Warning to Season Ticket Holders

[seabowl]

You clearly don't pay for season tickets so you can't understand the decision process we all have to go through each year.

Correct I do not. Please let us know what the process is?

 

[Trackhawk]

It's always funny to watch non-STH talk about how they would behave differently, if only they were STH. As a prior STH, who has a long commute to the games, and not a lot of local Seahawks friends, I did have to sell many game tickets. It helpoed to offset the cost.

The Buffalo game was just as embarassing as the GB game, with the MVP chants getting louder and louder as the game progressed.

This refusal to renew concept is something that is being tried by several, if not all, teams in the NFL. I know GB is doing it. It will be interesting to see if it survives the inevitable legal challenge. The NFL's previous attempt to force a floor price on resold tickets failed miserably, which is why any other method of trying to control what is done with the tickets after a customer has bought them from the team, will also fail.

This is a novel way of instead refusing to renew the season tickets. I think the NFL has a leg to stand on, depending on what is in the contract that goes along with the purchase. I would think this will be impossible to enforce on those who hold licensed seats.

I might suggest that they publish criteria for what will be considered illegitimate levels of resale, but the true scalpers probably wouldn't care. They would just give away the minimum number of tickets per season, to someone who would attend. They wouldn't even need to go through one of the resell sites. It would be very hard to track.

Sure it would eat into their profit a little, but I don't think it would be very effective. In fact that is probably what will start happening here, even without published criteria.

 

[DTiempo81]

There are many fans who have had tickets in their family for years, and for whatever reason can't make it to every game. They shouldn't lose their tickets and their legacy because of that. At the same time, there are some business entities that own large amounts of seats with the sole intention of reselling at the highest profit; something which should be discouraged.

I think a great compromise would be to have a verified Seahawks fans list that STH can sell their tickets to. They already have the Blue Pride list, why not make a specific resale site (linked through the STH website just like the NFL Ticket Exchange is now) that essentially guarantees that your tickets will go to Hawks fans? This allows STH a way to hold on to their legacy, while also filling the stadium with real fans.

 

[JPatera76]

It sounds to me like they're only calling accounts into question that are reselling too often. If you are hitting that number, you shouldn't be a season ticket holder. There's others waiting in line who would gladly use them. Not to mention the lost crowd noise.

100 is sounds like this, sounds like they’re targeting the accounts that are specifically and only doing this, which in turn rises the cost of the seats etc etc

 

[DTiempo81]

100 is sounds like this, sounds like they’re targeting the accounts that are specifically and only doing this, which in turn rises the cost of the seats etc etc

Yeah, I heard this was being sent to every STH, but haven't seen any communication via email, account notification, etc, so maybe this is just being sent to STH who are being singled out for already engaging in this behavior.

 

[bileever]

I agree 100%. If you can't afford the tickets, don't buy them. Don't use season tickets as a way to make money, get a job if you need money.

Also, there are other options (which I have done in the past), like share the cost of the tickets with other fans and divide up the tickets instead of selling them to opposing fans.

Let the Seahawks fans who would actually go to the games get the season tickets if you're not going to use them.

 

[Jerhawk]

For reference, the story has been reported by other outlets now. Here is the link to an article on SI.

Again, I can’t confirm if this message was sent to every STH, or just certain ones. And as I’ve stated earlier, I pulled the message from Captain Seahawk on Facebook, opposed to another .Net member’s response of me “being on the list” which is unfortunate to hear such insinuations and is blatantly false. And again, as far as I know, there isn’t even a naughty list.

Seattle Seahawks finally cracking down on sellout season ticket holders

Fans who continually sell their tickets to home game may not be eligible to renew.

www.si.com

I’ve stated my opinion in the OP, but I will add this: I blame the team as well. They’ve jacked up the ticket prices to ridiculous amounts, the team quite frankly hasn’t been contenders for the past few years and most logical fans are aware of that fact (who wants to pay $300+ to watch Geno Smith throw interceptions?), it is a pain in the rump to get to the stadium for most people, and they should find an alternative solution. I love the idea above of reselling the tickets to other Seahawks fans on a list like @DTiempo81 said above. I’m not sure why that hasn’t been implemented.

 

[Hawkstorian]

Correct I do not. Please let us know what the process is?

The process is having to decide which games I can realistically go to and then deciding what to do with extra seats. It's easy to say I should just sell to fans, but the NFL, Seahawks and Ticketmaster collude to make that very difficult.

The line I think a lot of you are talking about is -- if I have a ticket worth $150 and I just pass that on to another Seahawks fan for that or less, when I could sell it for $400 to who knows what --- some of you are assigning morality to a business decision. Does that make me greedy or a sellout?

Well, I'll remind you all that the Seahawks, the league, their players, agents, coaches, trainers all the way down to the guy who launders the jock-straps --- they're all making business decisions without one thought about you or me. Football is a business. I give to charity, and do so happily and willingly. With football, I've made a clear distinction between economics and fandom.

Bottom line --- tickets are just too expensive to not think hard about getting some value back for it, and I sleep just fine at night.

 

[onanygivensunday]

If the team is going to clamp down on STH reselling their tickets to out-of-towners, then they should NEVER sell seats to online re-sellers like StubHub and the like.

 

[Jegpeg]

In the UK it is actually illegal for "unautherized individuals" to resell tickets. Most teams have a offic\al resale platform where you can resell but only at face value. Often with a mechanism in place to ensure resale tickets are sold to true fans (or at least those living locally). I think that is the best solution as it also keeps tickets for marque games (reasonably) affordable rather than only having the mega rich able to attend.

 

[Seahawks Guy]

They should just increase the cost of season tickets to the point where there is little to no profit in reselling them

 

[Give_it_to_24]

I waited 12 years for season tickets. 4th year having them. This year I moved over 1 section to 311 and down to row S. There is nothing ever available on the home side remotely close to these that I've seen.

I live in Phoenix now and try to make as many games as I can. I always try to sell my tix to Hawk fans via friends and a FB page. I never ask for more than face. Last year I had to let go of the Bills game on ticket exchange. They were gone in less than an hour. Presumably the location and cost.

I think its ridiculous of some of the comments on that FB post. Most of those people don't even have season tickets. Yea, I get the home field advantage aspect of it, but if the team product was better there wouldn't be that issue.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

I am thinking they aren't tracking the transfers to family like someone are saying they do or selling to other Hawks fans but they can track which tickets are showing up on re-sale sites.

This goes all the way back to "The Tip" NFC championship game, I got tickets on Stubhub for that one. The guys beside me said they had seen someone different every game that year In fact they never met the person who actually owned the tickets in the multiple yrs they had ben there.

When I got the ticket it had face value on so I was able to see how much money the guy made off me....I paid $400 for a $150 ticket. 3rd level, about halfway up,m midfield.

 

[jeremiah]

I would think they could make a list of which seats are selling on the resell markets and IF STHs are selling their seats EVERY week they are just a business and need to be cut off immediately.

What is wrong with selling tickets to others? The Organization is as cutthroat as can be, and acts like it is offended.

 

[Grand Strand Hawk Fan]

Hmmmm. I didn't get that email. I wonder if you're already on their 'list'??

I don't judge anyone else's use of tickets. They're your tickets that you paid for and you or I should do what we want with them. The fact that STHs knew they could make 3 x face value for the GB game puts everyone in the position where they're making their own business decision. I went to the game, and it sucked. Plus, they made me watch Sam Howell try to play QB which made it even worse.

That said, the Seahawks have a right to set terms for their tickets and I'm fine with that as long as they're clear. How many games can I sell without potentially losing my tickets? Does transferring tickets to family members or friends cause problems? Don't just make veiled warnings, give actual rules that make sense.

The team can and probably should take some of the measures, but I'm telling you, it's not going to solve the problem. Out of town fans are going to find a way to go to games and home fans are going to sell their seats. It's supply and demand. Cutting off some STHs will only help very incrementally, not enough to prevent what happened vs. GB.

Full transparency: I sold 2 games on the open market last year (SF and NYG). Myself and my family used the other games.

I am all for this, but I do agree with you. This is a band-aid for a shark bite and wont resolve the issue. Now, as someone who's been on blue pride for over a decade and is still 32 thousandth something in line still, I may have a biased opinion on this. I think what they're going to do 1st is question the holders who sell all their seats season after season. And this is what I think is cool is the Seahawks ticket management will give them a chance to state their case which is unheard of. There are other teams who will just yank your tickets, no questions asked.

The biggest response I hear from the season ticket holders who feel threatened by this goes something like "Well maybe they should stop raising prices every season and put a better product out there!" and there is some truth to if they win more, some people would stop selling and start attending...but that's not what being a real fan is. You show up during the good seasons and the bad.

No, I don't think this is going to really make a dent...but it cant be coincidence that nearly every homegame last season and prior, the lower bowl of the visitors side isn't completely taken over by visiting fans. There are some real bad apples ruining it for the long time season ticket holders, like yourself, who go to the majority of the games.

 

[CalgaryFan05]

If the team is going to clamp down on STH reselling their tickets to out-of-towners, then they should NEVER sell seats to online re-sellers like StubHub and the like

This. Can't have it both ways....

 

[RiverDog]

I'm curious about the legality of this. Once a person buys something, it becomes their personal property. What business is it of the seller what he/she does with it so long as it doesn't involve something illegal? Perhaps that's why the letter is so vaguely worded.

It would seem to me that there would be other ways to regulate the re-sale of season tickets, such as limiting the number purchased by an individual or entity to 4.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I don't mind them doing this at all. Been a STH since 93, I've never once sold a ticket on ticketmaster exchange or any other ticket site. Just to Hawks fans who are friends or family, for face value or lower. I'll sit in other spots with friends a few times a year, and sell mine to other friends, and vice versa when they come sit with me. Buying tickets ONLY with the intent to sell for profit is lame. It's their choice and all, but there's a reason we lost HFA a while ago.

For the record, I'm not saying people don't have the right to do it, it's their own choice. Just not my OWN way to go about it on the very rare occasion I have to miss a game. I've probably missed 4 or 5 games total in the last 30 plus years.
I get the point when people are saying that others can do what they want with their tickets. I just think it's lame. Not that it matters.

 

[Grand Strand Hawk Fan]

I'm curious about the legality of this. Once a person buys something, it becomes their personal property. What business is it of the seller what he/she does with it so long as it doesn't involve something illegal? Perhaps that's why the letter is so vaguely worded.

It would seem to me that there would be other ways to regulate the re-sale of season tickets, such as limiting the number purchased by an individual or entity to 4.

They're not going to take your tickets mid-season. The way I understand it is they're going to monitor and review how many seats you sold and if its most if not the entire season, they'll reach out and let you state your case and then decide if you're eligible for renewal. That is a pretty rad courtesy they're in no way obligated to provide. There are other teams that will just yank em' after the seasons over.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I'll def. ask my rep about it soon. I suspect mid season they'll contact people that appear to be selling the bulk of their seats. People selling for face to their friends or family shouldn't apply, imo. As in, transferring direct from your own account to someone. NOT using Stub Hub, or ticket exchange etc. I'm not worried about myself, as at the most, I'm sitting in my friends seat for a couple games, and he comes and sits in mine with me for a couple. But a lot of people out there who are STH might really only be able to make half the games.
Clearly, they're going to have to be careful where they sell them. A stadium that feels half full of opposing fans is ridiculous.