Skins sell ticket straight to scalpers

[Skinny Tee]

...Snyder say whaaaaa?

'Skins sold seats directly to scalpers | ProFootballTalk.com

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Comical comment below the article:

"Redskins? Scalpers?
I detect just a hint of rascist, profiling glee in your article."

[charlied72]

I would never go to the stadium if I didn't have tickets and I would not buy then from a dude walking around.

[DCtoAZ]

between EBAY and STUBHUB .. isn't everything scalped these days

[Warpath]

Originally Posted by DCtoAZ

between EBAY and STUBHUB .. isn't everything scalped these days

I was thinking the same thing. The article also doesn't say anything about what they did illegal. I would guess this happensall the time especially in a market like DC where there are so many people that want to go to games. I also dont expect the sale to brokers to stop anytime soon.

[Clark84]

This really isn't a surprise to me, hell I figured it was standard practice.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Warpath

I was thinking the same thing. The article also doesn't say anything about what they did illegal. I would guess this happensall the time especially in a market like DC where there are so many people that want to go to games. I also dont expect the sale to brokers to stop anytime soon.

I think the issue is there are people (loyal fans) on the waiting list for years that were passed up in favor of selling many of the highly sought after 100 level seats to brokers, who in turn sell to anyone including Steelers fans.
If true then what is the point of the waiting list? The whole ticket broker business seems crooked. There must be a lot of secret handshake deals. How is that the brokers get all the good seats for most events?

This article was more disturbing:
Selling to Brokers, Suing Fans (washingtonpost.com)

The billion dollar Redskins sue a guy who can no longer afford to pay for his tickets? WTF? This guy gave the Redskins a heads up that they would like to cancel. Not very good PR.

[Lotus]

The article is not about the Redskins organization engaging in an illegal practice. It is about workers in the ticket office who make some extra cash for themselves by selling tickets to brokers rather than to the people on the ticket waiting list. The Redskins organization as a whole wants the tickets to go to those on the waiting list but apparently some unscrupulous folks in the ticket office have subverted the ideal scenario. So when we read that these individuals have been "disciplined," it is fair to guess that this means "fired."

[souperbad]

From what I understand. People sign a 10 year contract with the Redskins for club level seats and the yearly prices just keeps going up 25% each year and there is little they can do because they signed a contract. So, you start out with a contract for $10,000 a year for some seats and after a couple of years you are paying $25,000.

The whole way the Redskins sell tickets is quite a mystery and I am surprised there is not a whole section or special forum on this website helping fans navigate this enigma.

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Lotus

The article is not about the Redskins organization engaging in an illegal practice. It is about workers in the ticket office who make some extra cash for themselves by selling tickets to brokers rather than to the people on the ticket waiting list. The Redskins organization as a whole wants the tickets to go to those on the waiting list but apparently some unscrupulous folks in the ticket office have subverted the ideal scenario. So when we read that these individuals have been "disciplined," it is fair to guess that this means "fired."

Or the Redskins & their Ticket Operations department got caught and are now 'blaming' a handful of rogue tickets sales people (fall guys).

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by Lotus

The article is not about the Redskins organization engaging in an illegal practice. It is about workers in the ticket office who make some extra cash for themselves by selling tickets to brokers rather than to the people on the ticket waiting list. The Redskins organization as a whole wants the tickets to go to those on the waiting list but apparently some unscrupulous folks in the ticket office have subverted the ideal scenario. So when we read that these individuals have been "disciplined," it is fair to guess that this means "fired."

Unfortunately this clarification doesn't sell in the media, instead you will see many outlets (and fans) referring this as "the Redskins are doing this..."

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by DCtoAZ

between EBAY and STUBHUB .. isn't everything scalped these days

And this site. You're correct!

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

Or the Redskins & their Ticket Operations department got caught and are now 'blaming' a handful of rogue tickets sales people (fall guys).

Maybe. But I see no gain for the Redskins as an organization by ignoring the waiting list and selling to outlets. If the organization wanted more per ticket, it could simply raise the price. And in these rogue sales, the organization loses control over pricing and distribution, which would be quite foolish in terms of the interests of the organization. The whole scenario only makes sense if the problem really is rogue ticket sellers.

[souperbad]

Originally Posted by Lotus

The article is not about the Redskins organization engaging in an illegal practice. It is about workers in the ticket office who make some extra cash for themselves by selling tickets to brokers rather than to the people on the ticket waiting list. The Redskins organization as a whole wants the tickets to go to those on the waiting list but apparently some unscrupulous folks in the ticket office have subverted the ideal scenario. So when we read that these individuals have been "disciplined," it is fair to guess that this means "fired."

Correct, the article is not about the Redskins engaging in an illegal practice. Nothing they are doing is illegal...its their tickets and they can do whatever they want. But the article is not blaming this on a couple of rogue ticket sellers...the intent of the article is to blame the Redskins Organization as a whole. The article points out that these sales to brokers where handled by the Vice President of Premium ticket sales.

Really, the article is just saying the famed Redskins waiting list is pointless and meaningless.

[souperbad]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Maybe. But I see no gain for the Redskins as an organization by ignoring the waiting list and selling to outlets. If the organization wanted more per ticket, it could simply raise the price. And in these rogue sales, the organization loses control over pricing and distribution, which would be quite foolish in terms of the interests of the organization. The whole scenario only makes sense if the problem really is rogue ticket sellers.

The gain is that they sell their club level seats. In these broker deals, the broker agrees to buy club level seats so they can buy regular seats as well. If they went thru the wait list.....then they could not sell the club level seats.

I wish they sold club level seats one game at a time. I would pay the extra money to see one game in club level....but I could not afford a ten year contract.

[freddyg12]

The post article points out some things that just add to the reasons I think fedex sucks overall. A few years ago Va. Tech's AD said during the expansion of Lane Stadium that they didn't want to make it "too big" because they wanted to keep demand high.

There's something to be said for that. with 91,000 seats & a mediocre team at best (since fedex opened) it's hard to keep demand up. Yet the Skins have been saying for years that it is & they have a waiting list, etc.

My dream scenario to happen within the next 10 years; the Skins make a deal w/DC to come back where they belong (RFK site?), build a stadium that seats about 70,000 & features some of the great things that RFK had. Ticket demand goes up again & the Skins are playing where they belong. Of course, we win a super bowl once we're back in dc!