Really the only time the Green Bay Packers brass listens to anything the fans have to say is when they speak with their wallets.
That happened when the playoffs rolled around this year and the fans sent a pretty clear message. That message was: fuck you.
The Packers needed an extended deadline to sell out their wild card game against San Francisco. Only when several corporate sponsors stepped in, did they manage to sell out and avoid what would have been an embarrassing local TV blackout.
Some people speculated that the sub-freezing temperatures were the reason people weren’t buying tickets. Others brought up the mediocre product on the field. In reality, the reason the game wasn’t easily a sellout was because the Packers organization is greedy.
As we’ve detailed before, the organization gives season ticket holders the opportunity to buy playoff tickets first. This year, they offered that opportunity in November (when the team didn’t even look like it would make the playoffs). The shitty part is, season ticket holders had to buy tickets for three playoff games, as if somehow the Packers were going to host a wild card game, divisional game and the NFC championship. The shittier part is, if any of those games weren’t played, you didn’t get your money back.
In some fairness, the Packers would let you apply the credit for any unused tickets to next year’s season ticket costs. But really, why would you want the Packers holding your money for you? Are they a bank?
At any rate, the season tickets holders who usually buy up those playoff tickets didn’t do so because they knew they were going to be out hundreds or thousands of dollars and maybe see only one football game.
Well, the organization conducted a survey of season ticket holders and fans after the season and they got the message.
President Mark Murphy says the Packers are going to change their policy for buying playoff tickets.
“I anticipate that we will make a number of changes and adjustments based on this feedback from our fans, including offering a “pay as we play” type of option for playoff games. With current available technology, we should be able to use this type of method as an option,” Murphy wrote in response to a fan question on Packers.com.
Then — get this, you’ll shit yourself — Murphy even went on to admit the organization made a mistake.
“Finally, in retrospect, I would say that we made a mistake in deciding not to refund the money to fans this year for playoff games not played. We learned from this mistake and will have a better policy in place next year.”
Damn right you will.
So let this be a lesson. The Packers organization only listens when you talk with your wallet.