TITLETOWN (NBC 26) — The Green Bay Packers announced changes to ticket pricing Friday, and also said the team is continuing a policy to revoke season tickets for fans who sell their seats to every game.
- Read and watch our story about the changes here, including details about which season ticket accounts will be denied renewal, and why
- We spoke with longtime season ticket holders about the crackdown, with some saying they attribute it to digital ticket marketplaces and opposing fans flocking to Lambeau
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
The Packers continuing to crack down on season ticket holder accounts that are selling their tickets to every game, with the organization saying Friday, they'll be sending letters to those folks, telling them their season tickets will not be renewed. We're speaking with other season ticket holders about this decision.
Watch Titletown neighborhood reporter Karl Winter's full story here:
Brian Anderson splits time between Rockford, Illinois and Green Bay. After years of waiting, he has both the Green and the Gold packages of season tickets, tries to go to every game, and says Lambeau Field has been getting less green and gold.
"It used to be that way," Anderson said. "We always saw the same people. But now it's like, it's either opposing fans or it's just never the same people. So I know people aren't using their tickets themselves."
The issues came to a head with home losses to the Lions the past three seasons.
"This year the Detroit home game was absolutely ridiculous," Anderson said. "It was like going to watch a game in Detroit."
Melinda Hull of New London has had Packers season tickets in her family for 60 years. She sees opposing fans coming to Lambeau, but believes it comes in waves.
"There's some games, yeah — if you're a Lions fan and you're close enough, and your team is doing really well, why wouldn't you go to a game?" she said.
But Hull also says she'd be upset if she found out her tickets were revoked.
"I'm a die hard Packer fan, but not everybody has the same scenario," she said. "And I know a lot of people, and when people sell their tickets, it's not that they're selling them to make all this money off of them — it's just they genuinely can't go."
Another season ticket holder, Kyle Cousineau, just got off the ticket waiting list this season, after 30 years. He sees both sides, saying he's always tried to resell extra tickets to Green Bay fans, but understands why some people sell tickets for profit.
"I would love to see some sort of portal available for Packer fans to sell to other Packer fans," Cousineau said. "But the other side of it is, I'm a small business owner in Green Bay. I previously worked in the bar and restaurant industry for many years. I know what opposing fans do to the economy — it's huge."
Anderson is more in favor of the crackdown on ticket-selling, saying the team should maintain a home field advantage.
"It's not perfect, and there's always going to be opposing fans getting tickets, but I think this is a good step," he said.
Most of the other fans we spoke with agreed with Anderson, saying this crackdown was overdue.
