DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
The Pirates have sent out a letter today to their season-ticket holders with 20-game plans that, if they don’t upgrade to full or half-season plans for 2015, they won’t be guaranteed playoff tickets this fall. And they’ve been given 10 days to do this.
As one might imagine, I’m being hit with a lot of complaints from angry fans. If you’re one of them, by all means, please feel free to use the commenting platform below to share your view.
I’ve also reached out to the Pirates for their explanation.
I’ve got my own thoughts, but it’s always fairest to hear from all parties before mouthing off.
UPDATE 3:37 p.m.: Here’s a screengrab of the message sent to those customers:
4:04: Here’s a written response from the Pirates’ Brian Warecki to DKonPittsburghSports.com regarding this matter:
We have seen a significant growth in the number of season ticket holders and are working extremely hard managing the limited inventory available to ensure that all of our season ticket holders get an opportunity to purchase tickets for potential Postseason games at PNC Park.
Based on the limited number of Postseason strips available, Pirates Full and Half Season Ticket Holders will receive postseason priority and are guaranteed a strip and seat location this season for each seat in their account if they meet the September 5th deadline.
All 20-game plan holders will be able to purchase a maximum of two Postseason strips per account during an exclusive online Postseason strip sale. Based on our capacity this season, we fully anticipate and are extremely confident that all of our 20-game plan holders who log on at the time assigned will indeed receive access to purchase two full strips. Unlike full and half season accounts, we cannot assign seating locations at this point in the process.
In addition, all of our season-ticket holders, including 20-game plan holders, will receive the opportunity to purchase additional tickets during a single game pre-sale in advance to the general public.
4:21: OK, after hearing from many, many more season-ticket holders and now the team, all I have to add is that the Pirates, while dealing with the very real issue of having to accommodate Major League Baseball swooping in and gobbling up playoff tickets and the majors’ smallest stadium, clearly could have demonstrated better communication.
Far better communication.
And no, I’m not talking about the timing of the six-game losing streak. That’s just silly. They’d been discussing this for weeks, I’m told. Rather, I’m talking about having a gradual education about this process for months, including when people purchased the 20-game plans. No one — or at least very few — of the 20-game-plan holders I’m hearing from today should sound anywhere near this surprised.
As for whether or not there’s an ultimatum, the fact that the Pirates can’t guarantee tickets is another case of lousy semantics. If a 20-game plan holder logs in at the assigned time and buys their playoff strips, they’ll get them. If they don’t, they might not. That’s the lack of guarantee.
Again, far better communication is needed.
August 19, 2014
Pirates urge 20-game-plan fans to upgrade
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Pirates
DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS
The Pirates have sent out a letter today to their season-ticket holders with 20-game plans that, if they don’t upgrade to full or half-season plans for 2015, they won’t be guaranteed playoff tickets this fall. And they’ve been given 10 days to do this.
As one might imagine, I’m being hit with a lot of complaints from angry fans. If you’re one of them, by all means, please feel free to use the commenting platform below to share your view.
I’ve also reached out to the Pirates for their explanation.
I’ve got my own thoughts, but it’s always fairest to hear from all parties before mouthing off.
UPDATE 3:37 p.m.: Here’s a screengrab of the message sent to those customers:
4:04: Here’s a written response from the Pirates’ Brian Warecki to DKonPittsburghSports.com regarding this matter:
We have seen a significant growth in the number of season ticket holders and are working extremely hard managing the limited inventory available to ensure that all of our season ticket holders get an opportunity to purchase tickets for potential Postseason games at PNC Park.
Based on the limited number of Postseason strips available, Pirates Full and Half Season Ticket Holders will receive postseason priority and are guaranteed a strip and seat location this season for each seat in their account if they meet the September 5th deadline.
All 20-game plan holders will be able to purchase a maximum of two Postseason strips per account during an exclusive online Postseason strip sale. Based on our capacity this season, we fully anticipate and are extremely confident that all of our 20-game plan holders who log on at the time assigned will indeed receive access to purchase two full strips. Unlike full and half season accounts, we cannot assign seating locations at this point in the process.
In addition, all of our season-ticket holders, including 20-game plan holders, will receive the opportunity to purchase additional tickets during a single game pre-sale in advance to the general public.
4:21: OK, after hearing from many, many more season-ticket holders and now the team, all I have to add is that the Pirates, while dealing with the very real issue of having to accommodate Major League Baseball swooping in and gobbling up playoff tickets and the majors’ smallest stadium, clearly could have demonstrated better communication.
Far better communication.
And no, I’m not talking about the timing of the six-game losing streak. That’s just silly. They’d been discussing this for weeks, I’m told. Rather, I’m talking about having a gradual education about this process for months, including when people purchased the 20-game plans. No one — or at least very few — of the 20-game-plan holders I’m hearing from today should sound anywhere near this surprised.
As for whether or not there’s an ultimatum, the fact that the Pirates can’t guarantee tickets is another case of lousy semantics. If a 20-game plan holder logs in at the assigned time and buys their playoff strips, they’ll get them. If they don’t, they might not. That’s the lack of guarantee.
Again, far better communication is needed.