The Redskins sue their fans

[BlueDevilBaby]

I'm getting hounded lately by emails and phone calls by the Skins' ticket office to upgrade a pair of my seats to a better location. After reading that article, NO WAY!

[InSpades]

In some ways I think the times are changing. I've been a Giants fan forever (I guess growing up in the northern part of NJ there wasn't much choice in the matter). For as long as I remember (back to the days of the real LT and the Giants 1st Super Bowl) it was near impossible to get Giants season tickets. Even when they were bad (and they were pretty bad at times) there was a huge waiting list for season tickets. Last night while watching the Giants game they were actually advertising that tickets were available. No, not for this year, but for next year. Why next year? Because next year they open the new stadium and they've basically gone through their season ticket waiting list trying to find people willing to pay the PSL (apparently without that much success). My brother is a far bigger Giants fan than I have ever been was on that list (he's probably been on it for 20 years). He turned them down. They wanted something along of the lines of $20,000 for the PSLs plus $125 per ticket for 10 games per year (pre-season counts too) for a total of about $2500 per year and $20k up-front. These weren't even prime seats or anything.

The Giants are definitely "pricing out" many of their diehard fans. I've had the pleasure to enjoy some rather choice seats at Giants stadium and it is certainly a great experience. I've also sat in the freezing cold in some not-to-great seats. As Jason pointed out above, the home-viewing experience has improved drastically over the years while the in-stadium viewing experience hasn't really changed much. Except for the price. $10k PSLs? I think I'll stay warm and watch it on the TV.

[JasonEvans]

I'm getting hounded lately by emails and phone calls by the Skins' ticket office to upgrade a pair of my seats to a better location. After reading that article, NO WAY!

The important thing is that you need to tell them this is WHY you are not giving them more money.

Similarly, folks who are planning to not go to games or something else in protest need to call the Skins ticket office and let them know about the protest action.

If you are in DC and are offended at this, you need to be in the Redskins' face letting them know how horrible they are acting.

--Jason "of course none of it will force Snyder to sell the team, which is the best solution for everyone" Evans

[tommy]

I was talking about this with a friend the other day. Think about how much better the home viewing experience is today versus 10 years ago. HD broadcasts, more angles for replays, huge TV sets, better sound systems, that yellow first-down line graphic that always shows you where the first-down and line-of-scrimmage are... the list is long.

Now, tell me one thing that has changed for the better in viewing a game live. I'm waiting.

So, while the home viewing has gotten a ton, ton better, the live viewing has remained the same.
--Jason "I guess this is one reason why an atmosphere like Cameron is so special and so important to Duke's future success" Evans

I actually think the live experience at stadiums has gotten significantly WORSE in recent years, both in football and basketball. The primary reason is the constant sonic assault to which fans/customers/clients are subjected to from the minute they walk in until the minute they leave. There are almost no moments when there is not either an obnoxiously loud PA announcer trying to drum up false enthusiasm, ear-splitting music, insanely loud commercials over the PA at every conceivable opportunity, even when it's not truly a break in the action, moronic and loud "entertainment" at commercial breaks, breaks between quarters and halves, etc. etc. etc. It's miserable. And endless. And it's usually so loud you can barely even have a conversation with the people you've come to the game with, and so it takes away the ability to enjoy each other, talk, joke, and have any kind of positive verbal interaction to offset the sonic attack going on around you. Makes the whole experience lonely as opposed to the bonding or even communal one that most of us seek in attending in the first place.

[xenic]

WTF? How do you not believe in "bankruptcy"?

[Jeffrey]

I've got no problem with owners who treat their teams like a business. I mean, we are talking about investments worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars here.

But, the problem comes when the owner forgets about the important lesson of customer service. I think some sports owners assume their product is so invaluable, they do not need to worry about keeping the customer happy. That is where we get horrible situations like the present one with the Redskins.

--Jason "sadly, I fear there is no way to put real pressure on Snyder and make him change his ways" Evans

How can owners "treat their teams like a business" "when the owner forgets about the important lesson of customer service"? That approach should destroy your franchise's value over the long-term. Add to it the destruction in the Redskin's win-loss record (during the Snyder years) and you have the main reasons why I'm truly amazed he has turned the Redskins into one of the most valuable NFL franchises (it wasn't when he purchased the franchise).

[bjornolf]

The Skins, moreso Snyder has been getting killed on the DC sports talk radio shows. Apparently Snyder tried to buy out 106.7 FM a couple of months ago because of their acerbic remarks towards him. Lavar Arrington in particluar has spewed some venom towards the little guy. They were saying that a couple of years ago, Snyder tried to force the Redskin season ticket holders to pay for their tickets with a Redskin credit card. This obviously did not go over well and was abandoned after much public discourse.

It's not a bad show, actually. CBS owns the station though, so I can't see even Danny boy being able to buy it if they don't wanna sell. He DOES own 94.3 though, the other sports talk station, the local ESPN affiliate.

[bjornolf]

The Redskins wouldn't even lose money letting people out of the contract - there is a famously long waiting list of people ready and eager to buy any season tickets which might come available.

Yes and no. There is a long waiting list, but it is for general admission seating, which is sold year by year anyway. The premium seating (club and suite) is where you have to sign a long term contract. You can buy those today if you want to, cause they're REALLY expensive, and smart people don't want to sign a 10 year contract to get tickets. I used to have club seats, but stopped when they got too expensive and my contract was up (there's a clause that says they can raise the prices by up to X% a year). I joined the wait list that year, and have barely moved up. I have gotten calls a couple times a year asking if I wanted club level seats, though. So, yes, there is a waiting list, but if they let people out of the contracts, they WILL lose money (not saying they shouldn't). I refused to sign the contract without an economic hardship out.

I was saddened by this, and angered a little by the other controversy, where certain sales people were packaging the regular admission seats with club seats to sell them to companies, even brokers. This is supposedly against company policy, and supposedly Danny Boy didn't know about it and was "livid" when he found out. Right. Supposedly, said sales people were disciplined. Anyway, a lot of folks on the waiting list were pretty angry to hear about this.