Just confirmed - lower bowl ticket prices will increase this year

[hail2skins]

Assuming this trend continues, could it be the midfield seats - and the LL sidelines seats too - will eventually be replaced with winers and diners - you know - the ones that aren't really interested in standing and cheering for their team (as in my view the Club is now)?

How are the lowers that much of an upgrade anymore anyway? Unless you're fortunate enough to be in the 200s (or in the endzones), you're now paying $130-150 to stand all game. I can cheer and scream quite loudly while sitting, thanks.

[tshile]

How are the lowers that much of an upgrade anymore anyway? Unless you're fortunate enough to be in the 200s (or in the endzones), you're now paying $130-150 to stand all game. I can cheer and scream quite loudly while sitting, thanks.

2012 was my first year in the lower levels. You're absolutely right - you're going to be standing the whole game (although the endzones don't seem to have that problem)

I'm also a 'people should sit unless it's a big moment/play' person

but I can tell you I got used to it. by the end of the season it no longer bothered me. I still prefer to sit... but I'm over it at this point.

there are only two things I miss from the upper level

- being over the play gives you a viewpoint and understanding of what is going on you just can't get from the lower level

- walking down the ramps after a win, singing hail to the redskins and high fiving people where the two ramps meet, was one of the more amazingly fun things to do

I absolutely love my new seats and wouldn't trade them for anything at this point in time. but i'll always miss those two aspects of the upper level

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Is this different than other stadiums? It's not a snarky question, but a real one. I think maybe the ticketing model has just shifted since the days of holding onto tickets and slowly inching closer to the 50 and the field. I could be wrong though...I've never been a STH.

[HOF44]

Is this different than other stadiums? It's not a snarky question, but a real one. I think maybe the ticketing model has just shifted since the days of holding onto tickets and slowly inching closer to the 50 and the field. I could be wrong though...I've never been a STH.

Most other stadiums now have PSL's. No upgrades with those so it's not really a worry.

---------- Post added February-11th-2013 at 02:55 PM ----------

Unless you're fortunate enough to be in the 200s (or in the endzones), you're now paying $130-150 to stand all game. .

I'm in the 200's and LOVE it. Best seats in the stadium in my opinion.

[RFKFedEx]

There is something I wanted to mention regarding this hike of the four midfield sections. It seems to me, what is happening is - rather than rewarding fans for loyalty, they are sort of being segregated into classes.

My point is, the reward for loyalty is disappearing, or at least being diluted. What it comes down to is, the fans with the most money - not necessarily the fans with the most loyalty - will be sitting in the best seats.

Assuming this trend continues, could it be the midfield seats - and the LL sidelines seats too - will eventually be replaced with winers and diners - you know - the ones that aren't really interested in standing and cheering for their team (as in my view the Club is now)?

Welcome to the HOK stadium/arena/ballpark era.

IMO just about anybody who held upper level Skins STs from 1996-1997 can relate to your sentiment today, especially those on the home sideline. The LL midfield GAs have been lucky all of these years in Landover; having reaped the benefits of tenure and loyalty like no other. The economic reality has finally caught up to the entire stadium in 2013.

There may come a day when NFL teams regret pricing out their most loyal of customers, but you wouldn't know it now.

[tshile]

Uhm.... I just renewed my seats and definitely saw nothing about the auto upgrade program. Did I screw something up? Have others renewed and gone through the selection for the auto upgrade?

[chipwhich]

There is no more reward for holding on to the tickets for so long anymore. It's pretty much gone with the latest move. There's not even really a reward to being a ticket holder anymore. It's getting harder and harder to justify it every year. Maybe if the team is a 10+ win team for the next 4-5 years we'll feel there's a payoff to being a season ticket holder.

To me there has never been a reward to being a ticket holder at Fed Ex, even with the "upgrade" benefit for being a long time season ticket holder. It's all psychological and what I have coined the feeling of being the Season Ticket Elite.

That said, I do think the tickets even with the bump in price are fairly priced. I have sat in lower level Wizards seats that cost more than than. Lower center Caps tickets are in that mix as well.

I know the price increase might feel rough at this point, but the pricing seems pretty fair to me.

[tshile]

To me there has never been a reward to being a ticket holder at Fed Ex, even with the "upgrade" benefit for being a long time season ticket holder. It's all psychological and what I have coined the feeling of being the Season Ticket Elite.

That said, I do think the tickets even with the bump in price are fairly priced. I have sat in lower level Wizards seats that cost more than than. Lower center Caps tickets are in that mix as well.

I know the price increase might feel rough at this point, but the pricing seems pretty fair to me.

Yeah - I know at the end of the day they're still lower than some local teams (caps, and according to you wizards, I wouldn't know about the wizards) and many other teams in the league.

I guess the counter to that is I don't really care what those prices are, I'm not interested in owning tickets to those teams But yeah, being compared to other teams it's not that bad.

---------- Post added February-11th-2013 at 03:11 PM ----------

Uhm.... I just renewed my seats and definitely saw nothing about the auto upgrade program. Did I screw something up? Have others renewed and gone through the selection for the auto upgrade?

I called the ticket office. Apparently they're getting lots of calls about this. I don't know if it was on the invoice that was mailed, but their website has old/incorrect information.

Because of the price structure change/increases, they're revamping the system. As long as you've paid in full by April 1st, or you're caught up on your payment play (which would be the first two installments, march 1st and april 1st), you'll be eligible for upgrades. When the system is ready the team will send out letters/emails on how to proceed with setting up your upgrade preferences.

Maybe that post will fall under the category of 'informative.'

[capcrunch98]

Yeah - I know at the end of the day they're still lower than some local teams (caps, and according to you wizards, I wouldn't know about the wizards) and many other teams in the league.

Just to clarify, season ticket holder prices for the Caps range from $70 - $122 per ticket in the lower bowl (excluding the first 2 "VIP" rows). Gate price is higher. And regarding my two biggest deterrents against renewing my Skins tickets (preseason and parking): the Caps charge half STH price for preseason games, and there are a lot more viable options for getting to Caps games than paying $40 to park (a la the Skins).

Of course for the Caps, being a STH means committing to 41 games, although that is partially offset by the fact that the secondary market (as measured by ability to recoup STH cost or greater for your tickets) has been stronger for Caps tickets than for Skins tickets over the past few years.

I'm not saying the Caps aren't working towards pricing fans out of the preferred seating sections (they've slowly bumped up prices for the past several years). But I think the Skins are doing it more. Just my opinion.

[LCA77]

There is something I wanted to mention regarding this hike of the four midfield sections.

I'm not a sports fan psychologist or anything like that, but it seems to me it's possible the team might be penny-wise but pound-foolish with this recent price hike of the four midfield sections. One of the benefits of being a loyal season ticket holder for years and years is the upgrade system. Although we have to pay for major upgrades, there is also a built-in benefit for loyalty in that we are slowly moved to better and better seats every few years. And often this is done with no price increase because the upgrade is within the same price zone. But is it wise to have such a steep cost associated with mid-field seats? If the price is significantly more to move from say, section 105 to section 104, is it really an upgrade? Or better put, is the upgrade really a benefit? Same argument for moving from 102 to 101. Is moving to Section 101 really something you want, when you can barely afford section 102?

It seems to me, what is happening is - rather than rewarding fans for loyalty, they are sort of being segregated into classes.

My point is, the reward for loyalty is disappearing, or at least being diluted. What it comes down to is, the fans with the most money - not necessarily the fans with the most loyalty - will be sitting in the best seats.

Assuming this trend continues, could it be the midfield seats - and the LL sidelines seats too - will eventually be replaced with winers and diners - you know - the ones that aren't really interested in standing and cheering for their team (as in my view the Club is now)?

I agree with this 100%. Kinda sad actually.

[LaxinFish29]

Yeah - I know at the end of the day they're still lower than some local teams (caps, and according to you wizards, I wouldn't know about the wizards) and many other teams in the league.

I guess the counter to that is I don't really care what those prices are, I'm not interested in owning tickets to those teams But yeah, being compared to other teams it's not that bad.

---------- Post added February-11th-2013 at 03:11 PM ----------

I called the ticket office. Apparently they're getting lots of calls about this. I don't know if it was on the invoice that was mailed, but their website has old/incorrect information.

Because of the price structure change/increases, they're revamping the system. As long as you've paid in full by April 1st, or you're caught up on your payment play (which would be the first two installments, march 1st and april 1st), you'll be eligible for upgrades. When the system is ready the team will send out letters/emails on how to proceed with setting up your upgrade preferences.

Maybe that post will fall under the category of 'informative.'

Another example of why we need a like button....I came searching frantically because I couldn't find the auto upgrade in my account. THANK YOU!

[MarkB452]

There is something I wanted to mention regarding this hike of the four midfield sections.

I'm not a sports fan psychologist or anything like that, but it seems to me it's possible the team might be penny-wise but pound-foolish with this recent price hike of the four midfield sections. One of the benefits of being a loyal season ticket holder for years and years is the upgrade system. Although we have to pay for major upgrades, there is also a built-in benefit for loyalty in that we are slowly moved to better and better seats every few years. And often this is done with no price increase because the upgrade is within the same price zone. But is it wise to have such a steep cost associated with mid-field seats? If the price is significantly more to move from say, section 105 to section 104, is it really an upgrade? Or better put, is the upgrade really a benefit? Same argument for moving from 102 to 101. Is moving to Section 101 really something you want, when you can barely afford section 102?

It seems to me, what is happening is - rather than rewarding fans for loyalty, they are sort of being segregated into classes.

My point is, the reward for loyalty is disappearing, or at least being diluted. What it comes down to is, the fans with the most money - not necessarily the fans with the most loyalty - will be sitting in the best seats.

Assuming this trend continues, could it be the midfield seats - and the LL sidelines seats too - will eventually be replaced with winers and diners - you know - the ones that aren't really interested in standing and cheering for their team (as in my view the Club is now)?

>> I think this actually started years ago with the introduction of the Touchdown Club and Tailgate Club. All one needs to do is just write Snyder a big check and you too move in to some of the best seats in the house. This will allow you to skip ahead of all the folks who have had tickets for years and years and years.

[chipwhich]

>> I think this actually started years ago with the introduction of the Touchdown Club and Tailgate Club. All one needs to do is just write Snyder a big check and you too move in to some of the best seats in the house. This will allow you to skip ahead of all the folks who have had tickets for years and years and years.

This. The value of being a long time upper deck ticket holder really only existed for a couple year span when the team continued to stink, ticket sales plummeted and the Redskins were forced to move old timers down to slow the renewal cancellation rate.

Now that we have RG3, and assuming the Skins do well, I expect the "upgrade" of ticket holders to again cease and more 2 years in the club with a guarantee of lower levels or tailgate club to get into the lower level to ramp up in full swing.

[RFKFedEx]

Ur probably right Chip, but since the mid 2000s we've known that tenured STHs were unlikely to get to the sidelines, let alone between the 15 ydlns where the TDC inhabitants have been able to pluck prime seats. When long time STHs gave up their prime midfield locations, the TO was unlikely to move tenured GAs into those vacancies, so there has always been a ceiling on upgrade ability, even in recent down years.

You said moving "old timers down". lol bc as of last year we were reading of second year STHs from the 400s moving down.

I still believe we'll see 400s to LL relos this year.

*SkinsNatsFan and DButz65 remain the rare exceptions for prime GA relo during my ES tenure.

[Howie411]

Just bit the bullet and added Parking (B3) to my account, since a friend is splitting the season with me. According to the Rep they are getting rid of Grey parking this year and mostly using it for employees.

[DButz65]

*SkinsNatsFan and DButz65 remain the rare exceptions for prime GA relo during my ES tenure.

Yea but as much as they went up this year, I wish I wasn't in 103 but rather 104

I am still mulling over letting 1 of my 3 seats go, if the Skins will let me... I am expecting a baby BOY in July and at first thought about just giving my tickets up... but then I thought about not being able to take my son to the games with me when he is old enough and keeping the tickets in the family which have been for such along time, eff that Im keeping them lol just not sure if its going to be 2/3

[chipwhich]

Yea but as much as they went up this year, I wish I wasn't in 103 but rather 104

I am still mulling over letting 1 of my 3 seats go, if the Skins will let me... I am expecting a baby BOY in July and at first thought about just giving my tickets up... but then I thought about not being able to take my son to the games with me when he is old enough and keeping the tickets in the family which have been for such along time, eff that Im keeping them lol just not sure if its going to be 2/3

What is the gross increase in price from last year to this year for 3 tickets? It seems a shame to give one up.

[DButz65]

What is the gross increase in price from last year to this year for 3 tickets? It seems a shame to give one up.

About $750 w/o looking at the invoice

The only reason I am thinking about doing this is, the games I will be able to go to this coming year, my fiance wont be able to go with, and sometimes its hard to get any of my friends to commit to going, or if they do they back out last minute on me...I know I know find more friends hahaha

Its easier to sell 2 tickets than 3 on the aftermarket for the most part

[LaxinFish29]

About w/o looking at the invoice

The only reason I am thinking about doing this is, the games I will be able to go to this coming year, my fiance wont be able to go with, and sometimes its hard to get any of my friends to commit to going, or if they do they back out last minute on me...I know I know find more friends hahaha

Its easier to sell 2 tickets than 3 on the aftermarket for the most part

Try to sell all 3 and if you cant sell 2 and go by yourself. Perfect solution!

[LCA77]

What is the gross increase in price from last year to this year for 3 tickets? It seems a shame to give one up.

What is the reason for preferring section 104 over 103? They are both the same price.

Selling a single ticket isn't always difficult, btw. I've had to do it before and was surprised that it sold. Maybe not at face value, but very close for whatever that's worth.

[SonnyandSam]

Yea but as much as they went up this year, I wish I wasn't in 103 but rather 104

I am still mulling over letting 1 of my 3 seats go, if the Skins will let me... I am expecting a baby BOY in July and at first thought about just giving my tickets up... but then I thought about not being able to take my son to the games with me when he is old enough and keeping the tickets in the family which have been for such along time, eff that Im keeping them lol just not sure if its going to be 2/3

Tell the TO you need to drop one ticket and can they move you over a section. And you know that the TO often offers upgrades on number of tickets to STHs first. So when your son is old enough to tolerate the drunks, swearing, and fights, you can ask the TO to upgrade from 2 tickets to 3 if you want. You may have to move to another section. But the worse that happens in all this is they say "no".

The TO prefers multiples of two because it minimizes singles so giving one ticket up is not usually a problem. And asking for a single extra ticket in the future helps the ticket office get rid of spurious single seats. Just depends on whether they can put three seats together in a section near where you sit now.

[RFKFedEx]

Got a flyer in the mail today offering a free piece of 2012 NFCE champion merch if a new ST account is opened. 4 or more seats required.

Items to choose from include a hat, tee shirt, or sweatshirt.

[SonnyandSam]

Got a flyer in the mail today offering a free piece of 2012 NFCE champion merch if a new ST account is opened. 4 or more seats required.

Items to choose from include a hat, tee shirt, or sweatshirt.

Whoop de doo!

[RFKFedEx]

Whoop de doo!

remember the days of signed jerseys for new GAs? (last July)

Now the rookie GAs get leftover items otherwise earmarked for the developing world.

February seems early to start up with the incentives considering current GAs haven't even met the renewal deadline yet.

[chipwhich]

remember the days of signed jerseys for new GAs? (last July)

Now the rookie GAs get leftover items otherwise earmarked for the developing world.

February seems early to start up with the incentives considering current GAs haven't even met the renewal deadline yet.

I wonder if I could get 4 lower sideline seats if I asked, not a STH but was selected to buy seats probably 20 years ago and have an account.

I tried mid season during their campaign for 2 tickets, they denied me, wanted me in the uppers.