Ticketgate Take 2: Redskins Suing Fans
It's day two of the Washington Post raking the Redskins and their ticket office over the coals. When the paper ran a front page feature on “The Toughest Ticket in Town” yesterday, there was no indication that readers were being treated to an investigative series. We got the story, we got the Redskins' lawyer responding by saying that the Post needs "to sell newspapers, and God love 'em, circulation is down," and we were ready to move on, still loving—or loathing—the burgundy and gold as we see fit.
But cue today’s A1 photo of superfan Pat Hill sitting and sobbing on her living room couch, surrounded by Redskin pillows, stuffed animals, and other team paraphernalia. She’s the Post’s poster child for their “Suing the Fans” article, which details a series of 125 lawsuits the team has levied against their season ticket holders. It's a story of sincere fans who have fallen on hard times and can no longer afford their tickets. The tens of thousands of dollars that everyday people are willing to shell out — sometimes signing 10 year contracts for the privilege to do so and sometimes being tricked into multiyear deals — can be jaw dropping. Did they not realize that paying $15,000 a year for four tickets might not be sustainable?
Redskins General Counsel David Donovan told the newspaper that the team strives to work deals out with buyers who approach them after facing difficult financial times, and that most people are accommodated in some way. But according to the article, when settlements are worked out with season ticket holders, they often seem to involve the fan paying tens of thousands of dollars to break their contract for tickets they may no longer have access to. The 125 that have ended up getting sued face that predicament often as a result of saying no to deals that were offered or ignoring correspondence. Subsequent summary judgments follow for those who fail to show up for court dates.
One of the central issues of the ticketing story is the franchise's vaunted “wait list,” a document that may or may not have over a reported 160,000 names on it and take seven years to successfully navigate through. If such a waitlist does exist, why the need to go after season ticket holders who can no longer afford their tickets? Can't they just be sold to someone else? The Post was only able to document 16 instances of tickets being resold by the Redskins after being revoked from sued fans. What of the rest?
The litigious strategy is good for three things that I can think of: 1) Making financial straits for these down on their luck season ticket holders even worse 2) Inviting the pit-bull treatment that they got from the Post and the backlash that comes with it, and 3) further lining the pockets as what’s one of the most beloved and successful, but also unscrupulously gouging, franchises in the NFL and sports in general.
Writer James Grimaldi is hosting a live chat on the pieces today at 2 p.m. in what’s sure to be a spirited discussion.