General

Another Day, Another Skins Ticket Story

Sep 3, 2009, 6:50 PM UTC

Notâ†µto bag on the Redskins for a second day in a row, but this is a bit ofâ†µa PR nightmare week for Daniel Snyder’s organization. After yesterday’sâ†µstory on the Skins selling tickets to scalpers, we get another gem from the Washington Post today.â†µâ†µâ‡¥The Post reviewed lawsuits in which the Daniel M.â†µâ‡¥Snyder-controlled entity WFI Stadium Inc. sued 125 Redskin ticketâ†µâ‡¥holders for a total of $3.6 million. The team won judgments totaling $2â†µâ‡¥million from 34 season ticket holders, most of whom did not hire anâ†µâ‡¥attorney and defaulted by not making an appearance in court.â†µâ†µâ†µThe Post puts a heartbreaking face on the story withâ†µ72-year-old realtor Pat Hill, a woman photographed in the storyâ†µsurrounded by Redskins pillows. She still says she’s a fan, even as theâ†µRedskins won a $66,364 judgment against her, forcing her intoâ†µbankruptcy. It’s like the Stockholm Syndrome of season ticket holdersâ†µor something.â†µ

â†µâ†µSnyder is pretty easy to vilify, both for Redskins fans andâ†µopponents’ fans, too, but as sympathetic a face as Hill presents,â†µsigning a deal like this really isn’t all that different from buying aâ†µhouse and defaulting on your mortgage payments. While sports may seemâ†µtrivial and all-in-good-fun, don’t forget that they’re a business. Ifâ†µyou really want to go after Snyder, then this is where you go: â†µ

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â†µâ†µâ‡¥The tickets, forfeited by five fans, were bought by anâ†µâ‡¥online broker, ASC Ticket Co. of Gaithersburg, according to a printoutâ†µâ‡¥from the Redskins ticket system. Some of those sued complained that theâ†µâ‡¥Redskins had “double-dipped” -- reselling the tickets while obtainingâ†µâ‡¥judgments against them for defaulting on the contracts.â†µâ†µâ†µThe notion that they would go after the ticketholders and thenâ†µeasily be able to sell them like that to ticket brokers sounds a lotâ†µlike double dipping, although the very next paragraph points out thatâ†µgetting a judgment against Hill or any other fan doesn’t amount to aâ†µpayment. Not all fans have a spare $60K sitting around to fork over toâ†µan NFL franchise. Selling to another entity makes sense in thatâ†µinstance. But, at thatâ†µpoint, doesn’t it seem just a tad bit greedy for the Skins to not onlyâ†µfind a new buyer, but continue to potentially financially devastate anâ†µindividual?â†µ

â†µâ†µBut I can’t really play devil’s advocate in this one against the little guy, not when there’s something like this in the WaPoâ†µpiece from Redskins general counsel David Donovan, with regard to a fanâ†µwho paid a $15,000-plus judgment after he was unable to pay for hisâ†µseats:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Donovan said he would be willing to give [60-year-oldâ†µâ‡¥Alonzo] Webb tickets for the 2009 season at no additional cost to Webb.â†µâ‡¥“If he’s paid his judgment, I would be happy to get him tickets,”â†µâ‡¥Donovan said. “I have no desire to take anyone’s money and not give himâ†µâ‡¥something for it.”â†µâ†µâ†µNot surprisingly, Webb declined, saying, “I wouldn’t want the damnâ†µtickets. It’s just the principle of the thing.” Can you blame him? â†µ

â†µGet more details over at the Washington Post.
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â†µUPDATE: As it turns out, the Skins will not bankrupt that poor old woman.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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