NY Rangers’ Winter Classic ticket policy favors longtime ‘subscribers’
On Monday, we broke down the 2012 NHL Winter Classic ticket situation for Philadelphia Flyers fans. The abridged version: The general public is screwed and season-ticket holders are being forced to buy seats for the alumni game and the AHL outdoor game for the honor of purchasing Citizens Bank Park Winter Classic tickets.
The New York Rangers finally got around to informing their fans about Winter Classic ticket protocol via an email on Monday, telling "Season Subscribers" that "as the visiting team and with limited inventory, we have the opportunity for a limited number of Season Subscribers to purchase tickets through the Rangers organization."
How will Rangers fans snag Winter Classic tickets? Via Scotty Hockey, the pertinent info:
"Please note that as the visiting team, we will be unable to accommodate all Rangers Season Subscribers with an offer to purchase Tickets. As such, we will be contacting you in order of your Subscription tenure with an offer. Those Subscribers that wish to purchase tickets and receive an offer will be assigned a maximum of 2 seats based upon availability. Should you not receive an offer to purchase tickets through the Rangers organization, you will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to the Legends game on Saturday, December 31st at 1:00 p.m."
Membership has its privileges, apparently.
Our initial response: "Oh, how lovely: Honoring a franchise's most dedicated fans, the ones that have stuck with them through the winning years and the Sather lean years, with the chance to buy Winter Classic tickets."
And then we remembered: "Oh, right, this is Madison Square Garden we're talking about here. These are a bunch of brokerage firms and ad agencies."
Eric from the Rangers blog 5-Hole.com had this response:
"My family has only had season tickets since 1997. I know plenty of subscribers who have had seats for much longer. We also have five seats. Limiting the seats to two per subscriber is kind of lame but I guess it's necessary to accommodate as many subscribers as they can."
The ones they can't accommodate? They'll be battling Flyers fans on StubHub for the best available seats.
