A few hundred fans who had tickets to Super Bowl XLV lost a chance to see the game because temporary seating was not ready at the stadium. The league has announced how it will handle this.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced today that two options will be offered to the approximately 400 fans that purchased a ticket to Super Bowl XLV and did not receive a seat in the stadium due to the installation failure involving their seat in Cowboys Stadium. Each of the holders of the approximately 400 affected tickets will have a choice of:
1. One free ticket to next year’s Super Bowl game plus a cash payment of $2,400 (three times the face value of the Super Bowl XLV game ticket held by the individual). The ticket to next year’s Super Bowl game is transferable.
[OR]
2. One free ticket to a future Super Bowl game of the fan’s choice, including next year’s if so desired, plus round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations provided by the NFL. This offer will be personalized in the ticketholder’s name and is not transferable.
The NFL office, in conjunction with the Steelers, Packers, and Cowboys, is in the process of obtaining contact information for the approximately 400 individuals that did not receive seats in the stadium bowl at Super Bowl XLV. Contact information for any of those individuals can be emailed to SBXLV@nfl.com. A personal call from a senior NFL staff member will follow to answer questions and provide information on how the fan’s choice will be confirmed and fulfilled.
Commissioner Goodell has initiated a complete review of the matter, including all seating and stadium entrance issues, to determine where the breakdowns occurred.
"We are ultimately responsible for the fan experience and we want it to be the best it can possibly be," Commissioner Goodell said.
This is the right thing to do. Only offering the cash option would have hurt fans who might have paid more for their accommodations and tickets through a broker (or scalper). There is also something about seeing a Super Bowl in person. Think about those commercials about guys who never missed a game. The memory might have been more valuable than money. It is good to see the NFL take care of fans like this. Yes, the league messed up, but it took steps to fix it. Kudos to the league.
Do you think this is enough of a gesture to make things up to fans who lost out?