The Denver Broncos cracked down on season ticket holders who didn’t attend any games last season, revoking their tickets.
The franchise targeted folks who sell their tickets, rather than attend the game. On the surface, this might not seem like such a big deal. Many season ticket holders who own seats in stadiums around the nation re-sell their tickets in order to reap some pretty sweet profits.
But, that is not the case for some, who because of either because of financial or health reasons, could not attend the games.
This is particularly the case for Eric Siegler, who lives in Chicago. Siegler’s late mother-in-law died of cancer. Prior to her death, Siegler’s family spent a lot of time in Minnesota visiting her as she battled through her sickness. After missing the games, Siegler was notified the Broncos were revoking his status as a season-ticket holder.
He wrote a letter of appeal to the Broncos’ organization, as did several of his relatives.
“We spent a lot of time up in Minnesota and when football season came around, it was the last thing on my mind,” Eric Siegler said,per Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. “I’m disappointed they didn’t see my situation in the same light that it was. It’s certainly not a way of supporting a fan who has been there for four decades.”
“Where’s the warning, saying ‘we have the right to revoke your tickets’ (by not attending at least one game per season?” Siegler said. “Pulled the rug right out from me — and hundreds of others. It’s not the right way to handle it, in my view.”
Overall in 2016, the Broncos upgraded 144 accounts consisting of 400 seats after revoking season-ticket holders. This is a huge jump compared to the 14 accounts and 39 seats revoked in 2015, per the report.
The Broncos will make the remaining tickets available to a waiting list consisting of 75,000 people.
It is clear that the Broncos need to run a business and do what they can to make sure fans on waiting lists get tickets. But it is unfortunate that sometimes happens at the expense of families with legitimate hardships.