Carolina 90 (OT). Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC. 26. July 19, 2015: Mets 3, Cardinals 1. Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO. 27. September 13, 2015: Rams 34, Seahawks 31 (OT). Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO. 28. December 15, 2015: Rams 31, Buccaneers 23. Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO. 29. October 22, 2016: Cubs 5, Dodgers 0. Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL. 30. December 7, 2018. Leganés 1, Getafe 1. Estadio Municipal de Butarque, Madrid, Spain. 31. May 7, 2019. Federer def. Gasquet, 6–2, 6–3. Manolo Santana Court, Madrid, Spain. 32. August 19, 2019. Cardinals 3, Brewers 0. Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO. And if you want more details on each one you can click HERE.

Kate: Holy shitballs. What was the most difficult event to slip into so far, and why?

Trevor: All the big ones have presented different challenges. Security at the Super Bowl is insane, and the South American soccer game I tried to sneak into was the Super Bowl x 100. (That was one of the few times I failed — Buenos Aires for a Boca Juniors Copa Libertadores game … got apprehended and shoved around by a cop, but luckily avoided any real punishment.) Wimbledon was tough because of the etiquette, stillness, and silence at tennis matches. But I’d have to say Duke-North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium was the toughest because that arena is so damn small, only had three entrances open to fans, and they were all guarded heavily. If I hadn’t known about the secret tunnel, I would never have gotten in.

Kate: What was the easiest and why?

Trevor: My hometown venues — Busch Stadium and Mizzou Arena — were probably the easiest. I’ve been to each hundreds of times (almost always with tickets), so I’m just very comfortable there, and know the layouts like the back of my hand.

Kate: Do you ever get nervous or is it more of an adrenaline thing? (What’s the feeling you get as you’re going past security & are you ever able to relax once you’re in, or are you constantly on the lookout?)

Trevor: I’m always nervous beforehand, but as I always tell my friends when trying to convince them to come with me: You have to use the nerves to your benefit; if you know the layout of the building and where you want to go, it won’t steer you wrong. By sneaking into the game, I’m risking arrest. Security guards and police officers don’t really risk anything by letting some harmless kid (I’ve already been through the metal detectors), run away. If they come chase me, they’re risking letting something actually dangerous happen. Most of them are off-duty cops, anyway, and can’t be bothered to run.

Kate: You’re very open about sneaking into these stadiums, wrote a whole book detailing it, and just posted a video of how you do it. This has to have caught the attention of stadium security personnel across the country, and it’s not hard to find you on Twitter/email. Have any of the places you’ve snuck in ever reached out to you afterwards?

Trevor: Amazingly, no. My book hit #1 in its category, has gotten some great reviews, and I’ve even had a few appearances in national media, so I definitely expected to have heard something. But so far, nada—not even the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, where I used to be an usher myself!

Kate: Do you ever get criticism from people? If so what are the most common ones you get & and what’s your response to them?

Trevor: Oh yeah; it INFURIATES a certain segment of people who want to flaunt their moral superiority, I guess. (Or, they’re just bitter because they paid a lot of money, and I didn’t.) I hear all the time, “You’re breaking the law!” as if they’d never driven above the speed-limit or jaywalked. And people accuse me, essentially, of being a thief. I could write essays about my response on economic, moral, and legal grounds, but to keep it brief: I don’t believe I’m “stealing” because no one actually loses anything in the process. Even if I am “stealing,” consider who the victims would be: sports leagues, billionaire team owners, and ticket scalpers. I don’t see anyone out there crying rivers for those groups of people. Besides, almost every game I’ve snuck into has been a sell-out. That means the league and the owner of the home team have already maximized possible revenue from ticket sales. So, when I sneak in and buy a beer and a bag of peanuts, my presence winds up being a profit for them.

Kate: Do you ever hear from other ‘stadium sneakers’ who do the same thing as you? I’d like to imagine you all have a yearly meetup to share trade secrets, and it obviously takes place in a stadium you’ve all snuck into.

Trevor: I’d like to imagine that too, and in fact, one of my long-term goals is to make that happen at some big sporting event. But as of yet, there’s nothing like that. I DO have people reach out pretty often on Twitter, email, and Facebook to ask for tips about how to sneak into stuff. (The Masters is the most common one.) And everyone seems to have a great story about one time they snuck into a sporting event, concert, exclusive night club, etc. I really love hearing those.

Kate: On the Reddit thread you commented, “A few months ago, I published a book telling all of my stories, plus a lot more on my father’s death and struggles with virginity/loneliness.” First off, I’m so sorry to hear about your father passing. I watched an interview with you where you say your Dad was the first person you ever snuck into a stadium with as a kid. Do you feel a connection with him when you do this? Or feel like he’s a big part of why you do what you do?

Trevor: First off, thank you for your condolences. Yeah, exactly: Cardinals-Cubs, Wrigley Field, 2005: My dad snuck me and my brother into the game (we were 14 and 11), and that was the first “spin-move,” as I call it. I do feel a connection to him—in a lot of ways. For one, he was the reason my brother and I became such big sports fans, but intensity—for sports, and in life—be a double-edged sword. It led my dad, for example, to unravel; he obsessed over small things, and it wound up killing him. And then when he died, I went on a bit of a gatecrashing binge as a way to cope. Most of all, when I’ve snuck into games with my brother, I know Dad would be happy that his two boys have such a strong relationship and are still bonding over sports, even now into our mid-20s.

Kate: No shame to the virginity game, but it caught my attention (I’m a floosy). You’re a handsome fella with a top notch beard! Is abstaining from sex a personal moral choice for you, or something that just hasn’t happened yet? And I feel like that’s a difficult thing for men to admit.. What makes you so open to talk about it in your book? Does it tie in with your stadium sneakin’ hobby at all?

Trevor: Why, thank you for the compliments! It was VERY difficult for me to admit because, no, it’s not a personal moral choice at all. In college I was in a fraternity … but I just couldn’t get myself to take part in casual hookup culture. I was stuck in the 1950s. There were a few women I was convinced were “the one,” but like my sports fandom, I thought if they were “the one,” I had to go all-in. And by all-in, I mean, like a Disney Movie. First dates in Venice, Italy. 3-page letters after a first date. Every time, I’d scare them off with my intensity. The same things that made it so easy for me to get into stadiums made it impossible for me to get laid or have a girlfriend. The themes came together: Sneaking into games became my identity … something that made me feel strong and confident when it felt like nothing else was going right for me. But it was also more proof that a) my passion for sports would scare off any woman I got close to and b) I would turn out like my gatecrashing father: depressed, scared, and lonely. So, yeah, I really squirmed while writing the book, but I was determined to make it the best book possible. It gets into some pretty deep shit — I forced myself not to hold anything back, no matter how difficult to write — but the embarrassing parts are what made it the best book possible. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when the first review I got was that it made a reader “uncomfortable with emotional rawness … and yet hopeful to the point of tears.”

Kate: As for the loneliness, are you doing alright now? After friends & family read your book did they reach out?

Trevor: I was FLOORED by how many friends reached out after they read the book, to tell me that it really resonated with them, and that they had gone through similar feelings. If my book brought comfort to even one person, then all the pain I went through, and the 7+ years of writing and editing, were well worth it. I realized I’m not, and never was, as lonely as I thought. It even elicited powerful, emotional responses from some of the women I write about in the book. They said some parts made them laugh, some offended them, some parts made them reflect on the past and relive the old days … but overall, they loved it, and that brought me a sense of closure.

Kate: If you could sneak into any event in the world what would it be?

Trevor: Something like a World Cup would be cool, but I can’t imagine anything better than a desperate, laughingstock fanbase like the Cleveland Browns, Sacramento Kings, or Buffalo Sabres finally having their day. One idea that runs through the book is that the more a team has lost, the better it feels when they win — and the more raucous and desperate the crowd. My St. Louis Blues just won the Cup and proved that theory once again; it was indescribably awesome. That’s why my all-time favorite sneak (and one of the more recent) was to see the Cubs win the pennant at Wrigley Field in 2016. They had gone 71 years since their last pennant, and I could hear and feel and see how special that moment was. To me, that’s what sports are about, and that’s the kind of environment I want to experience.

After the interview with Trevor I asked around the office to see if anyone else ever snuck into major events, and it looks like he’s not alone.

In the past Hank’s weaseled his way into Boston’s TD Garden more than 50 times (wonky exit door + butterknife), Feits snuck into the Preakness once (he’d paid for a ticket but forgot it at his hotel), plus Nate, Kayce, Brandon Walker, PFT… the list goes on. Almost everyone I talked to at the office had experience sneaking into an event of some sort at least once in their lives.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still always try to sneak in alcohol, but I’ll also always be paying my own way in so I don’t have to keep my head on a swivel. I’m interested to see how this pans out for Trevor, and if stadiums will start catching on & be on the lookout for him, especially near his home spots. As for the book, I’m glad it brought him some peace getting everything out, and that it gave him a new perspective & reconnected him with friends & family.