2020 & 2021 Season Ticket Thread

For STHs: If NYCFC hosts 0 matches at YS/CF in 2020, which would you prefer?

  • Complete Refund

    Votes: 18 62.1%
  • Credit to 2021 Season

    Votes: 11 37.9%

  • Total voters
    29
A Red bulls fan on Reddit said that they got an email with nearly identical language do this may have been a league wide thing.
 
A Red bulls fan on Reddit said that they got an email with nearly identical language do this may have been a league wide thing.
I think there was one from another team (I believe LAG) which was almost word for word to ours. Doesn't make it right (I have been very critical of how awful it was), but it may have been a directive or coordinated awful.
 
Added a poll for current Season Ticket Holders:

If NYCFC hosts 0 MLS matches at Yankee Stadium / Citi Field in 2020, which would you prefer?
 
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Added a poll for current Season Ticket Holders:

If NYCFC hosts 0 MLS matches at Yankee Stadium / Citi Field in 2020, which would you prefer?
I'm not a STH any more, but of course I would want a refund. Now if they want to add a sweetener then I'd take a credit.
 
Added a poll for current Season Ticket Holders:

If NYCFC hosts 0 MLS matches at Yankee Stadium / Citi Field in 2020, which would you prefer?
I don't think it's a close call. I not only want the money, I want the time to see where we are in 2021. A lot has to happen between now and then for a game at the stadium to be safe and viable. And even with positive progress, I still don't know what my own comfort level would be.
 
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I don't think it's a close call. I not only want the money, I want the time to see where we are in 2021. A lot has to happen between now and then for a game at the stadium to be safe and viable. And even with positive progress, I still don't know what my own comfort level would be.

The circus next season is going to be if you don't renew your City Membership you'll lose your seats, someone else can take them, and your order in the selecting seats for the new stadium will be dropped.

They entice people to get season tickets by offering their place in line again. They'll scare people into losing their place if they drop now.
 
The circus next season is going to be if you don't renew your City Membership you'll lose your seats, someone else can take them, and your order in the selecting seats for the new stadium will be dropped.

They entice people to get season tickets by offering their place in line again. They'll scare people into losing their place if they drop now.
Yeah all of those new people buying nycfc season tickets
 
So about those refunds.... maybe NYCFC will want to get ahead of this issue...... this shit is gonna roll downhill and pick up steam.....


Why should they issue refunds right now?

If games get officially canceled, or if they officially announce that fans can't attend, then they should -- and will -- issue refunds.

Baseball games aren't refunded when there are rainouts, for example -- this isn't a rainout, I get that. But it's the same principle.

Listen, obviously these games are not being played with fans. We all understand that. And when they officially announce it, they will issue refunds. Until then, I just completely don't understand why fans think they're entitled to refunds before games are officially canceled. You'll get your refund.

Is it slimy that teams are holding the cash under the false hope of having fans in attendance? Sure. But there's no reason to expect they should refund money until they officially make the call. Which won't happen until they either cancel the season or announce the resumption of play.
 
Why should they issue refunds right now?

If games get officially canceled, or if they officially announce that fans can't attend, then they should -- and will -- issue refunds.

Baseball games aren't refunded when there are rainouts, for example -- this isn't a rainout, I get that. But it's the same principle.

Listen, obviously these games are not being played with fans. We all understand that. And when they officially announce it, they will issue refunds. Until then, I just completely don't understand why fans think they're entitled to refunds before games are officially canceled. You'll get your refund.

Is it slimy that teams are holding the cash under the false hope of having fans in attendance? Sure. But there's no reason to expect they should refund money until they officially make the call. Which won't happen until they either cancel the season or announce the resumption of play.
Fans aren’t attending MLS this year, whether the league plays matches in a centralized location or not. It’s time they start acknowledging it rather than trying to bilk fans for another month of payments.

You almost sound like one of the bots responding to the tweet about MLB.

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Fans aren’t attending MLS this year, whether the league plays matches in a centralized location or not. It’s time they start acknowledging it rather than trying to bilk fans for another month of payments.

You almost sound like one of the bots responding to the tweet about MLB.

Well I promise you I'm not a bot. Haha.

You're going to get your money back, though, is my point. You're right, it's stinky that they're still charging the monthly payments when they know that money is going to get refunded. They shouldn't do that. But we're acting as if the team is going to take the money even after the games are canceled. I think we all know that's not happening. Whether the refund happens in 6 days or 6 weeks, it's almost definitely happening.

That being said, I also realize that money is tight right now for a lot of people. If that's your situation and you really need the money now, I would think the team is willing to work with its fans.
 
Well I promise you I'm not a bot. Haha.

You're going to get your money back, though, is my point. You're right, it's stinky that they're still charging the monthly payments when they know that money is going to get refunded. They shouldn't do that. But we're acting as if the team is going to take the money even after the games are canceled. I think we all know that's not happening. Whether the refund happens in 6 days or 6 weeks, it's almost definitely happening.

That being said, I also realize that money is tight right now for a lot of people. If that's your situation and you really need the money now, I would think the team is willing to work with its fans.
History suggests that they will figure out a way to somehow miss the layup. They will no doubt wait longer than necessary. But aside from that, they will likely institute some form of mechanism which penalizes anything but a credit for next season option. I get the business side of doing the latter, but given the extraordinary circumstances, I would hope that they recognize the value of money in hand to STH and do not penalize for taking the money now. I would even think that someone is more likely to stay loyal if the team were to be accommodating and thoughtful. I haven't thought much about it, but I wouldn't mind if the team incentivized credit (for example, provide a discount for the next season for keeping your money in) vs. penalizing for taking your money out (lose your seats, losing your seniority, etc.). As some have said, the penalties are kind of silly as the demand is so low, and will be even lower, and they will always take our money now or when a stadium opens, but it's the point and the tone which are important now.
 
They do need a way to handle this properly.

But I also want to say that I find MLB's position, right now, to be much less defensible than MLS. Sure, MLS owners are well off, and the league has taken a lot of expansion fee money. But Major League Baseball is swimming in pools of cash like Scrooge McDuck in ways that make MLS seem like a kid's lemonade stand. Take any random set of 25 baseball players -- effectively a single team's active roster -- and their total annual salary is more than the MLS national TV package is. (Avg MLB salary= $4.05M; MLS TV deal = $90M and is further split with US Soccer). Baseball owners and players together are sitting on so much cash that not refunding it is beyond ridiculous. It is a joke that MLB is pretending that games are not effectively cancelled to hold on to cash.

In addition, I think we have to distinguish between refunds to STHs and to partial plan holders and for single game tickets. Refunding STH's is complicated. And putting together a package that gives options like JayH JayH describes will be tough until you have a good handle on when they can resume playing to live fans. What if a team refunds STHs 70% of ticket costs but ends up playing more than 30% of their games? I agree, it's unlikely in 2020 for all sorts of reasons, but nobody wants to admit that yet. I don't think any jurisdiction in the country has committed to that yet and it's not reasonable to expect private actors to act as if that is certain until governments give guidance. OTOH, what if you give people credit towards 2021 and you don't even play a full season then? I'm not saying it's impossible for teams to figure this out, but I acknowledge it is not as simple as just deciding to refund x%, and it's even more complicated for payment plans than pay up front plans.

But at the opposite end are single game tickets, which are very easy to deal with. And I'm 98% certain baseball has presold a LOT more of those than MLS, because (1) many more games, (2) average stadium size, and (3) STHs represent a much smaller percentage of overall attendance in baseball than soccer. Baseball should be offering refund options to purchasers of individual April tickets right now, and May very soon. Even if, to everyone's shock, baseball manages to replay those games in front of fans, baseball can afford to deal with re-selling those seats and will do very well in the process. And yes, MLS should be refunding individual tix for March and April as well, but again, I think single game sales for MLS are almost de minimis compared to MLB.

Finally, the lawsuit is a stunt, because people will almost certainly be made whole eventually regardless. But just because the lawsuit is a publicity gimmick doesn't mean individual fans are wrong to complain that sports are holding their money for no good reason. Money now is always worth more than money later, and that is true even moreso right now.
 
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They do need a way to handle this properly.

But I also want to say that I find MLB's position, right now, to be much less defensible than MLS. Sure, MLS owners are well off, and the league has taken a lot of expansion fee money. But Major League Baseball is swimming in pools of cash like Scrooge McDuck in ways that make MLS seem like a kid's lemonade stand. Take any random set of 25 baseball players -- effectively a single team's active roster -- and their total annual salary is more than the MLS national TV package is. (Avg MLB salary= $4.05M; MLS TV deal = $90M and is further split with US Soccer). Baseball owners and players together are sitting on so much cash that not refunding it is beyond ridiculous. It is a joke that MLB is pretending that games are not effectively cancelled to hold on to cash.

In addition, I think we have to distinguish between refunds to STHs and to partial plan holders and for single game tickets. Refunding STH's is complicated. And putting together a package that gives options like JayH JayH describes will be tough until you have a good handle on when they can resume playing to live fans. What if a team refunds STHs 70% of ticket costs but ends up playing more than 30% of their games? I agree, it's unlikely in 2020 for all sorts of reasons, but nobody wants to admit that yet. I don't think any jurisdiction in the country has committed to that yet and it's not reasonable to expect private actors to act as if that is certain until governments give guidance. OTOH, what if you give people credit towards 2021 and you don't even play a full season then? I'm not saying it's impossible for teams to figure this out, but I acknowledge it is not as simple as just deciding to refund x%, and it's even more complicated for payment plans than pay up front plans.

But at the opposite end are single game tickets, which are very easy to deal with. And I'm 98% certain baseball has presold a LOT more of those than MLS, because (1) many more games, (2) average stadium size, and (3) STHs represent a much smaller percentage of overall attendance in baseball than soccer. Baseball should be offering refund options to purchasers of individual April tickets right now, and May very soon. Even if, to everyone's shock, baseball manages to replay those games in front of fans, baseball can afford to deal with re-selling those seats and will do very well in the process. And yes, MLS should be refunding individual tix for March and April as well, but again, I think single game sales for MLS are almost de minimis compared to MLB.

Finally, the lawsuit is a stunt, because people will almost certainly be made whole eventually regardless. But just because the lawsuit is a publicity gimmick doesn't mean individual fans are wrong to complain that sports are holding their money for no good reason. Money now is always worth more than money later, and that is true even moreso right now.
Not responding at you, but as an add-on.....

NYS lockdown is until the middle of May (until it gets extended again) and at that point, 6 home matches will have passed. Even if the state “re-opens,” spectator sports won’t especially since NYC has canceled all large events. So 1/3 of the home season will be over with no disseminated information as to how to replay/play with safety ensured for spectators. By the middle of June, another 3 home games will have passed, 1/2 the season. Optics will be really bad if the team/league hasn’t addressed refunds by that point.

Even if games start up on a protected island, refunds will have to start since fans wont be getting what they paid for. MLS needs to be doing everything it can to not alienate the fans most willing to spend during normal situations. Right now, life isn’t normal, and STH’s situations have likely changed with unemployment and/or extra costs associated with food pricing increases, medical, etc.

It’s amazing how shortsighted the league/team can be at times. Communication and consumer interaction is key, and they fail so often it’s exhausting.
 
I think it is as simple as this. If there is even a very small chance a game is played, the teams would rather not go through the trouble and expense of refunding the money and then reselling the tickets. Neither process will be easy or straightforward. It‘s cleaner to hold the money for a few weeks until they have greater certainty around what they’re dealing with, and then roll out a plan to address what specifically is happening. That said, there are certainly ticket holders who could use the few hundred bucks they have locked up in those tickets.

The bigger issue is going to be what happens when the plans have changed radically - new dates, maybe new locations - for baseball, doubleheaders. Under what circumstances do fans get refunds? I’ve bought 60 tickets to the Red Bulls game on May 31 for people from my town to attend with families. What happens if that game is on a Wednesday night instead of Sunday afternoon? What if our “home“ game is in New Jersey? Do I get a refund then?

The acid test about whether a particular club or league is doing right by its fans is going to come from decisions like those.
 
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I think it is as simple as this. If there is even a very small chance a game is played, the teams would rather not go through the trouble and expense of refunding the money and then reselling the tickets. Neither process will be easy or straightforward. It‘s cleaner to hold the money for a few weeks until they have greater certainty around what they’re dealing with, and then roll out a plan to address what specifically is happening. That said, there are certainly ticket holders who could use the few hundred bucks they have locked up in those tickets.

The bigger issue is going to be what happens when the plans have changed radically - new dates, maybe new locations - for baseball, doubleheaders. Under what circumstances do fans get refunds? I’ve bought 60 tickets to the Red Bulls game on May 31 for people from my town to attend with families. What happens if that game is on a Wednesday night instead of Sunday afternoon? What if our “home“ game is in New Jersey? Do I get a refund then?

The acid test about whether a particular club or league is doing right by its fans is going to come from decisions like those.
Without a vaccine, Fan aren’t going to attend sporting events in 2020.

The sooner leagues admit that, the less dickish and sleazy they’ll look.
 
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I'm not a doctor or a medical expert by any means, but a vaccine isn't what is required for fans to attend sporting events again. I suggest you read up on Sweden and herd immunity, for example. Vaccine is prevention, not a remedy. One is not cured of the flu by getting a flu shot. Viruses also mutate. The Spanish Flu ended because it eventually mutated into a weak innocuous version.

That being said, until sporting events are officially cancelled, I don't see why teams are obligated to return money. We, as fans, are not aware of the legal issues involved - officially cancelled games dissolves any television revenue even in the case unattended games are televised? Hurts on-going negotiations? I'm sure teams will work with fans experiencing financial hardship. Worth a phone call. What they should do it hold payment plans. Living in NY/NYC, we obviously have the worst of it, but some states may see the light of day to go to a ball game later this year.
 
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I'm not a doctor or a medical expert by any means, but a vaccine isn't what is required for fans to attend sporting events again. I suggest you read up on Sweden and herd immunity, for example. Vaccine is prevention, not a remedy. One is not cured of the flu by getting a flu shot. Viruses also mutate. The Spanish Flu ended because it eventually mutated into a weak innocuous version.

That being said, until sporting events are officially cancelled, I don't see why teams are obligated to return money. We, as fans, are not aware of the legal issues involved - officially cancelled games dissolves any television revenue even in the case unattended games are televised? Hurts on-going negotiations? I'm sure teams will work with fans experiencing financial hardship. Worth a phone call. What they should do it hold payment plans. Living in NY/NYC, we obviously have the worst of it, but some states may see the light of day to go to a ball game later this year.
Ha, yeah, I’ve read up on Sweden and they are not comparable to the US. Most Swedes live by themselves. That alone is social distancing. They also have a much better medical system.

Hell, we have a society that’s embraced wearing masks but don’t actually wear them correctly leaving the nose exposed and touching the front constantly. See this every time I leave the apt.

Suggest you also read up on how little Covent-19 has mutated. That’s a main reason scientists have been “excited” by the prospect of developing/rolling out a vaccine.
 
I think a refund for STHs would be a very positive gesture. Even if it's made as a choice for STHs. But, I don't think it's going to happen since the membership agreement gives them a full year to reschedule a game that is cancelled. if no games are played this year, then next year's season pretty much qualifies as rescheduling the game within a year.

yea there are nuances and no, not everyone is going to agree about what will be done. just putting out my prediction. personally, i would like the club to be more attentive and communicate with STHs in a week or two before the May 15 payment deferral deadline comes up again. Show us that they are thinking about the possibilities and the solutions they've come up with for each scenario. At this point, there can only be two scenarios: 1) no games played anywhere 2) some games with no fans. what is the club planning to do given each? I understand wanting to wait until more is known but it's just smart to think and plan ahead. Especially when maintaining a good relationship with fans is important.

I mean, I enjoy all the extra media content and all.. but some actual information would be nice too. something that isn't so tone deaf that needs to be retracted within 24 hours like the last email.
 
I think a refund for STHs would be a very positive gesture. Even if it's made as a choice for STHs. But, I don't think it's going to happen since the membership agreement gives them a full year to reschedule a game that is cancelled. if no games are played this year, then next year's season pretty much qualifies as rescheduling the game within a year.

yea there are nuances and no, not everyone is going to agree about what will be done. just putting out my prediction. personally, i would like the club to be more attentive and communicate with STHs in a week or two before the May 15 payment deferral deadline comes up again. Show us that they are thinking about the possibilities and the solutions they've come up with for each scenario. At this point, there can only be two scenarios: 1) no games played anywhere 2) some games with no fans. what is the club planning to do given each? I understand wanting to wait until more is known but it's just smart to think and plan ahead. Especially when maintaining a good relationship with fans is important.

I mean, I enjoy all the extra media content and all.. but some actual information would be nice too. something that isn't so tone deaf that needs to be retracted within 24 hours like the last email.

LAFC published their policy, which I think all MLS clubs will adopt in some measure. Matches that are cancelled or played without fans will be credited towards 2021. Though you can request refunds instead.